RNG vow to play on at MSI 2022 despite ‘unfair treatment’ amid ping-related controversy

After having their 2022 Mid-Season Invitational group stage record reset to 0-0 earlier today as a result of “discrepancies in latency” in their first three wins of the tournament, pro League of Legends team Royal Never Give Up made a brief statement on its official Twitter account.

In the team’s tweet, which is attached to a video of a meeting between players and staff members, RNG referred to the situation as a byproduct of “unfair treatment.” RNG said that the team “will play [their] matches to the best of [their] ability even through any unexpected events or unfair treatment.” 

Many members of the greater League of Legends community, including LEC broadcaster Aaron “Medic” Chamberlain, questioned RNG’s wording choice and how exactly the team was being treated unfairly. Additionally, the discussion surrounding RNG’s record reset extended well beyond the team’s official Twitter. Several members of the team, including the bottom lane duo of GALA and Ming, inexplicably posted the same emoji of a balance scale to their Weibo accounts following the news that they’d have to replay their first three games. 

At this year’s MSI, Royal Never Give Up were allowed to compete remotely from their facility in China due to COVID-related travel restrictions. RNG are the first team to participate in an international League tournament remotely since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Related: Following wiping of record, RNG win their ‘first’ game of MSI 2022 against Istanbul Wildcats

To ensure the playing field would be even across the board, Riot has implemented a latency-regulating tool in an attempt to keep the ping of tournament games at approximately 35 milliseconds for all players. With Riot later having discovered that the ping players were experiencing in games against RNG was actually higher than the ping that was being displayed in-game, it was decided for the sake of competitive integrity that RNG replay their first three games. 

Earlier today, RNG participated in the second round robin of the group stage and won all three of their regularly-scheduled games. RNG’s make-up games will be played tomorrow.