Fnatic vs Royal Never Give Up

For our first match of the day we have an insanely exciting clash between the perennial European titans Fnatic, and a team that is synonymous with the LPL -- Royal Never Give Up. A clash of giants, in every regard. Two teams brimming with talent and potential, but also completely diverging playstyles.

Fnatic is, in many ways, far more creative and flexible. This fantastic trait is evident both in-game as well as in the pick and ban phase. They can win through multiple lanes and have shown incredible mental fortitude and resilience. They're one of the best teams in the world for a reason and have all the right tools to advance further into the tournament.

By the same token, Royal Never Give up is no pushover. Not in the slightest, although they are far more one-dimensional. You know how they want to play out the game, and where their strengths lie. They're not going to surprise you, although they will brute force things more often than not. Their mechanical prowess and sheer aggression are hard to counter, especially if a team is badly equipped for such an endeavor.

Both teams are sitting at a neutral 1W-1L record. Both teams lost to the LCK champions SKT T1 and beat Clutch Gaming. So all in all, we don't have a lot of information to base our prediction on. What is for certain, however, is that they're fighting for the second spot in their group which makes this game an absolute must-win. They're going to face off yet again in a matter of days, but getting a win today will give the victor a ton of momentum.

This game has "fireworks" written all over it. Two mechanically gifted teams, two rosters looking for redemption, and two line-ups fighting tooth and nail to reach the Knockout Stage. It'll be a game of inches, and is bound to be decided by the slimmest of margins. Either way, you do not want to miss it.

We'll go with Fnatic on this one, although it is far from a safe bet. We do, however, have full faith in their ability to adapt and clutch things out when it matters the most. They might not be perfect in their execution, but they know what's at stake and have a proven track record of playing at their absolute best when everything was on the line. That said, the bigger picture will become much clearer once this game concludes. The winner of this one game instantly becomes the front-runner to get out of groups along with SKT T1.