Royal Never Give Up narrowly edged out JD Gaming in a close five-game series today to move forward in the 2022 LPL Spring Split playoffs.
Heading into this League of Legends series, both RNG and JDG looked to join Top Esports in the 2022 LPL Spring Split semifinals. For RNG, they entered this series as the second seed after showcasing consistent play in the regular season. Going into their first playoff series of 2022, their opponents, JDG, were one of the LPL’s hottest teams who skyrocketed up the standings from eighth all the way to third.
This hot streak was seen at the start of this match, too. JDG kicked off the series swiftly with two 30-minute victories over RNG. Namely, JDG AD carry Hope and jungler Kanavi showcased dominant performances in games one and two, respectively.Â
But after the second game, RNG unleashed a new level of gameplay, reminiscent of their regular season performance. Instead of losing the early game, RNG dominated JDG tactically through jungler Wei’s early game pathing on Viego. Throughout games three and four, the jungler put together a collective 12/3/16 scoreline and the rest of RNG piggybacked off of his advantages.
In the final game, all eyes were on RNG team captain Xiaohu, who was instrumental on the Galio pick. Throughout the game, he and Wei played the Volibear and Galio roams to perfection and JDG were unable to match their aggression. Through this lead, RNG collected numerous objectives to ultimately close out the series with a resounding 24-minute win.
This win for RNG is a testament to the LPL second seed’s ability to maintain their composure in high-pressure situations. After falling down 0-2 to one of the LPL’s hottest teams, RNG showcased a level of resilience to bounce back and progressively become stronger toward the end of the match.
The LPL playoff series between RNG and Top Esports will take place on Sunday, April 17 at 4am CT. Meanwhile, the elimination match between JDG and Victory Five will be played on Saturday, April 16 at 4am ET.
