Royal Never Give Up vs SK Telecom T1

One quick look at the headline "Royal Never Give up vs. SK Telecom T1" is all it takes to make our mouths start to water. This is a premier match-up, regardless of the meta or overall state of the game. Fortunately for all of us, the meta has never been this flexible and entertaining, and these two giants are as strong and potent as ever.

All of this means we should be in for one heck of a game, to say the least. If only it was a Best of 5, but alas. Maybe that'll happen somewhere down the road, who knows.

Before we delve deeper into the match-up itself, let's take a closer look at where these two titans are, and what's expected from them going forward.

First up, we have the second seed from China -- RNGU. Now, it's always hard reading Royal Never Give Up, and predicting just how high they'll climb is an incredibly thankless endeavor. They're always dangerous, that's a fact. But whether or not that's enough against the best teams in the world is an entirely different matter. Their 2019 run wasn't exactly spectacular, but they were able to clutch things out when it mattered the most. Now, the age-old definition of Royal Never Give Up is still as present, and true as ever. They're aggressive, unrelenting, mechanically gifted and at times even unhinged, but they're also fairly one-dimensional and they've been one-dimensional for years.

That's deep in their DNA, and is what defines them the most. For better or worse.

To be fair, when you have what many consider the best and most capable AD carry to ever grace the stage, it's hard to play through any other lane. But their willingness to funnel resources into Uzi is a double-edged sword, and in today's meta where teams win through team work and stellar cohesion (not to mention spectacular, in-sync team fighting), it's hard for Royal Never Give Up to come out on top.

Now, they're not a pushover, but because they telegraph every decision they make, and foreshadow everything they want to do, reading them isn't such a hard thing, especially not for an experienced team.

And SKT T1 is as experienced as they come.

They've won both LCK splits in 2019, they (re)solidified their spot as the best and most dangerous Korean team in history (or organization rather), and they're looking to leave a mark at the 2019 World Championship. They want redemption for their failure in 2017 against Samsung Galaxy, they want to redeem their region after 2018, and they want redemption for their loss to G2 Esports in the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational semifinals.

By all accounts, SKT T1 wants a lot -- but they also have all the right tools to get the job done as well, which is exactly what makes their upcoming run so darn exciting. They have multiple threats across the map and they can play through any of them, depending on whom they're up against, what they want to do and how. That's a luxury in any meta, and they're aware of it. They know just how big of an edge they have over the competition, and their diverse arsenal of weapons will surely aid them over the coming weeks.

They also don't have any glaring weakness. They're in-sync, all on the same page, they have the perfect champion pools, and their mental fortitude and resilience are downright spectacular -- as is expected from an LCK champion.

Many analysts and coaches have SKT pegged as a Top 3 -- at worst. They're entering the tournament with a metric ton of hype and they're not the kind to disappoint. Not in the slightest. This is their time to shine and they're bound to dominate beyond measure. How high they'll eventually climb still remains to be seen, but the odds are definitely stacked in their favor.

All of this means we simply have to side with the LCK first seed. There's just no other way. They might not be particularly clean or dominant right off the bat, but they should be able to find their groove sooner rather than later. They have a chip on their shoulder and they're going for all or nothing.