FunPlus Phoenix grabbed their 2021 LPL Spring Playoffs finals spot by defeating Edward Gaming 3-2 in the winner bracket’s semifinals earlier today. The 2019 League of Legends world champions showed a strong performance, although EDG didn’t disappoint either.
After a decisive 3-0 victory of both teams’ previous series in the playoffs, this match was highly awaited by the fans. The predictions were tight—and for good reason.
The entire series offered a lot of back-and-forths. The only one-sided game was the last one of the series, where FPX took the lead early and successfully snowballed their way to the enemies’ Nexus, mostly due to strong pressure applied from jungler Tian and solo kills of mid laner Doinb on Akali.
This Akali performance awarded the mid laner the last MVP title of the series as an unexpected, yet lethal pick from the world-class player.
Every game of the series was won by the team who came outperformed in the early game. Both teams showed much proactivity, even in high-pressure situations, at each step of the game.
Although FPX struggled in accelerating the pace of the game when they took the lead in the first match, they quickened their pace in the last ones, which enabled them to snowball and win both last games.
The junglers were also crucial in the teams’ victories. EDG jungler Jiejie and FPX’s Tian both won an MVP title for their respective games on Hecarim, where they boasted a kill-participation rate of over 80 percent.
EDG mid laner Scout also shined with his Qiyana pick in the first game, which helped the team grab the first point after a decisive teamfight around the Baron where they stole it and took an ace on FPX. This enabled them to rush to the Nexus and destroy it before their enemies could defend it.
On the other side, FPX stayed true to their style and focused much of their resources on the topside to enable Nuguri to carry the game. Even when he didn’t get the lead on his lane, he dealt a massive amount of damage in every game thanks to his major impact in teamfights. Both top laners often took carry picks such as Jayce and Renekton, while the bot lane picked scaling champions, such as Senna and Tristana.
With this victory, FPX come closer to the LPL title after winning four matches since the second round of the playoffs. The team who will grab the title will earn the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational spot, where they’ll face off against the best teams of every major League region.
FPX are a highly-awaited team in this international tournament, notably by DWG Kia players who are eager to face off against their former teammate Nuguri, BeryL said in an interview with Ashley Kang and Ghost after the team earned the LCK Spring title yesterday.
Going forward, FPX will face off against the winning team of losers’ semifinal series, which will oppose RNG to EDG. The next semifinals will take place next Tuesday, April 13 at 4am CT.
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