FPX take down Paper Rex to lift the Masters Copenhagen trophy

FunPlus Phoenix used the longer route to win it all in VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen. After a very close series between the CIS team and Paper Rex, they lifted the trophy by fighting until the very end.

VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen

Paper Rex

2

X

3

FunPlus Phoenix

Grand Final, Best of 5 - July 24, 2022 - 3:00PM

3

Bind

13

13

Icebox

7

7

Fracture

13

13

Haven

7

9

Breeze

13

Paper Rex

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Jinggg

1.30

283

95/84/20

+11

1.13

74.8%

176.4

24%

58%

21

15

d4v41

0.97

188

65/69/37

-4

0.94

75.9%

121.8

20%

56%

5

4

mindfreak

0.92

171

65/64/23

+1

1.02

72.9%

114.3

31%

29%

2

5

f0rsakeN

0.87

194

67/80/16

-13

0.84

66.2%

130.4

32%

41%

15

22

Benkai

0.82

152

53/73/36

-20

0.73

70.6%

89.7

29%

44%

4

5

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Shao

1.28

247

82/64/40

+18

1.28

80.3%

166.3

42%

57%

8

6

SUYGETSU

1.12

215

78/65/26

+13

1.20

74.0%

144.3

31%

64%

7

4

Zyppan

1.07

233

79/74/16

+5

1.07

76.0%

148.8

32%

54%

15

13

ANGE1

1.03

208

70/75/26

-5

0.93

72.0%

132.7

29%

55%

12

10

ardiis

0.80

170

61/67/16

-6

0.91

69.4%

109.4

20%

39%

9

14

Bind

The APAC representatives’ first map pick of the Grand Finals was Bind. Even though it was PRX’s pick, FunPlus Phoenix showed one of the most dominant Bind performances, especially in the first half. The CIS team dominated the map by winning 11 rounds in a row and only lost the last round of the first half. They managed to eliminate all the opposing members in 10 rounds and had one of the best attacking performances. Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky had an incredible Sage performance, holding a monstrous 2.01 rating as well as getting 16 kills to his name. The Russian player also had a 346 ACS and a 4 K/D. Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow had the best support for him with Brimstone in his hands, holding a 1.60 rating. Even though these two had the best ratings, Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin also stepped up with 6 K/D, grabbing 12 kills and dying only twice on Viper. Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie was the only player to reach double digits and the rest of his teammates struggled on defense. FPX’s dominance continued in the second half as they won the pistol round. Despite losing 2 rounds in a row, FPX managed to pick up one more round to win the first map in style, 13-3. Shao and ANGE1 led their team with 18 kills each. On the other side, no one managed to reach double digits in terms of kills except Jinggg.

Icebox

After a very dominant performance on Bind, it was time for FPX’s map pick, Icebox. Paper Rex had the lead in the earlier stages of the first half as they were very consistent on the attacking side. FunPlus Phoenix failed to defend the bomb sites and in the end, they only grabbed 3 wins whereas PRX had 9. The Singaporean team made up for the first map by making a great start to FPX’s pick. Jinggg was the person of interest once again with Sage in his hands, holding an incredible 2.13 rating and 3 first bloods. Pontus "Zyppan" Eek and Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky tried their best to keep their teams in the competition with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Paper Rex won the opening round of the second half but FPX played their best in the second round to end PRX’s streak. However, it was not enough to stop the APAC winners as they closed out the second map by winning the 8th round of the second half. Jinggg completed the game with 20 kills and a 1.41 rating and Benedict "Benkai" Tan followed him with 16 kills and a 1.31 rating.

Fracture

After tying the series on Icebox, it was Paper Rex’s turn to get the lead in the series on their map pick, Fracture. They started the competition by winning the pistol round with Jinggg stepping up again with 2 kills and a 513 score. However, FunPlus Phoenix took the lead after a 4-round winning streak. Zyppan lit the fire in the 3rd round by grabbing 3 kills and the streak continued for 3 more rounds. Both teams made moves to get the lead but in the end, the first half ended in a tie, 6-6. Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin was FPX’s main factor with 13 kills and a 1.45 rating on Viper. FPX had a very dominant performance in the second half. They only lost the 3rd round and did not give any more casualties. The CIS representatives won the map after 20 rounds, 13-7, and reached the series point. SUYGETSU finished the game with a 1.54 rating and 22 kills but Shao was the more efficient piece of the FPX roster in the second half.

Haven

FunPlus Phoenix had a solid chance to lift the trophy as they were ahead in the series and it was time for their map pick, Haven. They won the opening round but Paper Rex answered back rapidly. The earlier stages of the competition went to both sides but PRX managed to come out on top with a 2-round deficit, 7-5. For the first time in the series, the star player, Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto, stepped up with Chamber in his hands, holding a 1.98 rating with 17 kills. The Indonesian player had great performances, especially during the APAC challenge but failed to lead his team with fire power today. PRX had a great performance in the second half and won the first 3 rounds on defense. FPX managed to pick up 2 rounds in a row to show that they are still up for the challenge but it did not last long. Paper Rex won the map after winning the last 3 rounds, 13-7. Even though f0rsaken was the MVP of the first half, Jinggg had a great performance on defense as he matched his teammate with a 1.60 rating and even surpassed him with 25 kills. Jinggg also had 7 first bloods.

Breeze

It all came to the 5th map, Breeze. FunPlus Phoenix made a great start on defense, winning the first 3 rounds but after that point, PRX dominated the map for 5 rounds. This time, Aaron "mindfreak" Leonhart and Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaidee were the main factors. FPX still won the remaining rounds in the first half and had the lead, 7-5. The second half started with PRX’s dominance as they won 4 rounds in a row. SUYGETSU’s Cypher came in handy for the CIS team for a small amount of time as he was unable to complete the clutch to stop Paper Rex’s possible streak. PRX players bounced back and won the opening 3 rounds of the second half to have the lead in their hands. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks stepped up for his team in hard times and FPX tied the game once again. FPX had a great performance during the late stages and they reached the 12-round point thanks to ardiis and Zyppan’s post-plant performance. SUYGETSU closed down the map with great defense on the B site with 4 kills and FPX lifted the trophy. The CIS team did not lose a single round after ending their opponent’s winning streak in the second half. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks picked up 21 kills in the last map of the series and played a huge role in their success.

The trophy meant a lot for FPX as they were unable to compete on the international stage last time. Both teams had great performances and fought until the end. Now it is time for the biggest challenge which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Riot Games