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| After 6 years of competing, Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao (on picture) hoists the LPL trophy for the first time after defeating EDward Gaming (EDG), 3-1 and his demon, Ming (Clearlove) Kai to win 2018 LPL Spring. LoL Esports Twitter Page |
By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA (UPDATED) -- After six years, 12 splits, 11 playoffs, four Finals, and five different teams, the Mad Dog has finally made history.
Star AD Carry Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao made history happen for himself whilst leading Royal Never Give Up (RNG) to its second domestic title as they toppled the 5-time Chinese champions EDward Gaming (EDG), 3-1 in their best-of-5 "El Classico" Grand Finals date to win the 2018 LPL Spring Split at the Chengdu Magic Cube in Sichuan, China, Saturday evening (Philippine time).
Jian, who had been regarded as one of the best AD Carries of the world, but never had a chance of hoisting a single trophy in his six-year professional career finally broke his existing championship curse as the "Mad Dog" has been unleashed once again, rampaging against their counterparts with his Kog'Maw, Xayah and his vintage Ashe despite losing in Game 1 through a stomp, propelling the 10-man squad to the coveted trophy.
With this, he bagged the Finals MVP honors through his individual 13.5 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) Ratio in their three consecutive wins, accentuating his flawless 7/0/2 KDA in Game 3, where he scored a huge Triple Kill with his Kog'Maw in an EDG-base teamfight in the final ticks of the game.
Aside from him, veteran mid laner Li (Xiaohu) Yuan-Hao also provided burst damage for RNG with his Vladimir and Ryze and immense utility power with his Karma and Morgana, amassing a combined game-high 15.5 KDA Ratio (7/2/24 KDA) in the conclusion of the four-game run.
RNG's resident jungler Liu (Mlxg) Shi-Yu and top laner Yan (Letme) Jun-Ze also provided quality minutes and boosted the frontlines of the team despite being swapped by Hung (Karsa) Hau-Hsuan and Liu (Zz1tai) Zhi-Hao, respectively, submitting a decent 6/2/28 KDA (17 KDA Ratio) in their two starts in the series.
Sophomore support Shi (Ming) Sen-Ming also helped Liu and Yan in supporting their carries through his shielding support picks like Rakan and Braum, letting him lead the assists department with his 29 combined assists.
EDG, meanwhile, even though being dumped for the rest of the run, had the spotlight shining on them in the curtain-raiser, where they simply found Jian dumbfounded with rookie jungler Chen (Haro) Wen-Lin's Trundle and constant pressure from Hu (iBoy) Xian-Zhao and Tian (Meiko) Ye, letting Hu lead the kills category for his team with 6 combined kills.
Jian, who had been regarded as one of the best AD Carries of the world, but never had a chance of hoisting a single trophy in his six-year professional career finally broke his existing championship curse as the "Mad Dog" has been unleashed once again, rampaging against their counterparts with his Kog'Maw, Xayah and his vintage Ashe despite losing in Game 1 through a stomp, propelling the 10-man squad to the coveted trophy.
With this, he bagged the Finals MVP honors through his individual 13.5 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) Ratio in their three consecutive wins, accentuating his flawless 7/0/2 KDA in Game 3, where he scored a huge Triple Kill with his Kog'Maw in an EDG-base teamfight in the final ticks of the game.
Aside from him, veteran mid laner Li (Xiaohu) Yuan-Hao also provided burst damage for RNG with his Vladimir and Ryze and immense utility power with his Karma and Morgana, amassing a combined game-high 15.5 KDA Ratio (7/2/24 KDA) in the conclusion of the four-game run.
RNG's resident jungler Liu (Mlxg) Shi-Yu and top laner Yan (Letme) Jun-Ze also provided quality minutes and boosted the frontlines of the team despite being swapped by Hung (Karsa) Hau-Hsuan and Liu (Zz1tai) Zhi-Hao, respectively, submitting a decent 6/2/28 KDA (17 KDA Ratio) in their two starts in the series.
Sophomore support Shi (Ming) Sen-Ming also helped Liu and Yan in supporting their carries through his shielding support picks like Rakan and Braum, letting him lead the assists department with his 29 combined assists.
EDG, meanwhile, even though being dumped for the rest of the run, had the spotlight shining on them in the curtain-raiser, where they simply found Jian dumbfounded with rookie jungler Chen (Haro) Wen-Lin's Trundle and constant pressure from Hu (iBoy) Xian-Zhao and Tian (Meiko) Ye, letting Hu lead the kills category for his team with 6 combined kills.
With the win, RNG will complete the cast and will represent China in the upcoming 2018 Mid Season Invitational this May 5 to 20 at Germany. They will also bag 90 Championship Points and the region's first Rift Rivals 2018 (vs. Korea and Taiwan) seed.
EDG, on the other hand will garner 70 Championship Points and will join RNG, altogether with third-placers Rogue Warriors (RW) and Chinese titans Invictus Gaming (IG) in their Rift Rivals conquest.
Follow him at Twitter: @History4Lyf
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