DWG KIA vs. Royal Never Give Up - MSI 2021 Grand Final primer

They may be bruised, they may be bloody, but they aren’t beaten - at least, not yet. One of either DWG KIA or Royal Never Give Up will be lifting the MSI trophy tomorrow. The other will be heading home with a host of regrets.

Neither has looked imperious. Both had scrappy, contested semifinals. Both will be breathing sighs of relief that their errors in-game didn’t lead to an ignominious exit from the tournament. The LPL and LCK’s dominance continues, much to the LEC and PCS’ chagrin (2019 MSI excepted). And that’s without touching on all of the semifinals scheduling drama...

Still, flawed though they may be, both DK and RNG are powerhouses. Powerhouses with discernable weaknesses that both teams will be all-too-aware of.

DWG KIA (8-2 Rumble Stage, 3-2 vs. MAD Lions)

(Picture: LoL Esports)

It was a close-run thing, DWG KIA making the MSI finals. They were pushed all the way to five games by a defiant MAD Lions. But from 1-2 down, DK turned it around and got angry. Specifically, ShowMaker got angry.

Let’s get a little more specific. The good: Canyon is much improved on Rumble, and had a strong series overall. His synergy with ShowMaker was often all that was holding back the MAD Lions tide (see Game 3 of the series), with very smart reactive pathing to deal with jungle starts from Elyoya. He wasn’t out of sight of the young rookie jungler from MAD however, and will need to be on point to challenge Wei, who has had a stellar tournament himself.

On top of that, DK’s teamfighting is still impeccable. As long as they have the tools, you always have to fear DK in a 5v5. Whatever laning or skirmishing fumbles DK may have made, if they can come into a fight even a significant gold disadvantage, there is every chance DWG Kia can come out on top.

Lastly, ShowMaker is still the best player in the world right now. Humanoid put up an impressive fight, but ShowMaker was on another level. Best CSM, GPM, DPM, KDA… in nearly every stat you care to mention ShowMaker comes out on top, and if not then chances are he’s second. He plays everything from Zoe to Yone, and looks world class on all of them. Considering Cryin’s shaky MSI thus far, ShowMaker may well be DK’s most obvious win-condition, especially when paired up with Canyon.

Now for the bad: BeryL had an atrocious semifinal. His two Nautilus games were exceptionally poor, giving up kills in lane to Carzzy and Kasier, and he seemed to misread damage calculations consistently. It’s not even as if BeryL is low on stage time on the champion - he’s played 10 games on Nautilus at MSI compared to 11 on every other champion combined! Couple this with a nervy performance from Ghost, and Ming and GALA could well eat this botlane for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Khan also had a very mixed semifinal. He oscillated from misplaying dives and gank attempts that saw him fumble what should have been kills and outplays in his favour (the Game 3 failed hop to secure a kill onto Elyoya in the river is a prime example), to flexing his carry muscles on Jayce and Lee Sin. While his teamfight presence is consistent, the uncertainty in Khan’s laning and split map play should make DK fans nervous considering Xiaohu’s expertise in exactly those areas.

If DW KIA can leverage their strong mid/jungle duo and stabilise their sidelines, DK should be a strong contender come finals. If they can’t, or get picked apart across a spread map instead of 5v5s, then things look significantly murkier for the reigning World Champions.

Player to Watch - ShowMaker

The best player in the world and at this tournament, ShowMaker has in some cases single handedly wrestled DWG Kia to the finals. Considering Cryin’s struggles for RNG in the mid lane, ShowMaker has the ability required to turn that perceived opening into a consistent win-condition for DK with the backup of Canyon. All eyes on the PlayMaker.

Royal Never Give Up (7-3 Rumble Stage, 3-1 vs. PSG Talon)

(Picture: LoL Esports)

RNG will feel lucky their own series didn’t go to 5 games in the semis. PSG pushed RNG hard, but couldn’t hold it together in the late-game after garnering hefty advantages in multiple games.

Still, there are a few things we can say about RNG for certain. GALA and Ming are the best bot lane at the tournament. Yes, there’s an argument for Carzzy and Kaiser, Doggo and Kaiwing, but GALA has crushed every statistical marker you care to mention and brings the kind of 1v9 teamfight power the successor to Uzi was always going to need to fill the shoes of RNG’s ADC position - and that’s considering this iteration of RNG’s sometimes hit and miss teamfights. Add in the kind of tactical acumen and awareness to pull off plays like using Bustershot to deny any semblance of a Baron steal, and you have a remarkably complete package.

As for Ming, he came in touted as the best support in the world, and by and large, he’s delivered. His primary rival was Kaiwing, who also had a strong semifinal, but it was still Ming that came out on top in the end, even if he had to play more for lane than is necessarily RNG’s preferred style. Xiaohu too deserves praise. He’s normally the main benefactor of Ming’s roaming presence, but that was less viable in semis. And yet his sideline presence and laning have offered a wealth of tactical advantages to RNG all tournament long. Part of why PSG struggled to close versus RNG was Xiaohu’s impeccable wave management in a sidelane.

And that brings us on to RNG’s major strength as a team: even if they suffer from mixed laning performances and early deficits on occasion, you can invariably rely on them having exceptional map manipulation skills. Backdoors, surprise barons, unusual collapses, split-pushing… RNG’s late-game decision making has been formidable, to say the least.

On the other hand, it has been possible to get a serious advantage against them early - as PSG proved - especially if they try to play through too many lanes at once. Add in some flawed teamfights and you can RNG down to size...

… assuming they ever give you a fair fight. Yes, RNG are beatable in a straight 5v5, but a). That’s no guarantee and b). RNG plays dirty. As we already mentioned, RNG are very good at avoiding fights that don’t look favourable or catching people out in rotation.

A final point of weakness has been Cryin. In fairness to the player, his semifinals performance was relatively strong, with a focus towards control mages in Orianna and Viktor, but wasn’t world-beating either. That may well be exactly what is required versus ShowMaker. If he is left isolated in favour of top or bot, then RNG could find themselves being broken open through mid lane.

If that does happen, it’s worth remembering that substitute Xiaobai is a top laner and Xiaohu was a well-regarded mid laner only last year. If things do go south, there’s a very real chance we see the role swap from RNG as a mid-series adaptation.

Player to Watch - Ming

BeryL has been struggling, and Ghost to a lesser extent alongside him. And that means Ming has all the tools to take this final into his own hands. The superstar support can either focus on blowing open bot to get GALA ahead, or trusting that GALA won’t be under threat if he is left alone to allow Ming to team up with Wei and cause carnage top lane, where Khan has misplayed top collapses a little too often.

Verdict: 3-2 Royal Never Give UP

Yes, ShowMaker and Canyon could absolutely carry DWG KIA to victory, but RNG’s ability to play the map and avoid 5v5s on an even footing plays so well against how DK function as a team. Just look at the Rumble Stage results - RNG are the only team with a winning record against DK at the tournament.

 Add in Ghost and BeryL’s poor recent form compared to the incendiary stuff coming out of GALA and Ming, alongside Xiaohu’s own top lane strength, and RNG should have the tools needed to match up well into DK’s playstyle and weaknesses.