The semifinals of the LoL Worlds 2019 were played today in Madrid. The reigning LoL world champions from Invictus Gaming faced FunPlus Phoenix in an all-Chinese duel. It was one of the best “League of Legends” series of the year and a showcase for eSports.
This was the game: It was the 1st semifinal of the World Championships in League of Legends.
Invictus Gaming are the 2018 world champions. They are individually outstanding positioned in every role. They are considered the best “Solo Queue” team in the world because almost every player can decide a match by themselves.
- Top-laner “TheShy” was the star of the last World Championship
- Mid-laner Rookie is regarded as one of the mechanically best players in the world
- JackeyLove is an excellent ADC in top form
- Jungler Ning has the reputation of being somewhat too aggressive, he can lose a game or win it single-handedly
At FunPlus Phoenix, especially the mid-laner Doinb stands out, who became Fnatic’s nightmare in the quarterfinals.
Fnatic let him play Ryze and bitterly regretted it – Invictus Gaming subsequently banned Ryze in every single game.
Jungler Tian has also presented himself in excellent form, he almost completely outclassed the jungler from Fnatic.
Overall, FunPlus Phoenix is considered so strong because they play strategically and harmoniously. However, they still lack international experience, as their star only rose in China this year.
The question before the semifinals was: Will the experienced team with the 5 best players win, or will the better team as a unit, lacking much experience, prevail?
This is how the series went: It was an extremely exciting “Best of 5.” Unlike the more controlled teams from Korea, the two teams from China were on a rampage from the first minute.
Super Carry Doinb wins Match 1 on Rumble
This was Match 1: Doinb, the “Super Carry” from FunPlus Phoenix, won the first game almost single-handedly. Invictus Gaming found no means against his Rumble.
FunPlus Phoenix managed to lure Invictus Gaming into team fights in tight corridors, where Rumble sliced through the enemy team with his AoE abilities like through butter.
Doinb finished the match with an impressive 10/1/5.
TheShy had the matchup “Quinn vs. Renekton” in the top lane. Actually a good matchup for Quinn. In this match, TheShy got completely outplayed and he ended with a poor 0-4-3.
FunPlus Phoenix apparently aimed to keep TheShy out of the game entirely and keep him down.
World Champions win Match 2 in epic 42 minutes with 31:28
This was Match 2: In the second match, it initially looked clear that FunPlus Phoenix could prevail, as they managed to effectively neutralize TheShy on Vladimir. FunPlus Phoenix relied on Mordekaiser to isolate TheShy and pull him into his shadow realm. TheShy was actually intended as a carry for his team on Vladimir but never really got rolling and ended the game with 8-8-9.
The match went back and forth wildly. In the end, 59 kills were achieved. FPX’s ADC, Lwx, led the list with 12 kills on Kai’Sa. Rookie collected 10 kills, and JackeyLove 8.
But somehow Invictus Gaming managed to seize the moment and exploit small mistakes from FPX to win Match 2 in 42 minutes.
Now the series looked open. Analysts agreed: We are seeing 5 games.
Brilliant jungler wins Match 3
This was Match 3: In Match 3, everything initially went in favor of Invictus Gaming. TheShy could dominate with Lucian and a lot of support in the top lane, keeping his opponent from farming for over 3 minutes.
Doinb was now more in a support role as AP Nautilus.
But Match 3 became the jungler Tian’s game: He dominated with Qiyana and played 9-1-7. TheShy could simply not capitalize on his strong early game.
The story was now that FunPlus Phoenix had stronger AoE ultimates to win team fights. They were able to neutralize Invictus Gaming’s strong “early game” combos and win the game in team fights.
World Champions change plan, go for late game
This was Match 4: In Match 4, everything was different right from the draft. Invictus Gaming appeared to change their strategy. With Kai’Sa (JaceyLove) and Kayle (TheShy), they now relied on a strong late game. Both champions scale incredibly well.
But from the start, the world champions played too aggressively. Ning, as jungler Olaf, blindly ran into the enemy team at level 1. He gave up first blood.
The action cost TheShy his flash, and his opponent on the top lane, GimGoon, subsequently secured a clean 1:1 kill a few minutes later.
But the match swung back.
In the mid-game, it suddenly looked like Invictus Gaming could prevail due to the two carries, which were becoming stronger. TheShy achieved a quadrakill at 20 minutes – and the turning point was in the air.
But in the end, small mistakes from TheShy and JackeyLove were enough to lose the match.
They roamed blindly in the jungle, got caught by the opponents and eliminated.
Later, when Invictus Gaming besieged FPX’s base, the carries made another mistake. TheShy got caught because he ventured out too far. The mistake then led to an ace in the counterattack, and the series was over.
Ultimately, FunPlus Phoenix prevailed with 3:1 against the world champions because they chose clever team fights and maintained better control over the map and vision. While the world champions often played individual actions recklessly and players ran headfirst into walls, FunPlus Phoenix operated better as a team.
It was a high-class, extremely entertaining and kill-heavy League of Legends semifinal. A showcase for eSports and the Chinese brawl style that has changed the LoL world since 2018.
What’s next: On Sunday, G2 Esports and SKT1 will face off against each other to find the final opponent for FunPlus Phoenix. Whomever it will be, they will be in for a hot ride against FunPlus Phoenix in the finals.
