For complete League of Legends recaps, standings and stats, click here.
Royal Never Give Up stayed true to its name in a battle against QG Reapers on Friday, taking a clean 2-0 sweep in Shanghai to kick off Week 7, Day 2 of the League of Legends Pro League.
While Royal Never Give Up (8-2, 17-7 match record) slipped in the early game, allowing QG Reapers' strange team composition featuring mid laner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang on Kled to pick up first blood around nine minutes, they never lost focus after that. Keeping even with QG through objective control, RNG kicked into high gear after securing an Infernal Drake at 24 minutes, picking up a 4-for-1 teamfight win. Despite RNG having to use an emergency substitute in the jungle, mid laner Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao's Jayce had an easy time dealing a game-high 19,400 damage, en route to a 3/1/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 89 percent kill participation. Finding a pick in the top lane and then crushing a 4-for-0 teamfight, RNG unceremoniously pushed all the way to QG Reaper's Nexus to take Game 1 in just under 29 minutes.
QG Reapers (5-5, 13-12 match record) again picked up first blood, this time on jungler Kim "Clid" Tae-min's Nidalee, but RNG quickly regained control. RNG's first kill of Game 2 went to superstar AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao's signature Lucian pick, enabling him to hard carry in the mid game. Taking a 4-for-1 teamfight at 15 minutes, RNG surged to a significant gold lead, bolstered by three Elemental Drakes and several tower kills. After securing an early Baron kill before 25 minutes, Royal Never Give Up cracked QG's base open in the bottom lane with a couple of picks and an inhibitor kill around 24 minutes, thanks mostly to Uzi's stellar performance. Dealing a game-high 16,400 damage and posting a perfect 6/0/6 KDA for 100 percent kill participation, Uzi led Royal Never Give Up to victory in just over 28 minutes to secure the 2-0 sweep.
QG Reapers will try to shake off the crushing defeat when they face Snake Esports on Sunday at 3 a.m ET, while Royal Never Give Up look forward to a matchup against Vici Gaming on Sunday at 6 a.m ET.