Alongside their fiery playstyle and willingness to engage, the unique and eye-catching picks are also an essential part of the VCS representatives when participating in international tournaments. We certainly cannot forget iconic picks like Levi’s Nocturne Jungle at Worlds 2017 or Kiaya’s Kled Mid at Worlds 2019.
At MSI 2022, SGB continued this tradition by bringing out a highly unexpected pick for Froggy’s position: Malzahar Mid. This choice allowed Froggy to avoid being heavily pressured by Xiaohu and opened up a great teamfight opportunity at the Dragon pit at the 18th minute of the match. Even the RNG members, when interviewed after the match, were surprised by SGB’s choice.
Question: Your opponents SGB picked Malzahar in the last match, were you surprised?
RNG Bin: Honestly, at first the whole team was quite surprised and couldn’t believe that SGB dared to choose Malzahar in this match. So we had to adjust our strategy a bit and pick Viktor so Xiaohu could control the opponent.
Question: SGB caused you some difficulties in the mid-game. Did the team feel threatened that you might lose?
RNG Bin: It’s true they won a fight in the mid-game, but we still played extremely focused, so we didn’t feel any pressure at all. We were always looking for opportunities to win and communicated with each other as much as possible.
After 3 days of competition in the MSI 2022 Group Stage, it is clear that SGB’s biggest weakness lies in the Mid lane. Froggy, after the recent matches, has shown a lack of experience in macro movements during the mid-game and is easily exploited by opponents. Perhaps realizing this, SGB has begun to choose champions for Froggy that can create a significant impact without needing to move too much, starting with Malzahar.
However, when facing top-tier opponents, merely choosing unexpected champions is not enough, and SGB still has much work to do in the remaining 2 days of the Group Stage. They still have a determined Shogun playing in the AD Carry position, but that alone is not enough to help SGB secure their first points in the MSI 2022 Group Stage.