Fnatic Falls Short Against Royal Never Give Up at MSI
Fnatic’s hot streak at the 2018 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational came to a quick end as they were defeated by Royal Never Give Up (RNG).
This international matchup between the LPL and EU LCS is turning into a heated rivalry, and unfortunately for Fnatic and their fans, Europe is not coming out on top. It seems that no matter how confident Fnatic is or how well they perform against other top teams, they cannot beat RNG.
Fnatic’s history with RNG and their ADC superstar Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao started last year at the 2017 World Championship. They have played each other before, but last year’s meeting was particularly devastating for Fnatic.
After a terrible first week at Worlds where they lost every game, Fnatic made an incredible comeback in the second week and advanced to the knockout stage. However, they were outplayed by RNG and eliminated from the tournament.
The recent Spring Split showed a revitalized Fnatic with confidence, style, and talent. When the schedule for MSI was announced and Fnatic was matched up against RNG in the first game of the group stage, fans hoped for revenge. But their hopes were crushed.
Fnatic lost the first game as Uzi dominated Fnatic’s legend Martin “Rekkles” Larsson in the bot lane. Despite an intense game, Uzi carried his team to victory. The same scenario unfolded in the following game. Fnatic’s mid laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther had an early advantage but couldn’t compete with Uzi in the late game.
This trend of Rekkles struggling against Uzi is concerning. Rekkles is usually a confident and skilled ADC, one of the best in Europe. However, when facing Uzi, he seems to freeze. Not only does he consistently lose the lane, but he also struggles in teamfights and often makes overly aggressive decisions even when he is behind in items.
It’s unclear whether Rekkles’ loss of confidence stems from Fnatic’s previous defeat against RNG at Worlds or if it’s just a coincidence that his two worst performances in the past six months were against the same team. Regardless, if Fnatic wants to secure their spot in the knockout stage, they must find a way to overcome Uzi and RNG.
Fnatic’s next game is against the Flash Wolves, who are currently in first place in the tournament.
Related Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up, League of Legends, Mid-Season Invitational, LPL, EU LCS, rivalry, Uzi, Rekkles, MSI, World Championship, Spring Split, ADC, Martin Larsson, Rasmus Winther, Flash Wolves, knockout stage, team, tournament.