China's dragons reign supreme at MSI

If you were wondering what it means to have the home crowd advantage here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational, you’d do well to ask China’s Royal Never Give Up. They've comprehensively told every challenger in the tournament to sit back down.

It was only fitting that their first round sweep culminated in a match against the Flash Wolves of the LMS. Both teams looked exceptional in victories over Korean powerhouse SKTelecom T1 on Day 2, and were eager to carry their momentum into Day 3 for their top of the table clash.

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In the end, it was RNG’s better team composition and ability to weather Flash Wolves’ early pressure that led to their 5-0 here in Shanghai.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for RNG. They lost tempo in the lane swap, which enabled an early roam from Karsa's Nidalee and SwordArt's Thresh. Xiahou didn’t stand a chance on a low mobility champion like Ryze, and he gave up First Blood to Karsa.

Flash Wolves were looking great -- but a clock was ticking. They’d drafted themselves into a corner where their one win condition was snowball the hell out of the game. Yes, they were winning, but was it by enough?

RNG kept their cool and pulled their way back into the game with some clutch team fights around Dragon. Slowly but surely, the incremental lead that the Flash Wolves had acquired early game was stripped back.

From there it was only a matter of time. Xiaohu's Ryze came online and Looper’s Poppy turned into an immovable rock at the front of the team. They used their advantages and superior team fighting to stomp Flash Wolves out of the game and stamp their authority on the competition.

So what’s next for RNG?

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Or, more appropriately, what’s next for the rest of the competition?

The closest RNG have looked to losing here in Shanghai was against Counter Logic Gaming in their opening match -- though we'll scratch that off to perhaps not understanding the Aurelion Sol matchup. For now, it’s not about RNG. It’s about who in the competition can step up to take a game off them.

Enjoying MSI? Stay tuned at Lolesports and hit us up on Twitter with #MSI2016 to show your regional pride.