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Royal and Rogue lead the LPL

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Fresh off a second straight win at Rift Rivals, League of Legends was back in full swing albeit in a shortened week. Despite there not being a ton of action to sink our teeth into during this three-day week, there was no shortage of important matches as the cross-region play has now begun in earnest. Once the dust settled, though, it was Royal Never Give Up and Rogue Warriors that stood tall after breaking the ties at the top of their respective regions.

Starting in the East Region, RNG (7-1) had itself quite the week with a pair of wins against OMG (3-5) and EDward Gaming (5-2). While the victory over a mid-tier team like OMG was expected and not surprising in the least bit, the 2-1 win on Sunday over EDG sure felt like a statement. When it was announced that RNG's star AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao would be stepping down, many wondered if the team would still flourish in an increasingly tough LPL region. To work around his absence, RNG opted to run compositions featuring either two top laners or two junglers while shifting players into lanes they don't usually play in. It may have looked odd on paper, but it paid off with a 2-1 win over one of the top teams in the West. Time will tell if this plan could be considered an optimal strategy moving forward, but at least this week RNG now sits alone atop the East standings.

Fellow top dogs in the East, Invictus Gaming (6-1) and JD Gaming (6-1), each played one series this week and picked up victories to keep pace with RNG. Invictus took out FunPlus Phoenix (2-5), while JDG took out Team WE (1-6). Invictus looked fine in a 2-0 sweep, but there may be a bit of cause for concern on the part of JDG as it struggled in a 2-1 series against WE. The fact that it couldn't ease past a team that is sitting at the bottom of the standings with just one series win and five games wins overall could be a sign of trouble that fans will surely want to keep an eye on moving forward.

The West region didn't share the same success, as the cross-region play saw it get knocked around to the tune of a 3-5 record this week. The aforementioned EDG loss to RNG allowed Rogue Warriors (6-1) to move into sole position of the top spot with a 2-1 win over Suning Gaming (3-4). It may not have been the easiest win in the world, but Suning is no slouch and a win at all against a top-4 team in the East is nothing o scoff at. With the duo of Han "Smlz" Jin and Liu "Killua" Dan-Yang tearing it up in the bottom lane on a seemingly regular basis, Rogue looks poised to keep the ball rolling as the Split progresses.

While EDG floundered, Snake Esports (4-3) picked up a quick win over LGD Gaming (1-6) to break past Topsports Gaming (3-4), who took a loss to Bilibili Gaming (2-5) this week, and into third place. It's true that LGD isn't necessarily the best that the East has to offer, but it was a win nonetheless.

It may have been a short Week 4 in the LPL, but the action will be back in full force starting next week. No match of the week will be more important than the final one next Sunday, as RNG and Rogue Warriors will go head-to-head in a battle for supremacy in the LPL.

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