2019 LPL Spring Split Primer and Power Rankings

#2 – Royal Never Give Up

Roster:

🇨🇳 Shek “AmazingJ” Wai Ho (Top)
🇹🇼 Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan (Jungle)
🇨🇳 Li “Mlxg” Shi-Yu (Jungle)
🇨🇳 Wang “S1xu” Kang-Can (Jungle)
🇨🇳 Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao (Middle)
🇨🇳 Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (ADC)
🇨🇳 Zhang “Wink” Rui (ADC)
🇨🇳 Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming (Support)

Week 1 Games:
vs Suning Gaming (20th of January) (Beijing)

Current LPL champions Royal Never Give Up are one of the only contenders to upset Invictus Gaming this split. They’ve gotten the better of IG in two consecutive finals in the past but their Demacia Cup run which saw them exit the tournament prematurely after back-to-back losses to TOP and then EDG has hurt their stock somewhat.

Following the announcement of an indefinite hiatus for LetMe and the retirement of Zz1tai, RNG needed to find a new top laner. Their choice was AmazingJ who played for Bilibli during the 2018 season. AmazingJ was a capable top laner but it remains to be seen whether he will be an upgrade over LetMe who had a lot of highlight plays himself last season.

RNG will be running three junglers this split. Mlxg is known for his unpredictable style which seems to work out for him more often than not. He is a veteran at RNG and can provide an alternative playstyle to Karsa. Karsa himself is a lot more measured and controlled, he’s the type of player that you want to have on your “default” roster because of his consistent and team focused playstyle. S1xu played for RNG’s LoL Development League (LDL) sister team, Royal Club. Royal Club was an average team in the northern division of the LDL, S1xu is a rookie and likely won’t see play over Mlxg and Karsa.

Xiaohu has had moments of brilliance in the past but he always seems to be second fiddle to Uzi. He needs to establish himself as RNG’s “second carry” that can be relied on when the opposition is playing to bot lane too much. Whether that is going to come from changing how the team plays or Xiaohu himself taking his gameplay to another level it will be very helpful for RNG in diversifying their win conditions.

Uzi is the best AD Carry in the world. Watching him play you can see the confidence and selfishness in everything he does in-game and this usually works for RNG but in order to become a more consistent team they need to learn to play through their other lanes while Uzi attracts the attention of the enemy jungler with the global taunt that his skill level brings. Wink is another player from Royal Club, he is swapping places with Able who acted as Uzi’s substitute during the 2018 season. If he’s better than Able then he must be a good player in his own right.

Finally, we have Uzi’s right-hand man, Ming. Ming is a fantastic support, one of the best in China. He is a perfect counterpart to Uzi, they synergise very well and that’s why their the undisputed best bot lane in China right now.

We’ll have to wait a little while for the climactic battle between IG and RNG. Their first game is still incredibly interesting though as they face Suning Gaming who have assembled an all star roster this split. This will be a very competitive match and it honestly could go either way as it is an early season matchup. It becomes especially important when you realise that this is the only time that Suning and RNG will be playing each other in the regular season.