Royal Never Give Up and G2 Esports finished unbeaten in their respective groups on Saturday and advanced to the Rumble Stage of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational in Busan, South Korea.
RNG (6-0) and G2 (8-0) each swept their matches Saturday to finish atop Groups B and C, respectively. Group B runners-up PSG Talon (3-3) and Group C runners-up Evil Geniuses (4-4) also advanced to the second stage of the $250,000 League of Legends tournament that runs through May 29.
RED Canids (2-4) and Istanbul Wildcats (1-5) were eliminated in Group B, while ORDER (0-8) were knocked out in Group C.
Group A will complete the group stage on Sunday, with T1 (3-0) and Saigon Buffalo (2-1) currently in position to join the Rumble.
There are only 11 teams instead of 12 competing because the LCL is not represented due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. RNG are competing remotely due to COVID travel restrictions in China.
The group stage consists of a double round-robin in Groups A and B and a quadruple round-robin in Group C. All matches are best-of-one with the top two teams in each group advancing. Stage 2 (Rumble) is a double round-robin and all matches are best-of-one with the top four teams advancing. Stage 3 (Knockout) is a single-elimination bracket with all matches best-of-five.
The group stage ends Sunday with six matches in Group A:
Team Aze vs. Saigon Buffalo
DetonatioN FocusMe vs. T1
Saigon Buffalo vs. DetonatioN FocusMe
T1 vs. Team Aze
DetonatioN FocusMe vs. Team Aze
Saigon Buffalo vs. T1
Group stage standings:
Group A
1. T1, 3-0
2. Saigon Buffalo, 2-1
3. DetonatioN FocusMe, 1-2
4. Team Aze, 0-3
Group B
1. Royal Never Give Up, 6-0
2. PSG Talon, 3-3
3. RED Canids, 2-4
4. Istanbul Wildcats, 1-5
Group C
1. G2 Esports, 8-0
2. Evil Geniuses, 4-4
3. ORDER, 0-8
Prize pool and final standings:
1. TBD — $75,000
2. TBD — $50,000
3-4. TBD — $25,000
5-6. TBD — $17,500
7-9. ORDER, RED Canids, TBD — $8,325
10-11. Istanbul Wildcats, TBD — $5,000
–Field Level Media
