EDG clinch their first Worlds semifinals, after a dramatic victory against RNG

The Worlds 2021 quarterfinals continued their course today with an epic showdown between the last two representatives of the LPL.

Royal Never Give Up, spring champions of both LPL and MSI 2021, and Edward Gaming, summer champions, met in a series more than even for the advance to the semifinals of the 2021 World Championship.

In this fierce competitive duel, both teams measured themselves leaving everything they had on the Rift where Edward Gaming began adding a couple of kills that allowed them to take control of the first minutes of play.

Royal Never Give Up would respond in a fight around the dragon’s pit marking their comeback to the game, expanding their advantage by keeping the objectives and after a battle for the Elder Dragon, they kept the first point.

For the second match, EDG dominated since the first minutes by taking full control of the game. However, RNG surprised everyone by picking Annie for their mid laner Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-We, a champion who had her last appearance at Worlds back in 2015.

However, despite this surprise pick, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon ruled the map in EDG's favour, thanks to the dominance of his Ezreal. Although the third game was much more even, the LPL champions controlled the Rift better thanks to Jiejie’s Olaf and after a great teamfight in the Baron’s pit, they put the series 2-1.

Despite the previous result, Royal Never Give Up opted once again to pick Annie for Cryin, but by executing the teamfights better, they managed to dominate their composition, forcing the series to a fifth game.

The start of the last game was fairly even, but a bot lane fight that ended with an ace in EDG’s favour, allowed them to take control of the confrontation with an unleashed Viper, securing their team's qualification to the Worlds semifinals for the first time in their history.

Although RNG sought to surprise with unusual selections, this couldn’t be enough to stay with the victory against Edward Gaming, being eliminated from the tournament without the possibility of endorsing their title won in Iceland a few months ago.

Now, the LPL champions will have to wait for their rival who will come out of the series between Cloud9 and Gen.G, on 25th October. The quarterfinals of Worlds 2021 will continue this Sunday with the match between MAD Lions and DWG KIA.

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games and Getty Images.