FunPlus Phoenix took down EDward Gaming in an intense 2-1 series in the 2020 LPL Summer Split.
Top laner Kim “GimGoon” Han-saem played a major role in both games, securing his first MVP award after a stellar Gangplank performance. While he did have a great third game as well on Renekton, his support Crisp on Nautilus was a more important factor in their win and earned the title instead.
The first game was a slaughter. EDG outplayed FPX in all lanes, and even though they secured some early dragons, they could not convert it to the Dragon Soul due to how far they’ve fallen.
EDG played a perfect game of League of Legends with their top laner on Camille securing most of their lead for the entire game. FPX’s attempts were unsuccessful, leading to a loss for the first game of the series.
After the failed first game, FPX completely changed their draft, picking five new champions with Gangplank as the first pick for star top laner GimGoon.
FPX secured a huge lead early on due to their superior macro and individual plays. This allowed them to funnel resources into securing early dragons once again. With EDG behind almost 10,000 gold, they forced a fight for the Dragon Soul to stay in the game.
The fight went into FPX’s favor due to their better teamfight composition and mechanics, which allowed them to take the Dragon Soul and end the game with it.
The third game was a clear guide on how to carry your team as a support. World champion support Crisp put up a huge performance with Nautilus. His vision coverage and initiations were top-notch, allowing FPX to come back after the early deficit and secure the series win.
Although GimGoon helped FPX win the 2019 World Championship, he was benched for most of the Summer Split after FPX decided to start Khan with the Mid-Season Cup. While the first games were looking quite good, FPX fell into a hard slump afterward.
They are barely clinging on a playoff spot currently and need to find more wins, especially against lower-tier teams if they want to ensure that they’ll reach playoffs.
Tune in this week to see if FunPlus Phoenix has what it takes to secure the last playoff spot and possibly another LPL Championship. You can catch all the remaining matches on the LPL official Riot Games channel this week from Monday to Sunday.
