The Worlds 2021 at League of Legends were not successful for the best player in China, Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang (24). His team FunPlus Phoenix was a strong favorite to win the LoL Worlds. However, they were eliminated in the group stage. In an interview, he sounded confident about victory.
This was the situation during the interview:
- Doinb entered the Worlds 2021 with high expectations, having been chosen as the best player in China and was playing the best LoL of his life. His team FunPlus Phoenix, the world champion of 2019, was considered a contender to win the Worlds 2021.
- However, he was drawn into the death group A at the Worlds 2021, where he had to face DWG Kia in his first match: His team, FunPlus Phoenix, lost the match; but then managed to win against Cloud 9 and stood at 1-1.
- With one loss against tournament favorite DWG Kia and a win against Cloud 9 under his belt, Doinb gave an interview.
“We will not lose a single game from tomorrow on”
He said during the interview: In the interview with an e-sports site, Doinb said:
“We will not lose a single game from tomorrow on.”
Doinb
They analyzed the mistakes made in the loss against DWG Kia: FunPlus Phoenix had chosen too inflexible champions and would decide on champs in the future that would provide more advantages in the laning phase. There was also a need for a champion who could initiate fights.
Doinb was optimistic about the prospects for the LoL Worlds: The meta suited the team style perfectly. Champs like Ryze or Twisted Fate were ideal for the roaming playstyle that Doinb practices in the mid lane. Every player on the team had already participated in Worlds before and was experienced.
Moreover, they were in great form: In the scrims, they had a 70% win rate. Therefore, Doinb believed that from tomorrow on, they would not lose a single game.
Team loses 4 of the next 5 games after the interview
This is how it actually went: After the interview, FunPlus Phoenix played 5 more games at the LoL Worlds 2021:
- The first against Rogue in the first half was won, bringing their record to 2-1
- However, they lost all three games in the second half of the group stage: FunPlus Phoenix lost a second time against DWG Kia, and then against Cloud 9 and Rogue
- In the end, they had to face Rogue in a tie-breaker to stay in the Worlds but lost that match as well
Doinb and FunPlus Phoenix had lost 4 of 5 games after the interview and were eliminated in the group stage.
World-class player in a form crisis
What was the problem? The Korean site Inven conducted an analysis of the failure. They believe the elimination had two reasons:
- Top-laner Nuguri, a newcomer to FunPlus Phoenix, is considered one of the best top-laners in the world – but he needs a lot of support from the team, the jungler must help him, resources need to be directed to him. This was not the case at the Worlds, thus the exceptional talent became a weak point.
- The jungler Tian, the star of Worlds 2019, was too predictable and easy to counter this year: He had only one truly good champion, Viego, who was heavily nerfed before the Worlds, and without Viego, Tian seemed lost. Ultimately, Tian became a victim of the jungler meta, which he could not adapt to.
According to Inven, only Doinb and his supporter “Crips” reached a good form, but they could not prevent the elimination in the group stage on their own.
Ironically, it was Cloud 9, the absolute underdog, that emerged from the death group A.
In a video before the second half, Doinb had said: “To Cloud 9 I want to say: Sorry, but you will be going home soon. At least you’ll have a vacation then.”
Anyway, Doinb does not have a high opinion of US teams:
