Royal Never Give Up bested T1 3-2 to win the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational and the $75,000 first prize on Sunday.
RNG, of China, became the first three-time MSI champion. They also won in 2021.
Mid laner Chang-Wei “Wei” Yuan was named MVP of the best-of-five final.
We came into this game under the name RNG, but now just refer to us as the Kings of MSI. Our third trophy is claimed with a victory over T1! #RNGWIN pic.twitter.com/44Ah3YHBiU
— Royal Never Give Up (@RNG) May 29, 2022
As they did throughout the tournament, RNG competed Sunday from China because of travel restrictions. The remaining teams in the 11-team field took part from the tournament site in Busan, South Korea.
The final was a match of the tournament’s top two teams. RNG were a combined 14-2 in the first two stages, with Korean side T1 finishing 13-3. Both posted 3-0 wins in the knockout stage to reach the final.
“All celebration aside, much respect to our opponents @T1LoL,” RNG posted to Twitter after the win. “With such young players on both sides we hope we can compete with your incredibly talented players for many years to come!”
Teams from China’s Legends Pro League have won six of the past eight international events.
Prize pool and final standings:
1. Royal Never Give Up — $75,000
2. T1 — $50,000
3-4. Evil Geniuses, G2 Esports — $25,000
5-6. PSG Talon, Saigon Buffalo — $17,500
7-8. RED Canids, ORDER — $8,325
9-10. Team Aze, DetonatioN FocusMe — $6,675
11. Istanbul Wildcats — $5,000
–Field Level Media