FunPlus Phoenix surpass G2 Esports, lift VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 trophy

FunPlus Phoenix took down G2 Esports in the VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event Grand Final after four competitive maps, 3-1. Apart from G2 and FPX, Fnatic will also compete against other regions during VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík.

FunPlus Phoenix vs G2 Esports

Another G2 Esports game and another Icebox pick. The European representative showed solid performances on Icebox and picked the map many times in the tournament. However, FunPlus Phoenix studied their lessons pretty well as the first half ended with a score of 8-4 in favor of the CIS team. We were used to seeing G2 Esports dominate the map on the attacking side as they won ten rounds against Fnatic, nine against Team Liquid, and seven against M3 Champions. Despite their dominance in the previous games, their attacking strategies weren’t as sufficient as before as they only picked up four rounds to start the series. Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky’s 15-kill Jett performance was the most important factor as he also held a 1.83 rating and a 3 K/D but especially without Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin and Kamil "baddyG" Graniczka it wouldn’t have been possible. Keeping their momentum from the first half, FPX won two rounds in a row at the beginning of the second half to demolish G2 mentally. As a result, the CIS representatives won the opening map with a score of 13-6 and made a great start to the series. Shao’s Jett came in handy for the team as he had 22 kills at the end of the game.

The second map was Breeze as FPX’s choice but the exact opposite scenario happened from the first map. FunPlus Phoenix started the map on the attacking side but they failed to show dominance after not getting the support they needed from their Jett, Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow The Ukrainian player picked up 3 first bloods but other than that he had 6 kills in total in the first twelve rounds. We are not used to seeing Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas at the top of the scoreboard but he stepped up for his team in the first half by securing 13 kills with Sova in his hands. G2 Esports secured a huge advantage after winning seven rounds in the first half, before switching sides. With Jett, Chamber, and KAY/O, their attacking tools were much better and they used them until the very last bit. After nine rounds in the second half, G2 Esports tied the score by demolishing FPX on Breeze, 13-8. Auni "AvovA" Chahade joined hoody on the scoreboard with 20 kills to his name and a 1.34 rating.

Thirdly, it was G2 Esports’ turn once again to pick the mao and they chose Ascent. Despite Oscar Cañellas "m1xwell" Colocho’s 4-first blood Jett performance, G2 failed to keep their performance from the last map and gave away seven rounds in the first half. Even though the Spanish star picked up 4 first bloods, he only had 9 kills in total and a 0.82 K/D which wasn’t optimal for an attacking side Jett. On the other side of the competition, Pontus "Zyppan" Eek had a monstrous first-half performance with 17 kills to his name and a 2.83 K/D. The Swedish star played his heart out on the defending side with Sage in his hands. FPX picked up seven rounds mainly thanks to him and Shao’s Jett, who had 14 kills and a 2 K/D. FunPlus Phoenix defended both bomb sites almost perfectly and didn’t give any room to their opponent for a possible advantage before going into the second half. FPX’s dominance continued in the second half as they ended the map after 20 rounds in total. The CIS team won six rounds and lost two in the second half to win the game and reach the series point. The Russian duelist, Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky, secured 26 kills and held a 1.70 rating to help his team get another win in the series.

Lastly, FunPlus Phoenix’s map choice was Split and both teams showed great spirit in both halves. G2 Esports made a great start to the map, winning eight rounds and losing four to secure an advantage before the other half. Oscar Cañellas "m1xwell" Colocho had a brilliant first-half performance with Chamber in his hands, grabbing 18 kills, holding a 1.79 rating, and 315 ACS. The same scenario happened in the second half but this time the roles were reversed as Shao won a very important clutch against Auni "AvovA" Chahade to force overtime in the fourth game. After a competitive overtime period, FunPlus Phoenix won the fourth map on the defending side by taking down the last man standing on the side of G2 Esports. Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin had a wonderful performance, especially during the overtime. The Cypher player picked up very important kills and made the difference by using his utilities to help his team close out the map in overtime with a score of 16-14.

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event

FunPlus Phoenix

3

X

1

G2 Esports

Grand Final, Best of 5 - March 27, 2022 - 2:00PM

13

Icebox

6

8

Breeze

13

13

Ascent

7

16

Split

14

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Zyppan

1.27

255

79/66/36

+13

1.20

72.5%

172.5

30%

47%

16

18

Shao

1.21

247

76/57/20

+19

1.33

81.6%

155.2

23%

67%

10

5

SUYGETSU

1.08

208

71/56/16

+15

1.27

79.3%

134.2

37%

60%

3

2

baddyG

0.87

176

53/68/35

-15

0.78

66.6%

116.5

23%

35%

7

13

ANGE1

0.72

156

51/67/19

-16

0.76

64.7%

111.1

24%

44%

7

9

G2 Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

m1xwell

1.14

227

72/70/24

+2

1.03

73.3%

151.5

22%

68%

17

8

hoody

1.12

218

68/65/36

+3

1.05

72.2%

144.5

27%

33%

6

12

nukkye

1.10

244

71/67/22

+4

1.06

74.6%

170.3

18%

61%

17

11

AvovA

0.97

187

59/64/30

-5

0.92

69.4%

116.0

27%

60%

6

4

Meddo

0.64

151

44/64/11

-20

0.69

67.4%

109.1

20%

11%

1

8

Despite Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks’s absence due to COVID, FunPlus Phoenix managed to become the best team in the region. They will represent both EMEA and CIS at VCT 2022 - Stage 1 - Masters Reykjavík. The tournament will start on April 15 and it will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland. You can find more information about it on the events page.