On December 20, 2017, FunPlus' esports division announced the creation of FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) and its acquisition of a spot in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). FPX's inaugural roster consisted of top laner Kim "GimGoon" Han-saem, jungler Hu "Pepper" Zhi-Wei, mid-laner Feng "bing" Jin-Wei, bot laner Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang, and support Liu "Crisp" Qing-Song. The team's first tournament was the Demacia Championship 2017, which they placed 9th–15th after losing to Team WE in the third and final round of Group E. In preparation for the 2019 LPL Spring regular season, FPX revamped their roster, adding jungler Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang and veteran mid laner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang. The team massively improved, placing 1st in the regular season with a 13–2 record and getting an automatic bye to the semifinals. Fun Plus Phoenix has dominated former World Champions Invictus Gaming, both in the domestic matches and in the international semifinal match last week. They struggled early in most of the games, losing players to IG’s ganks and ending up at a deficit. But then, every time, they came back, beating IG down with superior individual play and better teamwork than the best lineup China had ever had. If not for a miraculous Elder Drake steal by IG’s jungler Ning in game two, the series likely would have been the first in Worlds this year not to go three to one. The team has phenomenal players in every role: 1) Top-laner GimGoon, who fills excels at Gangplank and Renekton, has singlehandedly carried games on those picks while being behind. 2) Jungler Tian, who has had an exceptional year, stomping enemy junglers on junglers such as Lee Sin and Gragas. 3) Mid-laner Doinb, the ‘Dark Technologies’ superstar of Fun Plus Phoenix, picks unconventional champions and carries, was the first one to bring Kled mid lane, then Nautilus, then Pantheon, it never stops. He is the innovator of LPL, and many teams outside of LPL follow him as well and try to make the picks work. 4) Bot-laner Lwx, who is the Kai’Sa god player. When he is on Kai’Sa, he is unbeatable, when on other carries, he plays exceptionally well and manages to go toe-to-toe with the best ADC’s in the world. 5) Support Crisp, the backbone of the team. He has been playing clean the entire Worlds run, securing vision for his team, roaming early for his mid laner to give him leads, and forcing favorable engages when given the opportunity. He is the guy you want on your team in the solo que games. After having a shaky group stage, Fun Plus Phoenix managed to recover and defeat both Finalists of the previous World Championship, Invictus Gaming, and Fnatic. Will they continue their domination or fall short against Europe’s powerhouse G2 Esports? Stay tuned for the League of Legends World Championship Finals, which will happen next week between G2 Esports and Fun Plus Phoenix on November 10 in Paris!
On December 20, 2017, FunPlus' esports division announced the creation of FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) and its acquisition of a spot in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). FPX's inaugural roster consisted of top laner Kim "GimGoon" Han-saem, jungler Hu "Pepper" Zhi-Wei, mid-laner Feng "bing" Jin-Wei, bot laner Lin "Lwx" Wei-Xiang, and support Liu "Crisp" Qing-Song. The team's first tournament was the Demacia Championship 2017, which they placed 9th–15th after losing to Team WE in the third and final round of Group E. In preparation for the 2019 LPL Spring regular season, FPX revamped their roster, adding jungler Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang and veteran mid laner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang. The team massively improved, placing 1st in the regular season with a 13–2 record and getting an automatic bye to the semifinals. Fun Plus Phoenix has dominated former World Champions Invictus Gaming, both in the domestic matches and in the international semifinal match last week. They struggled early in most of the games, losing players to IG’s ganks and ending up at a deficit. But then, every time, they came back, beating IG down with superior individual play and better teamwork than the best lineup China had ever had. If not for a miraculous Elder Drake steal by IG’s jungler Ning in game two, the series likely would have been the first in Worlds this year not to go three to one. The team has phenomenal players in every role: 1) Top-laner GimGoon, who fills excels at Gangplank and Renekton, has singlehandedly carried games on those picks while being behind. 2) Jungler Tian, who has had an exceptional year, stomping enemy junglers on junglers such as Lee Sin and Gragas. 3) Mid-laner Doinb, the ‘Dark Technologies’ superstar of Fun Plus Phoenix, picks unconventional champions and carries, was the first one to bring Kled mid lane, then Nautilus, then Pantheon, it never stops. He is the innovator of LPL, and many teams outside of LPL follow him as well and try to make the picks work. 4) Bot-laner Lwx, who is the Kai’Sa god player. When he is on Kai’Sa, he is unbeatable, when on other carries, he plays exceptionally well and manages to go toe-to-toe with the best ADC’s in the world. 5) Support Crisp, the backbone of the team. He has been playing clean the entire Worlds run, securing vision for his team, roaming early for his mid laner to give him leads, and forcing favorable engages when given the opportunity. He is the guy you want on your team in the solo que games. After having a shaky group stage, Fun Plus Phoenix managed to recover and defeat both Finalists of the previous World Championship, Invictus Gaming, and Fnatic. Will they continue their domination or fall short against Europe’s powerhouse G2 Esports? Stay tuned for the League of Legends World Championship Finals, which will happen next week between G2 Esports and Fun Plus Phoenix on November 10 in Paris!
