NA Dream Team SoloMid Loses to LPL’s Royal Never Give Up in First Game of Group Stage
The first game of the group stage at the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco featured an intense match between NA’s dream team, SoloMid, and LPL’s Royal Never Give Up. The crowd was overwhelmingly cheering for TSM, but RNG had no plans of going easy on them.
After a remake due to a bug with Aurelion Sol, the teams went back into champion select with a clear idea of each other’s picks. TSM had to adapt their strategy after their jungler, Svenskeren, was banned out twice.
TSM: Hauntzer – Kennen, Svenskeren – Lee Sin, Bjergsen – Orianna, Doublelift – Jhin, Biofrost – Nami
RNG: Looper – Rumble, Mlxg – Hecarim, Xiaohu – Cassiopeia, Uzi – Sivir, Mata – Alistar
Right at the start, Mlxg attempted a gank on Bjergsen but Svenskeren was there to save him. RNG retaliated by taking Svenskeren out alongside Mata securing first blood.
TSM relied on their late game composition and played defensively against RNG’s aggressive plays. Svenskeren managed to secure kills on Mlxg and Looper, while Doublelift outplayed Mata in a botlane skirmish.
TSM used their advantage to secure an Ocean Drake and pushed towards dragon to secure the objective. However, RNG caught TSM off guard in a fight and came out ahead with a four-for-one trade.
TSM regrouped and took a Mountain Drake. Despite being behind in kills, TSM kept up in gold due to Doublelift and Bjergsen’s superior farming. However, RNG got a pick on Bjergsen and took control of TSM’s jungle, resulting in a lead for RNG.
As the game went on, RNG continued to dominate with their pick composition. They secured Baron and took down TSM’s inhibitors, leading to a triple kill for Uzi and a victory for RNG.
RNG starts the group stage with a 1-0 record, while TSM falls to 0-1.
NA Dream Team, TSM, SoloMid, LPL, Royal Never Give Up, Group Stage, San Francisco, Bill Graham Auditorium, champion select, ban, late game composition, Ocean Drake, Mountain Drake, pick composition, Baron, inhibitors.