Related: RNG Head Coach Kezman: "Uzi would've been the best ADC player, regardless of which region he was born in"



On the 20th of May (CEST), Royal Never Give Up (RNG) defeated Kingzone DragonX and became the champions of MSI 2018. This was the first international championship for RNG and Uzi.



The current meta is focused on the bottom lane. Even the smallest factor is important at bot; naturally, all teams that participated in the MSI put more weight on their bottom lanes. As a result, both melee and ranged supports appeared. This was because the difference between the supports can also decide whether they can win lane or not.



This meta was really advantageous for RNG because they had top-class ADC Uzi. RNG fully trusted Uzi’s ability to carry and concentrated on helping Uzi scale. Their picks & bans also aimed to aid the bottom lane. RNG always had picks that strengthened their bottom duo more than the opponent team, except in a few games: the second game against Flash Wolves and Team Liquid in the group stage and Game 2 of the Knockout Stage against Fnatic.



Throughout the matches, RNG’s detailed macro played a major role. Normally, the bottom duo recalls together unless they have HP issues. However, RNG support Ming often recalled before Uzi did. This was to give Uzi all the experience from the minions.



Not only that, RNG gave all the turret gold to Uzi. As they won lane at the bottom with the stronger composition most of the time, Uzi often took the first turret additional gold alone which helped him grow quicker. When the game went on, most of the jungle monsters and buffs were given to Uzi.



Janna was also an important part of RNG’s victory. Early in the MSI, supports that had CC were preferred and mid lane Karma was becoming fairly common. Janna also started to rise. She was strong against melee supports and excelled at protecting allies.



Team Liquid and Flash Wolves first started to use Janna and gained a lot from her. Afterwards, RNG played Janna three times against Kingzone DragonX at the finals. She was perfect for putting pressure on the lane and, more importantly, she maximized Uzi’s ability with her skillset and Ardent Censer.



One of the biggest reasons that RNG was able to win the championship was because they had the best comprehension of the meta. All teams knew the importance of the bottom lane, but RNG took it one step further and strengthened their bottom lane by capitalizing on even the smallest of advantages. With the trust from the team, Uzi and Ming were able carry out whatever they needed to do to lead the team to their first international championship title.