LOL: RNG suffer stunning 2-3 loss to G2 Esports

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Not a team can achieve a long-time win in sports. The tournament-favorite Royal Never Give Up (RNG) suffered a stunning 2-3 loss to G2 Esports during the latest quarter-final of the 2018 League of Legends (LOL) World Championship.

Some cite their battle on October 20 at Bexco Auditorium in Busan, South Korea, as one of the largest upsets in the tournament's history.

"We are sorry for the fans who had high expectations from us. We will carry on and please wait for our performance next year," RNG said in their official account on social media Weibo.

RNG almost closed out this perfect season with their victories during the LOL Pro League (LPL) Spring Split, the Mid-season Invitational, the Summer Split and the Jakarta Asian Games, during which esports were only demonstrative events.

Team China and Team South Korea compete in the demonstrative esport event LOL final during the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 29, 2018. /VCG Photo

As a highly ranked team of the LPL, the top level LOL league in China, RNG was led by the legendary player Jian Zihao or "Uzi" in game. He is good at the role of "carry", a term used in LOL to mean a single player pushing his team to victory.

Both Mercedes-Benz and KFC have each signed a one-year sponsorship deal with RNG. Also, Uzi is the first professional esport player in partnership with Nike, which has featured him alongside Chinese actor Bai Jingting and NBA player LeBron James in support of LeBron's upcoming documentary series "Shut Up and Dribble".

However, Uzi's personal magnificence could not save the whole team, especially when the opponent G2 Esports displayed strong game prowess.

The Spain-based team G2 Esports was the third seed of the EU League Champion Series (LCS) during the championship. They rebranded from the name Gamers2 in October 2015, after qualifying for the EU LSC. The core player was Perkz who owed the success to his teammates.

In another quarterfinal on Saturday, Invictus Gaming (IG) beat KT Rolster 3-2.

(Top image by Li Wenyi)