Royal Club
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| Nicknames | Royal Club |
|---|---|
| Sport | League of Legends |
| Founded | ? |
| League | League of Legends Pro League |
| Owner(s) | Star Horn |
Royal Club (officially Star Horn Royal Club sometimes called Royal Club Huang Zu) (pinyin: huang zu; literally: "royal family") is a Chinese professional League of Legends team that competes in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). They are the first team to reach the finals of the League of Legends World Championship twice, doing so in 2013 and 2014. The only member of both squads was Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao. The team was founded in 2012. In 2014 they became sponsored by Star Horn, changing their name to reflect this.
Royal Club Huang Zu started off the year with their participation in the G-League 2012 Season 2, finished at 3-4th place after losing against Team WE 1-3. They then attended GIGABYTE StarsWar League/Season 2 in March but got knocked out in the Group Stage. In June, Royal Club Huang Zu finished 5th in 2013 LPL Spring, went 15-13 in the Group Stage and did not qualify for playoffs. One day after, they participated in the NVIDIA Game Festival 2013 and placed second after losing against Team WE in the finals. In July, Royal HZ took part in StarsWar 8 tournament. They got knocked out in the semifinals, lost 0-2 to iG. At the end of July, they once again lost 0-2 to iG in the semifinals of IEM Season VIII - Shanghai and finished 3-4th. In September, Royal HZ qualified for the Season 3 China Regional Finals after finishing 2nd in the 2013 LPL Summer/Regular Season with a 13-8 record over the season. In the Season 3 China Regional Finals, Royal HZ made an amazing comeback, went from the Loser's bracket to defeat OMG in the Grand Finals, claimed the first place and not only a spot in the Season 3 World Championship but the huge advantage of being seeded directly into the quarterfinals past the group stages.
At the S3 Championship, Royal Club would be a dark horse team in the quarterfinals as they were not as well known outside the Asian scene, and Worlds was their first major tournament in North America. Their first match would be against a team they were exceptionally familiar with from the Chinese league, OMG. In the first match of bracket stage, the two Chinese teams would re-enact the Chinese Regional Finals to see who would advance and who would be eliminated from the tournament. OMG had been seen as one of the strongest teams in the Group stage, losing only once to the eventual champions SK Telecom T1, but Royal Club were well prepared going into the match. They defeated their Chinese compatriots in a 2-0 victory, advancing to face Europe's top seed, Fnatic. The series would lead to a back and forth heavy hitting battle between the regions, with Royal able to win the final game, 3-1. Huang Zu found themselves in the ultimate spotlight in the grand finals against favored Korean team SK Telecom T1. The anticipated match led to Royal Club being overwhelmed by SK T1, losing 0-3, but taking home a very respectable 2nd place.
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