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China reclaims former glory as RNG beats Korea's KZ to win '18 MSI

Veteran AD Carry Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao (on picture) hoists the MSI trophy after claiming his and Royal Never Give Up (RNG)'s first-ever international victory, taking Korea's Kingzone DragonX down, 3-1 in the Finals.

By Ozzy Alaba

MANILA -- After two years of continuous failure, China has finally reclaimed their lost glory.

China finally snapped Korea's two-time dominance in the Mid Season Invitational as their delegates Royal Never Give Up (RNG) recorded their first-ever international victory, dismantling Kingzone DragonX (KZ), 3-1 in their best-of-5 Finals date to win the 2018 version of the event at the Le Zenith Theater in Paris, France, Sunday evening (Philippine time).

Despite crumbling into its adversary's pressure in Game 2, the six-man Chinese roster didn't let their guards go down after repulsing KZ's surprise Illaoi and Vel'Koz pick in Game 4, thanks to star AD Carry Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao's extermination of fellow AD Carry Kim (PraY) Jong-in's Xayah with his well-fed Kai'Sa in a mid lane teamfight in the 36th minute, thus sealing the championship for China, who first won the said tournament with Edward Gaming in its first edition in 2015.

For the Korean powerhouse, their best chance of gaining momentum to close out the series was on Game 2 as Kim and top laner Kim (Khan) Dong-ha went berserk, scoring some crucial kills in the dying minutes of the game, but it wasn't enough as RNG suppressed them in the rest of the run.

With his heroic performance, Jian concluded the series with flying colors as he was hailed as the Finals MVP with his stellar 14.5 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) Ratio (21/2/9 KDA) with his Kai'sa and his signature Ezreal in RNG's three wins in the four-game run, including his flawless 14/0/7 KDA on the latter alone.

Veteran mid laner Li (Xiaohu) Yuan-Hao also aided Jian in providing some poke power and frontline presence with his carry and tank picks, letting him garner a decent 11/8/20 KDA (3.88 KDA Ratio) in the end.

RNG's resident top laner Yan (Letme) Jun-Ze, and support Shi (Ming) Sen-Ming, and substitute jungler Hung (Karsa) Hau-Hsuan all provided quality minutes as they merely supplied the most needs for frontline presence and backline protection, letting them lead the assists department with 78 combined assists and co-lead the Kill Participation side with 47.19 percent (Jian leads with 71.42 percent)

Meanwhile, Korean KDA king Gwak (Bdd) Bo-seong displayed his excellence in the recently-reworked Irelia in KZ's only win in Game 2, going 2/1/7, thus co-leading the six-man team in the victory alongside with Jong-in, who racked up the said game with a 10 KDA Ratio (4/1/6 KDA).

With the win, RNG will go home with $385,000 in their pockets; KZ, on the other hand will amass $195,000.

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