Rumble Stage is behind and Knockout Stage ahead of us. Here is a clear look at EG’s matchup against the reigning champions, RNG in our MSI Semi-Final Preview.
Riot’s MSI is nearing its finale, as the playoffs are only a couple of days out. The journey which started on May 10 with eleven teams, instead of twelve as LCL couldn’t send a representative, is now down to just four. While on the other side of the bracket, two former enemies in T1 and G2 Esports face each other, EG has to overcome the LPL giants that won it all last year.
RNG is looking to be the second team to win two consecutive MSI trophies after SKT1 in 2016 and 2017. The LPL first seed had a disappointing summer last year, missing the Worlds 2021 even after their MSI victory. This year the squad is looking to not only repeat the same success but also carry it over to the rest of the year.
On the other hand, EG is coming off the hype of their first-ever LCS title in the 2022 Spring Split. The Geniuses had a disappointing three consecutive 5-6 place finishes before they decided to split up from their star mid laner Jiizuke and go with a younger squad. They are now looking to beat the odds against RNG to carry NA to the finals for the first time since 2019.
MSI Semi-Final Preview RNG v EG (May 27, 10:00 AM CET)
For many North American fans, Evil Geniuses came into the MSI with a new kind of hope. A hope based on native talents like Dany, Jojopyun and Vulcan supported by experienced imports like Inspired and Impact. But the hope seems to be mostly gone after a disappointing 1-9 score against other major regions.
Although six of those losses were against G2, they went 0-6, which still means 1-3 against LPL and LCK. The only game they managed to win was against T1 in the Rumble Stage. The only bright side is they didn’t drop any games against wildcard teams, including PSG.
On the flip side, RNG only lost two games during the entire tournament. This is exceedingly impressive, considering they had to repeat multiple games due to technical ping issues with the remote play. They only dropped their first and last game in the Rumble Stage against G2 and T1.
The tournament performances don’t give too much chance to EG to advance. All the while, RNG matches up very well against EG’s strengths and weaknesses when we look lane by lane.
It is no secret bot lane of EG struggled to perform to their LCS Playoffs levels during MSI. While he always had a tendency to give early kills to his enemies, Danny’s deaths during laning phase have been a big problem for EG. In LCS, he was mostly able to scale well and participate in team fights. But during MSI, he is trailing behind in kills with 60 total, while GALA has nearly double that with 116. And Vulcan was criticized heavily for his reckless mid-games, where he frequently got caught trying to get vision without his teammates.
EG’s mid-jungle duo doesn’t fare well too well either. While Inspired is having a great tournament, Wei is probably the best jungler participating. His performances on Viego and Lee Sin have been very consistent in getting his team leads throughout mid-game. In the mid-lane, Jojo is quietly having a good first international performance, but it will be tough for him to keep up with Xiaohu. Once again back in mid, Xiaohu found great success with roaming picks like Galio and Ahri, which could spell trouble for EG’s struggling bot lane.
One bright spot for the Geniuses is the top lane. Although Bin is as consistent as ever, Impact’s performances, especially in EG wins, cannot be understated. His Gankplank games against PSG and T1 are one of the reasons EG is in the Knockouts.
So how can EG win? Well, it won’t be easy. But the most important step will be for Danny to be more careful in lane and die less so that Vulcan can roam more. If Vulcan can manage to gank mid and top with his jungler to keep Xiaohu in lane or put Bin behind, it will give them their best shot. On the other hand, RNG will be heavy favorites if they can play the same side lane focused game.
Prediction: RNG 3 – 0 EG