by Everybody can breathe a sigh of relief as the predicted finals has come to pass – Royal Never Give Up from China and Kingzone DragonX from Korea take the stage this Sunday. These two teams have fought tooth and nail to get to this final bout and there will be sparks in every single lane.
RNG handed Fnatic a 3-0 sweep on Friday’s semifinals match. Bringing out Karsa as the primary jungler, RNG held the first two games to a sizable lead with the name of the game being ‘kill the FNC support’. The third game introduced Mlxg back into the lineup where, despite the close game, RNG took the victory after a fantastic showing from the Chinese jungler.
Kingzone Dragon X had soundly stomped Flash Wolves in game one, only to be returned the favor with interest in game two. Afterwards, KZ Khan completely popped off to show why he was able to secure a spot on the number one Korean team. Coupled with the fact that FW slowly but surely lost ability to control tempo the longer the series progressed, KZ secured the victory 3-1.?
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Royal Never Give Up vs Kingzone DragonX
3:15am PST / 6:15 am EST / 12:15 pm CEST
With both teams looking in top form, RNG and KZ head into the final day aiming to be the newest team crowned MSI champion. RNG with their early struggles in the tournament have finally found the meta that best suits their playstyle. KZ still look to be a powerful team at their core, but as most analysts would agree, they are only a tiny bit off from hitting their complete stride.
Top Lane – Letme vs Khan
Khan is the immediate favorite to win this matchup if left unhindered. Khan was known as the most punishing top laner to play against in the LCK for good reason – he will find a way to carry the game, whether it be on a bruiser Camille or a tank Cho’gath. Letme plays what his team needs, whether tank or carry, and does it well, but he is going to need some heavy jungle intervention to stop Khan in his tracks.
Jungle – Peanut/Cuzz vs Karsa/Mlxg
Honestly, this matchup is a coin flip as to who will win. Karsa and Mlxg are two world class junglers that have different playstyles, whereas Peanut is more similar to Mlxg’s aggressive style. Towards the early series, Peanut should be favored but towards the middle and end of the series where RNG has had time to analyze Peanut and put in their substitute jungler, RNG should be able to wrestle jungle pressure back. Cuzz should be seeing little playtime unless something goes horribly wrong.
Mid – Bdd vs Xiaohu
The battle of the midlaner will most likely prove as a stalemate unless the jungler get involved. Both sport large champion pools that can play to multiple styles including protect the carry (Karma, Galio), mapwide roaming (Taliyah), in-your-face carry (Irelia, Yasuo, Vlad)) and backline artillery (Zoe).
ADC and Support – Pray/Gorilla vs Uzi/Ming
Uzi is indisputably the better ADC on paper, but the question is whether or not Ming can keep up the tempo with the amazing ADC. Uzi has shown to be able to carry games with the support of his team , outputting tremendous damage and KP%. Pray and Gorilla may probably at best hope to go even unless RNG botches the pick/bans, but if the champions picked have similar tiers and strengths, expect this to go to Uzi and Ming.
Prediction – Kingzone DragonX, 3-2
The main problem with picking RNG is that even during their winning matchups, KZ’s counterparts will not be set behind by any means. Putting Peanut in the jungle behind will just mean Peanut will play to his teams win conditions instead of going for risky plays, while putting Pray and Gorilla behind has been the story of KZ’s life half the tournament. RNG winning would most likely be a 70-30 percentage, not a large upset but an upset nonetheless.
Betting prediction: Kingzone DragonX to win, paying -163.93 at BetOnline.
