On May 29, in the grand finals of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational, Royal Never Give Up defeated T1 3-2 and became the first team to win three MSI championships. Unfortunately, Royal Never Give Up had to compete remotely from their team facility due to COVID-19 restrictions, but they still managed to reach the top. After the match, Royal Never Give Up members tuned in on Zoom for a press conference.
(To Xiaohu) Blue side one all games today. In your opinion, how much advantage does the blue side have?
Xiaohu: Actually, I think it doesn’t matter whether we’re on the blue side or the red side. The blue side can take OP champions, and the red side can do the same. Even in the games we lost on the red side, we just lost because of our champion pool and weren’t able to show them all.
(To Xiaohu and Ming) In your career, you’ve faced T1 many times. This is the first time you beat them in a best-of series. How do you feel?
Xiaohu: I’m extremely happy that we beat T1 today. I’m really tired because I really did my best. I think I showed my best performance today.
Ming: I’m very glad that we beat T1 with my teammates through good performance. We lost to T1 so many times before, so I feel really good beating them today.
(To GALA) It seemed that T1 was preparing Caitlyn - did you ban her because you predicted it? Do you think if T1 picked Zilean instead of Yuumi, the result would have been different?
GALA: I was going to play Tristana, so we banned Caitlyn because if they picked her, laning would be hard. As for Zilean and Yuumi, we didn’t play against Zilean, so I’m not sure if the results would have been different.
(To Kenzhu) What do you think about people saying RNG were given many privileges?
Kenzhu: I think there could be people saying that. We didn’t think anything about the privileges. We were just unhappy that we weren’t able to go to the scene in Busan.
(To Bin) How do you feel after growing so much competitively, looking back at your beginnings with Suning, and now after becoming both an LPL and MSI champion with RNG?
Bin: It wasn’t easy getting to win the championship. I think I improved a lot. I want to reach higher places with my teammates in the future.
(To Ming and GALA) English social media called the two of you the best bot lane in the world after defeating T1. What are your thoughts on that and what can you take away from this year’s MSI to improve as a duo for the Summer and potentially Worlds?
GALA: I think all players are similar. It depends on individual conditions and the performance they showed.
Ming: I think there are a lot of players that are better than us. Players’ individual conditions are also different. I saw many good teams at this MSI. Everyone’s playstyles and champion pools are different. I think we were able to show much-improved performance through this tournament.
(To Xiaohu and Ming) What are you going to do to celebrate?
Xiaohu: They prepared a delicious dinner for us, so I’m going to eat a lot.
Ming: I’ll relieve my stress by playing a few TFT games.
(To Ming) Although RNG is considered the MSI kings, because you won 3 times, the same cannot be said about Worlds. RNG wasn’t able to win Worlds. What’s your mentality for the summer and Worlds?
Ming: The patch will be much different in the summer compared to MSI. Obviously, I hope we reach higher places. Our goal is to win Worlds, so we’ll try to maintain a good condition and work in a challenger’s mindset.
(To Bin) You picked Gwen three times and won all those games. We heard that you talked to Flandre a lot. How much did it help?
Bin: We won thanks to Flandre. All of my teammates showed a good performance today, so we were able to win. We were able to win all three games because I was quite good at playing Gwen.
(To Xiaohu) You won MSI as a top laner last year and now as a mid laner. Did you feel any pressure as the defending champion?
Xiaohu: I didn’t feel any pressure. I always play my games in a challenger’s mindset. I’m happy that I proved my capability by winning once as a top laner and once as a mid laner.
(To Ming) T1’s head coach, Polt, said that they lost because they weren’t able to play on the blue side more. What do you think?
Ming: I think it’s proper to say that, but they lost the coin toss.
(To Kenzhu) You won the coin toss last year and this year as well. What do you think?
Kenzhu: I don’t know about last year, but this year, it’s thanks to the manager. The manager never lost a coin toss.
Ming: I’d like to add to my answer. On Media Day, Polt said that they were supposed to win 3-0, but that they’ll win 3-1 because they lost the coin toss. I don’t understand why he’s bringing that up again.
(To Kenzhu) There were many debates regarding side selection. What do you think?
Kenzhu: Many people think the blue side is advantageous, but if you had seen the game against EG, you could see that the red side can win too. We weren’t able to win from the red side today, but there is a way to win.
(To Wei) You were picked as the finals MVP. How would you evaluate your performance? What do you think about the next patch?
Wei: I got the finals MVP thanks to my teammates. They helped me a lot. I don’t know about the next patch, but I think I’ll need a lot of practice.
(To Bin) You talked about Zeus before. Since you won today, do you think you had revenge?
Bin: I don’t know about revenge. I think I trailed to Zeus in today's match as well. I hope I get to meet him again and beat him on another stage.
