FunPlus Phoenix was one of the top contenders for the 2021 World Championship title, along with T1 and DK. However, the renowned team finished the very last in the group.
Beginning in the LPL Summer 2021, FPX hadn’t lost a series in almost two months, they had a game record of 22 wins to 2 defeats since week 5 of the LPL, with the losses coming from EDward Gaming and Rare Atom. FPX appeared to be unstoppable at that time.
Then Worlds begin, FPX was one of the tournament’s strongest available teams. EDG, T1, and DWG KIA were mentioned as probable winners with FPX.
FunPlus Phoenix at Worlds
The opening round of group stage confirmed what many had predicted. FPX struggled to defeat DWG KIA but easily defeated Rogue and Cloud9. With only one loss to Damwon, supporters assumed Doinb and the team would be seeded second out of groups.
The opening losing spree of FPX’s was against DWG KIA, thus FunPlus Phoenix’s expectations were still high. The loss was really expected as DK is still currently the top-tier in the worlds. The next 3 matches are what brought so much unexpected to such a strong team like FPX as they lost it all.
FPX’s second was against Cloud9. Cloud9 was able to obtain first blood, turret, dragon, baron, and herald. C9 destroyed FPX and finished the game within 30 minutes, thanks to quick pace and a triple kill for Blaber’s Xin Zhao at the five-minute mark.
FunPlus Phoenix seemed hopeless even the group stage had only begun. Rogue annihilated FPX in the next game, with Odoamne delivering the horror with Inspired’s Fiddlesticks choice. FPX was losing gold and matches at an alarming rate that it couldn’t seem to stop.
With a 0-3 record on that day, FPX was forced to play two potential tiebreakers, should the team had made it that far. FPX couldn’t even win the first one, and their defeat against Rogue was even more depressing.
After the initial defeat against Cloud9, FunPlux Phoenix appeared to lose its stride and went on to have a genuinely abnormally bad performance. FPX blasted away with half of its anticipated victories and an early exit at the bottom of the groups.
