In the match on June 21st (Vietnam time) upcoming, Weibo Gaming will face a particularly “tough” opponent, likely the strongest they will encounter in this Spring 2022 group stage – Royal Never Give Up. The “Royal Legion” is not only the reigning LPL Summer 2022 champion but also recently defeated T1 from LCK to claim the throne at MSI 2022. It can be said that the challenge for SofM and his teammates is immense, if not a bit impossible to defeat RNG.
However, as the match is not over yet, anything can happen. And Chinese media has pointed out some weaknesses of RNG that were displayed in their recent match against FunPlus Phoenix that WBG could exploit. For those who haven’t been following, in their opening match against the “Phoenix” on June 17th (Vietnam time), RNG struggled significantly to win against FPX. In fact, FPX was even the team that took the lead in game 1.
The first weakness of RNG is their competitive spirit. They are the reigning champions of LPL Summer 2022 and MSI 2022, so a sense of complacency is definitely to be expected. Of course, RNG will regard WBG more highly than FPX. However, considering that in the last season, RNG completely defeated WBG, it is possible that the “Royal Legion” may let their guard down or make some subjective bans and picks.
The second weakness is that RNG just recently finished MSI 2022 and immediately had to dive into LPL Summer 2022. Starting off slower compared to the rest has been a “habit” of RNG since the 2021 season. Therefore, it is possible that RNG will repeat this pattern. Meanwhile, WBG players have had more time to prepare. SofM and his teammates have also been climbing ranks continuously during this time. Therefore, WBG at least has more preparation time compared to RNG.
Finally, it lies in the new factor Breathe. In RNG’s opening match, it cannot be said that Breathe had a poor performance. However, except for game 3, in games 1 and 2, Breathe really only contributed when entering the skirmish phase with his Rocket Rain. In both of these games, he was somewhat outperformed by Xiaolaohu of FPX, especially in game 1. Breathe needs time to adapt, while his next opponent will be TheShy – a player who, when playing seriously, can completely “shut down” any superstar.
But of course, it is important that WBG also needs to show seriousness, focus, and determination in this match. RNG is not like Team WE or EDward Gaming. The “Royal Legion” is on a completely different level, and they only need a few superstar moments to make an opponent with a significant advantage “suffer” as they watch their Nexus explode.