Royal Never Give Up (RNG) achieved a complete victory in the first round of the World Championship (Worlds) 2022. But to be honest, especially in the match against Gen.G Esports (Gen.G), the representatives from LCK self-destructed more than RNG performed excellently. As the number one seed from the LCK region, Gen.G chose an ineffective lineup. They had Lehends for crowd control but lacked a strong Marksman to take down opponents. Gen.G’s passive combination in the Bottom Lane was thoroughly exploited by RNG. It can be said that RNG won far too easily.
The subsequent matches against CBTC Flying Oyster (CFO) or 100Thieves were fundamentally not worthy opponents for RNG to reveal their weaknesses. However, it is evident that many positions in RNG have a very limited champion pool.
Although this team utilizes those champions very effectively, many experts also question the results of RNG if their most comfortable champions are banned or picked before them.
A prime example is Yuumi in the hands of Support Ming. Yuumi is a highly favored champion in the current meta and will likely be banned whenever possible. Almost in all matches of RNG, Yuumi is a champion that is certain to be banned to take away a powerful weapon from an experienced player like Ming. Therefore, RNG will almost never get to pick a very strong champion in the current gameplay.
Fortunately for RNG, they have the duo Breathe and GALA, both possessing a wide champion pool. Especially Breathe, as this player can play both tanky champions and engage champions, even being a primary damage source.
GALA is also very effective in matchups that favor the current playstyle. However, Breathe’s weakness is that he plays too “sacrificially,” completely serving the team’s overall strategy. As for GALA, this player can become “nervous” when required to play champions that demand precise execution such as Draven.
Not only GALA and Breathe, but also Wei and Xiaohu raise significant concerns. Up to now, the two champions Wei has used most effectively are Graves and Viego. Including the Play-In stage, Wei also used Sejuani and Vi.
However, both of these champions do not have a perfect win rate like Graves and Viego. It can be seen that Wei’s specialty lies with these two champions, and if opponents identify that Wei is also a major damage dealer for RNG, it is almost certain that Graves and Viego will be banned in the future.
As for Xiaohu, currently, RNG’s Mid Lane tends to use assassin champions. Additionally, Xiaohu has another effective champion matchup with Sylas, though this champion is often banned. However, the fact is that if Xiaohu uses champions with a certain degree of durability, capable of protecting teammates (like Galio), the other members of the team will have more freedom to shine.
RNG’s playstyle can be said to be very unique as they effectively use assassin champions in the Mid Lane. However, the champions currently utilized by RNG players are somewhat limited.
The members of RNG themselves also face many issues. Therefore, if they manage to get through the group stage, RNG players will need to diversify their gameplay to achieve the best results for their team.