In its infancy, Chinese League of Legends esports seethed with four top teams seeking power, but the short struggle didn't last. Catastrophic Cruel Memory's July 2011 victory over Team WE in Tencent Games Arena — the first important League of Legends LAN that thrust the game into the spotlight in the region — set the tone for the storylines that would unfold for years to come.

Wang Sicong's purchase of CCM weeks later marks TGA 2011 as perhaps the single most important event in the history of Chinese LoL. He made it fashionable for the second-generation rich to invest in not just LoL teams, but esports more broadly, and he created the second half of China's first great rivalry. In the years since, China has become a region defined by two-team rivalries — a new one each year, in almost every year since 2011.

WE and Invictus Gaming (the rebranded CCM) was the first of these. Though WE were the clear kings, iG was the only team to contest them. Their rivalry spanned late 2011, 2012, and the beginning of 2013, before both teams fumbled against fresh LPL blood, Oh My God and Positive Energy, who each took one LPL final that year.

WE crumbled dramatically in 2013, and from the remains rose the most dominant team in Chinese LoL. From 2014 onward, EDward Gaming would be one of the top two teams in China, with OMG, LGD and now Royal Never Give Up taking turns as their nemesis. EDG have been a near-permanent fixture in the LPL final since spring 2014, only missing out once.

2014 was EDward Gaming’s year of landslide victories. They swept both LPL finals against Invictus Gaming and Oh My God. 2015’s challenger, LGD Gaming, gave EDG their closest domestic series while they were at their zenith. They went on from there to take down SK Telecom T1 at the MidSeason Invitational, their proudest moment, and from that to their most humiliating defeat: a 3-0 in the summer 2015 semifinal against LGD, the first and only time they would miss an LPL final in their three-year history.

But EDG persisted, dragging themselves through their ugliest offseason between 2015 and 2016. They managed to pull underperforming solo laners to their fourth LPL final, only to lose horrifically. Royal Never Give Up outplayed them on almost every front, defeating EDG 3-1 and taking their seat at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational.

Following that loss, EDG captain Ming “clearlove” Kai said, “As my form becomes better, our team will perform better in the next season.” True to his word, the 2016 summer season was EDG's statistically most successful regular season. They went undefeated in 16 best-of-three series, triumphing over Team WE in the semifinal to make it to their fifth LPL final in Guangzhou — where Royal Never Give Up are waiting for them again. Though EDG have been Top 2 in the LPL since their inception, they haven’t won a final for two splits running. They’re hungry to change that.

Though nowhere near as dominant as EDG, Royal have a longer history as an organization. This is their first year they have factored into the LPL's defining rivalry, as well as their first year making an LPL final, but they were a caveat in both the 2013 and the 2014 rivalries.

Since WE’s 2012 triumphs, Royal have also had the most consistency of any Chinese team once they make the international stage. They haven’t yet taken down Korean powerhouses the way WE did at the 2015 IEM World Championship or EDward Gaming at 2015’s MSI, but Royal have beaten out all of their Chinese rivals on the world stage, making it as far as possible before being stopped by Korea.

clearlove, as a key player in both Team WE and EDG, has been a prominent figure in LPL rivalries dating back to 2012. Meanwhile, Royal's Jin "Uzi" Zihao has been the recurring constant in their dramatic World Championship runs. However, Uzi didn't play with Royal in their domestic championship run this spring, and until this split was the best Chinese player in the LPL who had never made it to a domestic final. Now he’s the best who hasn't won one.

There’s a reason clearlove and Uzi are the league’s most beloved players. Every other domestic talent of their caliber, experience and international success has retired to a lucrative streaming contract or disappeared into the obscurity of the bench. The hunger for success is evident with these two; their careers have had striking parallels and moments where they’ve almost been good enough.

We’re used to witnessing their rises and falls. Uzi was named LPL MVP in 2014, while clearlove received the honor in 2015. By now, we know the types of teams they need to succeed. EDG want their rematch. RNG have finally shown they have the consistency in their home region to step out of the footnotes and headline this year’s rivalry.

But because of the histories of these players, this year's rivalry won't really be played out in Guangzhou. Since 2013, the first year of the LPL, the Chinese team that has placed highest in LPL regular season (as in 2013, playoffs took place after Worlds) or won LPL Summer playoffs has been outperformed by another Chinese team. Royal overcame Oh My God and EDward Gaming in 2013 and 2014. Then in 2015, EDward Gaming, the team that lost to first place LGD in playoffs semifinals, was the only Chinese team to escape the group stage at Worlds that year.

Two members of EDward Gaming, clearlove and Kim "deft" Hyukkyu, both know what it's like to secure the first seed for their region by besting members of Royal and lose at the World Championship to the same team they defeated to earn it.

Worlds 2014 marked the first tournament clearlove, Uzi, Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu and Cho "Mata" Sehyeong all attended, but they were all highlight players on different teams. The only other attendees that year who later played for EDG or RNG were Jang "Looper" Hyeongseok and Heo "pawN" Wonseok on Samsung White. Uzi and Mata both made the final, but clearlove's EDG lost steam in the quarterfinals and deft's Samsung Blue fell out in the semis. It was Uzi and Star Horn Royal Club who eliminated clearlove and Mata, pawN and Looper on Samsung White who ran over deft, before going on to knock Uzi and Royal out of the finals.

Royal and White may have finished Top 2 at Worlds, but EDG and Blue were the domestic standouts in their respective regions. EDG last faced Star Horn in China's regional final, putting them down 2-1 to cement their first seed status, while Samsung Blue bested Samsung White with well-executed comebacks in a four-game Champions Summer semifinal in Korea.

History has given clearlove domestic success, but Uzi has two appearances in what clearlove strives for above everything else: the World Championship Grand Finals. The scales of inequity could easily tip in Uzi's favor this weekend in Guangzhou.

“I’d like to win [the LPL] this time, because I haven’t won yet,” Uzi said in a press conference while he played with QG Reapers in Spring 2016. A Grand Finals appearance is the closest he’s ever come.

Three of the five players on Royal Never Give Up have gotten to Worlds Grand Finals through wild aggression and unpredictability, and RNG have that in spades. EDG are everything that has ensured domestic longevity: reliable, predictable, improved through repetition.

It's the junglers on these teams that create their identities. Liu “Mlxg” Shiyu, Royal’s jungler, has everything clearlove’s more patient and practiced style doesn’t. While clearlove’s pathing has drilled an Evelynn-shaped channel across Summoner’s Rift from blue-side blue buff camp to the bottom lane over the years, Mlxg has an almost even spread of blue-side starts, having started in the blue buff area in 10 games, in the red buff area in nine, and invaded in one.

Unpredictability will be key. In the only set between EDward Gaming and Royal Never Give Up in the regular season, EDG took the 2v2 advantage in the weaker lane matchup. Anyone who remembers Tian "meiko" Ye as EDward Gaming’s weakest link from last year may be surprised to learn I consider him the superior support in this faceoff now.

meiko has the most assists of any player in the LPL, as well as the highest kill participation on the team, and functions as the main initiator for EDG. Ultimately, his vision control and strength on engage champions make him the primary playmaker, while clearlove’s flanking and counter-ganks give him good followup. Though Mata may have saved his reserves for the final (and this isn’t out of scope, as Mata has historically had higher highs than meiko) this season can’t give us the expectation that he will. meiko and deft’s synergy is a massive reason this bottom lane matchup will go in EDG’s favor on average. If Royal want to break the trend, they have to look elsewhere for leads.

It’s no coincidence the teams EDG lost to were bottom tier, because these are the teams that played around their top lane the most (with the exception of OMG). LGD Gaming’s Jang "MaRin" Gyeonghwan often accepts the counter-pick on red side and the lion’s share of the ganks. Bao "V" Bo has the highest CS lead at 10 minutes in the league in his position. Liu "Zz1tai" Zhihao receives the highest percentage of team gold of any top laner in the LPL. As WE demonstrated in semifinals with focus on the mid lane, the key to unsettling EDG is driving through solo lanes.

EDward Gaming, after nearly three years of bottom lane focus, are almost guaranteed to play the same game. If Royal Never Give Up want to change the script to prevent EDG from snowballing and cementing the 3v3 advantage, they have to look to their solo lanes. But, given the starved nature of Looper and Li “xiaohu” Yuanhao, who have the lowest share of team gold in their roles for the region, it seems unlikely that RNG will suddenly play around them.

Source: lolesports flickr

Royal’s players have had an interesting two years while EDG enjoyed their domestic glory. xiaohu and Mlxg were summer season additions to the organization in 2015, and they ended the split playing Promotion Tournament before tackling the offseason with a collection of bloodthirsty wins. Slowly, xiaohu developed into Royal’s most reliable carry force, but Uzi’s addition has turned xiaohu into a less consistent second support with roams to the bottom lane. Keeping him mid will hamper some of Royal’s strength, but neither team is likely to look mid.

This is a growing pain Royal haven’t quite recovered from. At the moment, they seem like a team that are either carried by Uzi and Mlxg’s Level 2 ganks or not at all. This severely cuts down on the advantages they could reap from having powerful solo laners. And that’s exactly what happened in their last encounter with EDG when, in the first game, RNG insisted on standard lanes at the expense of Looper’s lead, and then over-invested into their bottom lane in subsequent standard-lane games. They’ve given minimal evidence this approach will change.

Meanwhile, EDward Gaming have their fists clenched with the bitterness of two splits without a championship. It was clear from their faces after the unexpected five-game series against WE that EDG don’t want to lose again. They didn’t think it would be close. They don’t think they’ll lose to Royal.

At the start of the 2016 LPL Spring final, clearlove and deft both made liberal use of the pre-game trash-talk segment. "I’ve heard wuxx is my fan," deft said, referring to Royal’s then-AD carry Wang "wuxx" Cheng. "I’ll remind him he’s just a fan."

They didn’t think they’d lose then either. Compare that to Mata's pessimistic comments leading up to RNG's victory, and his exuberance at its conclusion — when he squeezed Mlxg in a life-threateningly intense hug. Royal clearly didn’t expect to win, at least not so easily.

Once again, Royal aren’t expected to win, at least not by me. Yes, they get greater leads in standard lanes than EDward Gaming. Yes, they have stronger solo laners. They’re more likely to get early leads in general, with the highest regular-season gold lead at 15 minutes of any team in the five major leagues (1,710). But Royal Never Give Up constantly play with one hand tied behind their back. They don’t realize how strong they are when they use Mlxg’s unpredictability as a weapon, so they don’t bother. They don’t realize they can pressure a lead and close, so they throw at Baron.

The last two splits I picked EDG to win the LPL, they lost. Last split, I railed against RNG for failing to develop in the regular season, and they surprised me at the playoffs and MSI.

Source: lolesports flickr

clearlove may be tired of losing at the finish line in China, but Uzi hasn’t even been to an LPL finish line before. clearlove looks best when he has a bottom lane that can carry with a lead, and Uzi looks best when he has a mature support to stabilize him. This time around, both conditions are met. Uzi has everything he needs to win his first LPL, and clearlove has more than enough to secure his fourth win. This won't be an easy best of five for either of them.

When the victor is crowned, all players will look forward to a stage that has traditionally been Royal’s: the World Championship. This final matters because both teams would rather make it there than anywhere. They want to prove themselves against their strongest domestic contenders before arriving in the US.

At the same time, a victory here would be bittersweet, because historically the LPL final winner doesn’t perform best at Worlds. That’s something this year’s rivals know better than anyone.

Unless stated otherwise, photo credit: 刘一村

Kelsey Moser is a staff writer for theScore esports. You can follow her on Twitter.