MSI 2021: DWG KIA conquers and locks first place of the Rumble Stage

The Rumble Stage of the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational is coming to an end, now that all four teams from the LCK, LPL, LEC and PCS have qualified to the Knockout Stage, where the race to become the next MSI champions will begin on 21st May.

However, after both PSG Talon and MAD Lions secured their tickets to this final stage, only one thing was left to define the course of the Playoffs: Knowing which team would lock the top seed of the Rumble and get the chance to choose their opponents for the Semifinals.

(Picture: Riot Games)

Prior to today’s matches, LCK’s DWG KIA arrived to the last day of qualifiers with a 7-1 score, after their first defeat at the start of the tournament against the Chinese squad, while RNG began the day with a 6-2 after their losses against PSG Talon and Cloud9.

The first game of day 5 was one of the most awaited games of the entire tournament, as this had the rematch between both the Worlds 2020 and MSI 2018 champions, a match that would determine the possibility of a tiebreaker in case of being necessary.

However, the match proved to be a very even game, as the regional champions came back and forth in every single teamfight. The breaking point came at minute 33, when in an attempt to take the Dragon Soul, RNG denied the Korean offensive in a good engage, killing everyone around and pushing through the DWG’s base to get the upper hand.

RNG put themselves up in the standings, so a victory against MAD Lions would secure the top seed having supremacy against the Koreans. But, in a twisted result, the LEC champions demolished the Chinese powerhouse securing them the last seed to the Knockout Stage.

With RNG’s fate on the hands on DWG KIA, the LCK squad didn’t stuttered to get the first place of the Rumble as their last game was against the LCO champions, Pentanet.GG, so with a more than predictable result in their favour and after 27 minutes, the current world champions locked the first place.

Now with their journeys coming to an end, DWG KIA managed to beat every single of the teams in the Rumble twice, except for RNG, the only team that managed to beat them in both matches, but that ended with a 7-3 after giving up some upsets against the West and PCS teams.