On the first day of MSI 2022, all the favored teams secured victories. The only surprise came from RED Canids, as the representatives from Brazil unexpectedly defeated PSG Talon, a familiar face in international League of Legends tournaments. In fact, PSG couldn’t secure a single kill in their match and suffered defeat after 28 minutes of play.
All favored teams won, except for the surprise named RED Canids
However, while PSG caused the League of Legends community to lose a Super Beast, RNG, despite their victory, has become the center of criticism. Many still challenge the fairness of teams playing with a ping of 35. Given the significant skill and experience gap, even the Istanbul Wildcats would struggle to defeat RNG if the LPL representatives moved to Busan.
Yet the community believes RNG is being favored. The reason is that in images broadcast from the RNG gaming room, many viewers did not see any referee present, nor was there a close-up camera, and some players were even seen not wearing headsets as required by League of Legends regulations and esports in general.
When the “King” Becomes a Victim of Power and Influence
Currently, in League of Legends, LPL is arguably the most influential region. Specifically, in the 2021 season, RNG and EDward Gaming helped LPL completely dominate the League of Legends scene. Notably, their opponent in the finals was DWG KIA, representing the “arch-rivals” from Korea.
RNG and EDG helped LPL dominate completely in the 2021 season
And perhaps it goes without saying, alongside Tencent – the parent company of Riot, which is currently a Chinese conglomerate, a significant amount of revenue from views, skins, and more for Riot comes from the LPL. Therefore, it is not surprising that Riot has made every effort to ensure RNG’s participation in MSI 2022. Although initially, as Doinb stated, LPL teams were considering skipping MSI 2022 due to a packed schedule and strict pandemic regulations in the country.
And now, the “Royal Legion” is a “victim” of their own dominance and influence over League of Legends and Riot. With the allegations of favoritism against RNG, this team is facing heavy criticism on all fronts. Many fans, especially LCK fans, have not hesitated to insult RNG players. Although fundamentally, from the start, RNG may not have calculated that they would attend MSI 2022 online, and they could have opted to skip the tournament – preserving their reputation, complying with health regulations, and allowing players time to rest before facing a grueling schedule. At that time, the 2022 Asian Games had not yet decided to postpone.
But is it reasonable to criticize only RNG?
The presence of LPL is something that Riot and surely the fans of League of Legends in China are eagerly anticipating, both in terms of professionalism and significance, as well as other factors. Therefore, it can be said that LPL is a region that cannot be absent from MSI 2022. When Riot decided to implement a series of priorities for RNG to play online, despite the impact on other teams, notably the “ping 35” incident, the explosive contradiction is understandable.
Therefore, the first entity to be criticized should be Riot. In reality, if Riot accepted the loss of a significant profit from LPL if RNG were absent, then everything would have been fine. In return, now they must find ways to address the discontent among a large portion of League of Legends fans. Because of their priorities to ensure RNG’s presence at MSI 2022, what seemed like a good thing has put Riot in a dilemma.
Next, Riot must address the criticisms aimed at RNG players. Setting aside whether RNG may (or may risk) be cheating, the players on the team do not deserve to be criticized for things they had to do in a passive situation. RNG certainly wanted to attend MSI in Busan, but they could not violate the country’s regulations. And perhaps, not just RNG, but anyone would take advantage of every opportunity they have to win, and RNG is simply doing what anyone would do.
Whether RNG competes fairly, or whether the “three no’s” (no headsets, no referees, no close-up cameras) are intentional or not, no one will know. One thing is for sure: RNG is currently a “victim” of the power and influence of LPL in the League of Legends scene and of Riot itself. Because RNG’s participation in MSI 2022, until now, has not shown any benefits, but certainly, the reputation of this team and its players has been significantly affected.