In Paris, on November 10th, the final of the World Championship for League of Legends 2019 took place. We look at the course of the matches, show you the most important scenes and plays, and evaluate how Tian, Doinb, Caps, Perkz, and the other LoL stars performed.
Who is playing? In the LoL World Championship final this afternoon, G2 Esports (Europe) faces off against FunPlus Phoenix (China):
- For the Europeans from G2 Esports, it’s about the Grand Slam in LoL – something no other team has achieved before them.
- FunPlus Phoenix would be the second Chinese team in a row to win the World Championship. This would mean “China becomes the new dominant LoL region” after Korea.
Match 1 LoL Worlds – Pyke vs. Nautilus
This is how Match 1 went: The first match between G2 Esports and FunPlus Phoenix was fiercely contested and high-level, but in the end, it was clear. FunPlus Phoenix turned the game in their favor in the midgame, winning the match after nearly 41 minutes.
Both mid laners chose relatively unusual picks. Caps played with Pyke, Doinb with Nautilus. Both were more focused on setting up kills than executing them themselves.
At the start, FPX proved to be the stronger and more flexible team. They were able to catch Wunder on the top lane twice and build a small lead.
In the mid-game, G2 Esports showed that they didn’t want to engage in a team fight. They were increasingly pushed into a defensive position. FPX caught a G2 Esports player time and again as they tried to retreat.
As a result, the gold lead of the Chinese team gradually increased, although G2 Esports managed to keep the fight around the towers relatively balanced for a long time.
Here in this scene, you can observe a spectacular escape by Caps. It symbolized the game. G2 Esports played strongly and fought bravely, but somehow they were mostly on the defensive or fleeing from Tian and Doinb, who wanted to force them into team fights.
A scene where the escape failed can be seen here. Tian caught Perkz and Jankos while they were fleeing – FunPlus Phoenix then came over them like a punishing storm. A decisive scene for the match.
The match ended after nearly 41 minutes, not due to a decisive fight, but because of the pure superiority of the Chinese players. Especially Doinb (Nautilus) and jungler Tian (Lee Sin) were as strong as expected.
Here are the key numbers:
- FPX won with 22:7.
- The player with the most kills was ADC Lwx on Sivir with 11/0/5.
- It was notable that all other 4 members of FPX had double-digit assists. Support Crisp played as Thresh 0/3/17.
- Wunder died the most with 1/7/2 on Ryze.
FPX 1 – G2 Esports 0.
Match 2: A Bloodbath
This is how Match 2 went: Match 2 was a clear affair for FPX from the start.
G2 Esports focused on a bot lane with Gragas/Yasuo in the draft. This proved to be a misstep. On the other side, ADC Lwx on Kai’Sa grew stronger and stronger, becoming incredibly fat in the end.
The first team fight ended 3:1 in favor of FPX and from then on, the match only went in one direction.
G2 Esports had no chance in the match and lost clearly. They appeared somewhat strange in the end.
After 24 minutes, they were already so far behind with more than 10,000 gold that they could only smile and throw themselves headfirst into their demise.
FunPlus Phoenix won 20 to 4.
The key stats:
- The most kills were by ADC Lwx on Kai’Sa with 8/0/6
- Doinb had remarkable 6/0/11 on Ryze.
- The most deaths were by Perkz on Yasuo with 0/6/2 – the risky pick as ADC did not pay off.
- Also strong in the match were jungler Tian (Lee Sin) and support Crisp on Galio – they capped off a strong team performance.
FPX 2 – G2 Esports 0. They need a miracle now.
Match 3 – The Dream of the Grand Slam is Over
This is how Match 3 went: The final match saw relatively few kills, due to a quiet beginning phase, without any fights. In the end, FPX won after 30 minutes with 10:8.
The towers fell early in favor of FunPlus Phoenix. They played disciplined. G2 Esports lurked for opportunities throughout the match that never really materialized.
FunPlus Phoenix gradually made the stronger plays and managed to take Baron twice. The advantages increasingly shifted in favor of FunPlus Phoenix. The “decisive team fight” came after 25 minutes.
Jungler Tian kept himself hidden for a long time and caught Caps. He was able to throw him onto the lurking Doinb, who then eliminated him. Without the mid laner, G2 Esports was immediately on the losing path in the fight.
In the team fight, 3 players from G2 Esports died, but none from FPX. That was the pre-decision.
The fight and the gold lead were ultimately enough to clearly decide the 3rd match in their favor.
In the end, G2 Esports couldn’t turn the one-sided series around. FPX won 3:0. China thus claims the title of “strongest region in League of Legends.”
The key stats:
- It was overall balanced – the 10 kills from FPX were evenly distributed among 4 players, each with 2 or 3 kills. Only support Crisp did not get a single kill.
- No one particularly stood out on the losing side.
- Lwx remained without dying in this match as well – making him the first player to go an entire World Championship final without dying.
Tian becomes MVP – Lwx teases a bit
This is what happened after the match: After the matches, Lwx said, G2 Esports did not play as strong as expected. This caused outrage in the hall in Paris.
Doinb said he could now call himself a champion. He also thanked his wife Tang Xiaoyo in the hall, who was moved to tears. During the World Championship, she somehow became the secret star of the tournament.
The jungler Tian was crowned MVP of the series. He was indeed outstanding and was able to set up kills time and again.
But the other 4 players on the Chinese team also had a strong day.
