Hanwha Life Esports was sent packing after being defeated by T1 in a one-sided battle. The matches clearly showed who is gunning for the Champion as T1 dominated throughout the battles and Hanwha Life Esports were clearly left a daunting task to pick up from the game. Eventually, T1 was cleanly victorious 3-0 against Hanwha Life Esports.
Hanwha Life Esport’s jungler, Willer, was caught out several times by Faker. They warded many times to get vision advantage but T1 was too coodinated in their attacks. Willer was left reflecting on his abysmal performance without securing a single kill and fed at least twelve times. Hanwha’s lacklustre picks Varus and Xin Zhao allowed T1 to control the game with T1’s Apehilos consistently in all three matches. Their fear on T1’s Faker was not surprising given that he was able to pull off a few kills and helped lift his team to victory. In the second match, T1’s Gwen and Poppy was clearly very strong against Hanwha’s Renekton. T1 will be well rested for their next opponent in the Semifinals.
Royal Never Give Up vs EDward Gaming
In the next best of five series, we will be able to witness China’s rivalry between Royal Never Give Up and EDward Gaming again. The pair had many encounters with each other in China’s League of Legends PRO League back in 2016 to 2018.
Royal Never Give Up lineup:
- Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao – TOP
- Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei – JUNGLE
- Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei – MID
- Chen “GALA” Wei – BOT
- Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming – SUPPORT
EDward Gaming lineup:
- Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun – TOP
- Zhao “Jiejie” Li-jie – JUNGLE
- Lee “Scout” Ye-chan – MID
- Park “Viper” Do-hyeon – BOT
- Tian “Meiko” Ye – SUPPORT
EDward Gaming came close at Worlds back in 2016 placing 5-8th for the third time after losing to ROX Tigers 1-3. They decided to continue with the roster and subsequently reached third in the LPL Spring 2017. EDward Gaming soon became the leaders in LPL and was one of the top seed with the highest winrate in the league. However, they failed to show their potential, falling to Fnatic at World Champion 2018 and placed 5-8th position gain. After that, they went back home without any titles in 2019 and have since revamped their teams. Royal Never Give Up previously met EDward Gaming in the Playoffs of LPL Summer 2017 which EDward Gaming won Royal Never Give Up, 3-2 in the best of five at the Finals and came in First. In the matchup, Royal Never Give Up had a promising start, picking up Gragas and Cho Gath controlling Mid and Top well allowing them to win the first two matches. However, EDward Gaming subsequently did not give up and finally found their footing with their carry, Tristana, and managed to secure the next three wins.
This time, their veteran Support, Meiko and Mid, Scout, were supported by their newer counterparts Flandre, Jiejie and Viper, who joined in 2020 to bolster their squad. They had a very successful run in the LPL Summer 2021 winning twelve games and losing only four matches against FPX, RNG, Team WE and TES. They met Royal Never Give Up in the Group Stages during the Summer 2021 and lost two games in the best of three. However, they qualified for the Playoffs and secured first seed to Worlds 2021 after winning FunPlus Phoenix 3-1 for the LPL title.
EDward Gaming prediction picks:
- Lucian
- Lee Sin
- Ryze
- Apehelios
- Thresh
Royal Never Give Up closest run at Worlds was in 2017 where they lost against SK Telecom T1 and placed 3-4th. Then in 2018, together with Ming, their former roster, Letme, Karsa, Xiaohu and Uzi were one of the formidable teams winning LPL Spring 2018, MSI 2018, Demacia Cup Summer 2018 and also the LPL Summer 2018. However, they soon fell short after they went home empty handed in 2019. The team decided to restructure after Uzi had retired and Xiaohu swapped roles to Top. Having also signed Wei, Crying and GALA, they not only managed to win the LPL Regional Finals 2021 to qualify for a spot in Worlds 2021, they have also won the Mid-Season Invitational 2021.
Royal Never Give Up prediction picks:
- Gragas
- Udyr
- Twisted Fate
- Kai’Sa
- Leona
Prediction 3-2 to Royal Never Give Up
This pair will be a hard decision as both the teams are quite on par and have been performing well up in their own Group Stages. Although EDward Gaming were fortunate to gain first seed into the tournament, Royal Never Give Up had also proved to be a team to mess with, winning the LPL Regional Finals as well as the Mid-Season Invitational 2021. It would be a tough call considering that Scout has been phenomenal and would be key to the team. But Royal Never Give Up will likely control Top lane well with veteran Xiaohu, likely to have a good chance boosting the team’s younger teammates.
