After being untouchable through the first week of MSI, G2 have fallen back down to Earth.
G2 Esports and Royal Never Gave Up both had near-spotless performances in the first round-robin of the Mid-Season Invitationals rumble stage, as the two teams came into their match against each other today with just one loss each through the second phase of the tournament. While G2 saw their undefeated record broken by PSG Talon earlier today, RNGs lone loss of the event thus far came at the hands of G2 earlier this weekend.
In their second round robin rematch, it was RNG who took revenge, dominating the game from start to finish to earn a straightforward 26-minute victory over the LEC champions.
While RNG held onto the tempo of todays game with a vice grip, it was at the 24-minute mark when they claimed a Baron buff and subsequently extended their gold lead over the European champions to over 7,000 that they effectively put the game out of reach. Through one final glimmer of hope, the Baron was nearly stolen by BrokenBlade, who gave his namesake some love with a Riven pick; the first time the champion had been selected in a game on the international stage since the grand finals of the 2015 World Championship.
For RNG, it was standout AD carry Gala who once again led the team to victory. His Xayah play alongside support Mings Rakan was too much for G2 to handleespecially considering RNG funneled almost all of their gold into the bottom lane. 15 minutes into the game, Gala had earned 1,800 more gold than any other player on Summoners Rift. While other players across the map were still working towards their first item, Gala was deep into his build path, working on his mid-game power spike. Hed go on to finish the game with a perfect scoreline of 8/0/2.
After winning 24 consecutive games coming into the day, G2 have now lost two contests in a row. They are currently tied for second place in the MSI rumble stage alongside T1. The two teams will look to break that tie when they face off tomorrow.
As for RNG, the team now owns sole possession of first place in the rumble stage. Tomorrow, their schedule consists of games against Saigon Buffalo and Evil Geniuses.