FunPlus Phoenix were the better team going into the matchup, and they took 86 minutes and 54 seconds of game time across three games to show it to a raucous Paris crowd that heavily favored their opponents.
Indeed, FPX’s proficiency at Qiyana and Ryze limited G2 Esports’ draft, especially when they played on red side as it guaranteed that the European team would ban her and Pantheon, leaving only one strategic ban at their disposal. In turn, they were forced to either pick Ryze or leave it in Doinb’s waiting hands, both of which presented conundrums.
G2 attempted to tackle the problem through three different angles, but they hit roadblocks against FPX’s methodical skirmishing which GimGoon’s Gangplank and Kled empowered. In addition, when Wunder defaulted to Ryze, FPX readily hampered his ability to scale into a menace, before neutralizing other lanes.
Try as they might to do otherwise, G2 played into FunPlus Phoenix’s hands. As they were a step behind FPX’s macro moves, they were unable to use their adaptability to the same effect they did against SK Telecom T1. As a result, FunPlus Phoenix’s (and the LPL’s) playstyle worked wonders, as the Chinese team contested G2’s macro moves no matter how significant.
Tian and Doinb were G2’s bane at every turn, from setting up GimGoon for success to freeing Crisp for roams, claiming Drakes aplenty, and picking G2’s damage threats apart. Given G2’s draft limitations, they were also unable to prevent Tian from selecting a devastating Lee Sin three games in a row, and they bowed out in a three-game sweep.
As it happened:
FunPlus Phoenix and G2 Esports displayed their best gameplay in Game 1 despite G2’s draft limitations. Although FPX heavily targeted Wunder’s Ryze (a pick that ended 1/7/2 but was reasonably threatening come late game), G2’s quirky mid lane Pyke and team fight centric bot lane (Varus and Tahm Kench) allowed the European team to trade blow for blow.
In that setting, Tian’s Lee Sin shined and provided highlight plays in quick succession at Perkz’s expense starting the 12-minute mark. However, none of his plays were as important as the one he executed at the 30-minute mark, when he prevented Perkz’s Teleport escape by kicking Jankos’s Elise into him. G2 tried to wrest control of the game through an outlandish bot lane inhibitor siege at the 35th minute, but Tian once again proved decisive, his pick onto Perkz’s Varus handing FPX a Game 1 victory after 40 minutes and 54 seconds.
Although G2 were expected to bounce back in front of a dedicated European crowd, FunPlus Phoenix extinguished their flame as, this time, G2’s draft backfired. Their quirky composition (Tristana mid, Akali top, Yasuo and Gragas bot lane) failed to secure the early-game leads it needed to secure. Worse, a risky skirmish decision around Rift Herald at the 13:40 mark cost them any chance of return, as Doinb’s Ryze and Lwx’s Kai’Sa picked important kills to scale up.
FunPlus Phoenix’s team fight composition (Kled, Lee Sin, Ryze, Kai’Sa and support Galio) stopped G2’s skirmishes at every turn and picked them apart mercilessly, with a lengthy sequence of failed kill attempts serving to illustrate G2’s struggles (23:40 to 25:00, going for 2 kills and 8 deaths overall).
As they faced the prospect of a sweep, G2 Esports remained in high spirits as they had a few more tricks up their sleeves against FPX’s team fighting mindset. However, their composition (Ryze top, Veigar mid and Ezreal-Nautilus bot) lacked any sort of lane priority against FPX’s devastating skirmishing comp (Gangplank top, with the assistance of Tian’s Lee Sin; Galio mid; and a Xayah-Thresh bot lane). As a result, FPX stood with a 2k gold advantage by the 14-minute mark, and two turrets.
G2 may have gone down in three games, but their final loss was far from quiet. Upon opposing a siege in the mid lane, G2 snuck a Drake and a few kills up top and mid. It took the combined might of Crisp’s Thresh and Tian’s Lee Sin to thwart G2’s efforts, with a series of ambushes between the 21st and 26th minute to seal the deal. Try as they might, Europe’s finest bowed down to FPX in 30 minutes.
As the series concluded, the LPL and LEC participated in their second finals clash in a row, the outcome repeating itself: a swift 3-0 sweep by the LPL representative. Unlike the previous year, it came down to FunPlus Phoenix’s flexibility, macro foresight and ambush-heavy style, rather than a complete no-show from G2 Esports.
