Dragons fly into the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational
China’s Royal Never Give Up took down North America’s Counter Logic Gaming in an opening, game that saw both teams going blow for blow until RNG finally managed to drop CLG to the canvas.
While it was the Chinese dragons who came away with the win, it was the dragon on the other side of the Rift that stole the show. CLG’s mid laner Huhi’s performance on Aurelion Sol was something for the ages. Even the heavily Chinese-favored crowd erupted at the sight of the celestial dragon's Starsurge barreling down mid lane -- and the potential YOLO that would occur if it actually managed to land the fabled five-man stun.
And Huhi says it was all according to plan. "A month ago he came out and I was spamming him in Solo Queue. I played him eight games in a row and I went 8-0. I was pretty hype!" But his teammates weren't. As the dragon was disabled on the NA LCS patch at the time, they asked Huhi to shelf the pick -- until MSI.
"I felt a lot of pressure when I played Aurelion Sol. My heart was beating so fast," said Huhi. "It's never happened before, but I was pretty excited to play that champion."
"He's the only mid lane champion who can out-push Azir at Level 1. And, Azir wants to farm mid and stay in mid, while Aurelion Sol can push the lane 24/7 and then rotate. It was pretty unlucky that they blind swapped and it went to 2 vs. 1 so I couldn't really use my advantage to roam around."
Both teams were fighting for more than just the win. For RNG, they were in front of their home crowd in the first match of the tournament. For CLG, it was to disprove the stigma surrounding the North America and their international performance.
In the end, RNG and CLG stepped up to the plate. RNG managed to execute a lane swap against the best lane swap team in North America. CLG held their own in team fights with the best team fighters in China.
It’s also worth noting that both Huhi and Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes -- two rookies who many pointed out as the weak links in CLG’s armor -- had incredible performances. Huhi on the aforementioned Star Dragon and Stixxay on Caitlyn with two Quadrakills. Not to mention his impressive 3 vs. 1 clean-up battle that ended in a duel with a homeguard-buffed Looper.
As things moved into “these death timers are too damn long” territory, the tension in the Shanghai Oriental Sports Arena was palpable. CLG had momentum, but even the slightest mistake could spell the downfall for either side. And in the end, the slight mistake was an out of position engage from Darshan and some disgusting damage from wuxx on Lucian and xiaohu on Azir that clinched it for RNG.
"We thought RNG were going to be pretty strong, but we kind of underestimated them until we actually played versus them," admits Huhi. "Then we realized that Mata is still a god," he laughs.
"We learned how they play. For example, RNG have their specific flanks. They flank with their support and we never played against that. So it was pretty new, and it was really powerful as well, because Stixxay and I, we were scared of Mata all the time because he made crazy plays."
After a final grueling team fight, RNG broke through to CLG's Nexus and won the first victory of MSI 2016.
CLG were left to lick their wounds. Though, it wouldn’t be the end of their Day 1 story. With a match against the LMS' Flash Wolves later in the day, they still had a chance for redemption.
After falling behind early and weathering a Baron-empowered push from Flash Wolves, CLG showed the mental fortitude to come back and snowball their Dragon control (with a clutch Xmithie steal) into a come-from-behind victory.
Such is the beauty of a tournament like MSI. Each team is guaranteed to play ten matches at the very least and storylines can change in the blink of an eye. CLG have already done their best to turn their narrative on its head, but it’s a long tournament -- and at this point it’s anyone’s guess who will own the Rift and come away with a top four seed for Worlds 2016
"We're looking forward to playing SKT, the best team in the world," says Huhi of his future opponents. "We were pretty excited to scrim them and we got confidence by playing them. We thought we aren't that far behind. And especially in a Best of 5 series we're a strong team because we adapt well. I'm looking forward to playing SKT -- but in a Best of 5 series!"
See which teams will make their way towards the next stage of MSI when the tournament continues tomorrow, right here on Lolesports.
Check out the full schedule and share your favorite MSI moments from day one below or hit us up on Twitter @Lolesports with #MSI2016 and show us your regional pride!