FunPlus Phoenix vs Invictus Gaming
Invictus Gaming’s TheShy is the best top-laner in the world, but this best of five wasn’t about him. This series was about “Super Carry” Doinb and his talented band of misfits that were brought together in summer 2019 to dominate Chinese League of Legends, and they did just that. Then this year’s world championship came along and there were other questions. Could Doinb do it on the biggest stage the game has to offer? The answer is yes. FunPlus Phoenix and Invictus Gaming are opposite sides of the same coin. On one hand, you have the most coordinated team in the tournament, and on the other the most individually talented. Analysts knew that FunPlus Phoenix had an advantage in ad carry, support, and team synergy. However, TheShy and Rookie are such monstrous players that no one was sure if Gimgoon and Doinb could stand up to their respective lane opponents. Would the supposed gap in solo laners be big enough for IG’s lack in teamplay to not be a factor? It turns out that the answer was no. Gimgoon performed at a career-best, standing up to TheShy better than anyone has this tournament, while Doinb was able to neutralize Rookie with picks like Nautilus mid. However, the real difference was in the jungle. FPX’s jungler absolutely destroyed Ning, stringing together four fantastic early games in a row. FPX proved to us that teamwork does make the dream work, and now they’re finalists at worlds.
G2 Esports vs SK Telekom T1
This G2 Esports roster was built to win. They put together the most talented players Europe had to offer with hopes of dominating the world, and they did just that. Fun fact – out of nine possible best of five victories this year, G2 has now won eight of them. Their toughest one was this semifinal against a super star-filled SKT roster. This is the strongest the Korean side has looked all year and they were always going to challenge the European powerhouse. This series showed good things from both teams, mainly G2’s ability to play the map better than any team in the world and SKT’s incredible laning prowess. However, the straw that broke SKT’s back was G2’s superior team fighting and team play. There were multiple instances where the Europeans were down in gold but kept outfighting SKT due to their superior team cohesion.
FunPlus Phoenix vs G2 Esports
Worlds 2019 has proved to be about team fighting and the two best team fighting teams in the tournament have made the finals. Many analysts, personalities and fans alike believe that G2 Esports are the favorites going into the best of five in Paris next week, and I have to agree. G2 has shown us the highest quality games out of anyone in the knockout stage. The biggest discrepancy, in my eyes, was the support position but G2’s Mikyx proved that he could perform well internationally during the SKT series. I am predicting a 3-1 for G2 Esports.
