Royal Never Give Up took down LGD Gaming in a 2-0 sweep to kick off Week 10, Day 2 of the League of Legends Pro League in Shanghai on Friday.
When looking at the differences between the top-tier Royal Never Give Up and LGD Gaming, most come down to the carries from both sides. Simply put, RNG's AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao and mid laner Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao are head and shoulders above any of LGD's players in those positions. Throughout both games, Uzi and Xiaohu powered RNG past LGD, even when LGD had a solid midgame. In particular, Xiaohu played very well against LGD's mid laner, Yu "Cool" Jia-Jun, picking up back-to-back player of the game honors as he lifted RNG to a 2-0 sweep.
Xiaohu's performances on Corki and Cassiopeia in Games 1 and 2, respectively, showed how Xiaohu prefers to take over games. With a strong laning phase and consistent pressure from jungler Liu "Mlxg" Shi-Yu, Xiaohu got rolling in both games, dealing massive damage through great positioning. From a 6/2/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 86 percent kill participation on Corki in Game 1, to a flawless 4/0/9 KDA for 87 percent kill participation as Cassiopeia in Game 2, Xiaohu showed why he is considered one of the most dominant mid laners in all of China. Meanwhile, the entire world knows Uzi for his nearly-flawless micro play, dodging skillshots and maximizing his damage output with style. Uzi displayed some of that jaw-dropping skill early in the series, as he hopped around as Kalista in Game 1 to pick up first blood in a 2-vs-3 outplay at just five minutes. While that play didn't necessarily break LGD's spirits, Uzi frequently put LGD down with perfect teamfighting, diligently protected by RNG's frontline as he helped Xiaohu lead RNG to the win.
LGD Gaming struggled heavily against one of the LPL's best, as one might expect, and all its problems came from familiar places. For instance, support Chen "Pyl" Bo got caught warding by himself to give up free kills several times throughout the series, a consistent problem for him for most of his career. AD carry Gu "Imp" Seung-bin didn't particularly impress either, matching up poorly against Uzi. That's not to say that Imp should've dominated, but his complete lack of impact was disheartening, as most fans will look back at his Season 4 form and wonder what happened to that Imp. LGD was never realistically in a position to take this series, and it showed as RNG teamfought circles around it, shutting LGD down with authority.