The last Pool 1 spot for the Mid-Season Invitational will be determined on Sunday when FunPlus Phoenix and Royal Never Give Up meet to determine the LPL Spring Split winner. This is RNG’s eighth trip to the finals, while FPX is making just its second trip to the finals. RNG haven’t won an LPL title since the 2018 Summer Split though, while FPX won the 2019 Summer Split on their way to winning the World Championships.
2021 LPL Spring Split Finals Betting Odds
FunPlus Phoenix -256
Royal Never Give Up +184
RNG was the best team in the LPL during the regular season. They finished the Spring Split with a 14-2 record, and their only two losses came against Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming. The three-time LPL champions beat FPX in the regular season, but they were swept by FPX in the first round of the double elimination semifinals. That forced RNG to beat Top Esports 3-2 and Edward Gaming 3-2 in order to potentially get revenge in the finals.
FPX finished the regular season with an 11-5 record. That meant they joined the double gauntlet playoff format in the second round. They beat Rare Atom 3-1 and JD Gaming 3-1 before their win over RNG, and they edged EDG 3-2 to punch their ticket to the finals.
When these teams met 11 days ago, FPX swept RNG 3-0 with all three games lasting less than 30 minutes. Nuguri consistently got the better of Xiaohu in the top lane, and Doinb thrived on support mages with a 6.6 KDA on Orianna and Karma.
Match Preview
For RNG to pull off the upset, Xiaohu needs to do a better job against Nuguri in the top lane. Xiaohu was named the best top laner in the LPL during the Spring Split, but he was repeatedly outclassed by the former DAMWON Gaming top laner. Nuguri is probably the most skilled top laner in the world, and he proved it the last time these teams squared off. He did a whopping 596 DPM over three games.
Wei did a solid job in the jungle. He had a 3.1 KDA per Games of Legends for RNG, and he was the only player on his team to surpass a 2.0 KDA against FPX. His Udyr play is fine, so he can get and edge on FPX’s Tian.
The biggest gap might be in the mid lane. The only RNG player that didn’t make the All-Pro team is Cryin. He posted a 1.9 KDA against FPX in the first series, and he didn’t have the same effectiveness as Doinb. FPX’s mid laner can do it all and has over the course of his career.
Long-time support Ming is the veteran for RNG now. He was named the best support in the league during the regular season. Ming couldn’t get Rell to work against FPX, and GALA didn’t play well beside his colleague in the bottom lane. Lwx and Crisp are a little hit or miss, so this should be a competitive laning phase.
Prediction
RNG will win at least one game this time around. Their experience and branding counts for something, and they will use that to get the better of FPX at least once. However, FPX have the talent edge. This is one of the LPL’s super teams, and everything is coming together at just the right time. Nuguri gives this team a lot of flexibility at other positions, while Doinb can take almost any champion into the mid lane and make it work.
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