Chinese eSports team Royal Never Give Up (RNG) claimed their first world championship at the 2018 League of Legends (LOL) Mid-season Invitational, beating the South Korean team KING-ZONE DragonX (KZ) 3-1 in the best-of-five final on Sunday.
It was also the first world title for Chinese eSports teams following EDward Gaming's victory at the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2015.
The two title favorites unsurprisingly set up their head-to-head clash in the final, where RNG got an upper hand over their opponents 2-1 after the third game. RNG made a strong comeback in the fourth game to win their maiden world title courtesy of Jian Zihao, better known as "Uzi", their Attack Damage Carry.
The six players shared an emotional hug and lifted the much-anticipated trophy in front passionate fans cheering the victory. "It's always been my biggest dream [to win the world title]. Now I'm super happy that it has come true," said Jian, voted the Most Valuable Player of the final.
RNG tasted their second major title in less than one month, as they won out in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in April.
"It's like a dream. I never thought that I can win two major titles in a row. I still feel quite excited now," Jian said at the post-match press conference. "I hope that everybody can keep this momentum, and continue to work hard, not taking this moment as the destination."
The Mid-Season Invitational is LOL's second most important international tournament aside from the World Championship, featuring the Spring Split champions from all regional leagues. The 2017 edition of the Mid-Season Invitational reportedly attracted a total of 364 million viewers across the world.
