FPX made it again - Masters Copenhagen
One of the most dominant EMEA teams in the 2022 season, FunPlus Phoenix are ready to take the challenge to the international level. After failing to travel to Iceland and missing VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík, they are now flying to Copenhagen to show their dominance against the best teams in each region!
Group Stage
In the first game of the stage, FunPlus Phoenix faced Fnatic but looked off compared to their VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event performance. Fnatic won the opener after 3 maps, 2-1, and FPX’s run started with a defeat. It was now time for them to bounce back as the competition kept on going and they had 4 more games before the stage ended. The CIS representatives made their come back with a clean sweep over G2 Esports in the second game, 13-9 on Fracture and 13-10 on Ascent. In the third map of the run, Pontus "Zyppan" Eek and Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky stepped up with 72 kills combined and the team managed to grab an easy win against FOKUS. The newest member of the EMEA tournament, FOKUS, showed a pulse on Breeze as they grabbed 11 rounds but FPX demolished them on Fracture with a score of 13-1. Another easy win for the CIS representatives as they swept OG LDN Utd, 13-6 on Haven and 13-3 on Bind. FunPlus Phoenix had magnificent performances against OG and FOKUS, especially in the second maps of the series. It showed how consistent and focused they can be. Lastly, Acend managed to upset them after 3 maps despite having rough times. FPX’s Bind performance in the closing game of the Group Stage was almost disastrous. Despite tying the series after a 13-9 win on Breeze, Acend put an end after 23 rounds of action on Split.
Playoffs
As they lost the closing match, FunPlus Phoenix finished the group right behind Acend at the third spot with 3 wins and 2 losses. Their run started from the Upper Bracket Quarter Finals as they took on Team Liquid to begin the challenge. Both teams won their map picks 13-8 and it was time for the decider. After a very close competition between two teams, FPX won the last map by a hair’s breadth, 14-12, and moved on in the tournament. However, they once again lost to Fnatic, 2-1, and got demoted to the Lower Bracket Quarter Finals. They had to face the team that gave them one of the losses in the Group Stage, Acend. This time, FPX managed to grab the win after two great performances on Haven and Breeze despite losing on Icebox. In order to qualify for Copenhagen, they had one more test in front of them, the Lower Bracket Semi Finals against M3 Champions. The series looked very close as both teams grabbed one map each and it was time to decide the last qualified team on Fracture. FunPlus Phoenix had an impressive defense in the first half, taking the advantage before the second half by winning 10 rounds. The CIS team won 3 more rounds and qualified for Masters once again. However, the competition was still live as the trophy was on the line. Before reaching the Grand Finals, they had to pass through Guild Esports in the Lower Bracket Finals. FunPlus Phoenix did not lose a single map and swept their opponents, 13-4 on Fracture, 13-11 on Haven, and 13-4 on Split. They reached the regional Grand Finals once again but they had to take down Fnatic to lift the trophy. Just like the 2 previous games throughout the stage, Fnatic once again showed dominance and lifted the trophy after a 3-0 sweep, and FPX’s run ended as second.
Preferred Maps
Interestingly, FunPlus Phoenix did not lose on their map picks throughout the Group Stage. Despite winning 3 and losing 2 games throughout the stage, they won all 5 maps, 2 Ascent, 2 Breeze, and 1 Bind. When it came to the playoffs, FunPlus Phoenix faced hard losses in some of their map picks, especially Haven but they also won 2 Haven maps on their opponent’s picks. It looks like Ascent is their strongest map as they haven’t lost a single game both in the Group Stage and the playoffs.
Player to watch
- Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin
There are great players on the FPX roster but SUYGETSU has shown his importance throughout the tournament and he is surely on fire lately. He led his team on the standings with a solid 1.12 rating throughout VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event, ninth in the tournament. He picked Sage, Viper, Cypher, and Killjoy. His Viper performances were special as the team benefited from him a lot in many scenarios. He held a 1.26 rating with the agent and a 255 ACS. However, he may not attend the event due to ongoing sanctions.
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