The misstep made by Paper Rex in Breeze caused them to miss out on clinching the title.
After a gruelling journey from the start of the Group Stage, FunPlus Phoenix emerged as the grand winner of Masters Copenhagen. They beat Paper Rex in a hard-fought best of five battle at the grand final match.
Fans watching the match from both sides were on the edge of their seats as both teams played their best game in the match, where the two teams traded volleys and win before the match settled on FPX as the eventual winner.
The match started on Bind, where FPX immediately asserted their dominance with 11 straight wins for FPX before PRX managed to gain a single win before the switch occurred. Because of the point discrepancy, FPX needed only two wins in the second half to win the first map 13-3.
On Icebox, it’s PRX’s turn to be the aggressor as they edged FPX away from any chance to grab consecutive wins, giving them the advantage as the round switches over at halftime. While FPX tried to regain their ground in the second half, it was game over by round 20 as PRX collected enough wins for them to be declared the winner, with a score of 13-7.
The story went a bit south for PRX in the third map, Fracture. By the end of the first half, both teams were neck and neck with 6 wins each, but FPX’s continuous pushing give them an advantage in the second half where they were ahead, culminating with 5 consecutive wins to be the winner by the end of round 20. FPX won 13-7.
In this ping-pong match, it’s PRX’s turn in the hot seat as Haven started. They started strong in the first half, with the team gathering 7 wins by the end of the first half. Their winning streak continued in the second half with the team not giving FPX any quarters, culminating with PRX’s win by round 21 with a score of 13-7.
In the last map, Breeze, FPX showed that they are a team to be noticed and feared as the last map of the series. PRX’s playing style was not enough for them to go to the winner’s podium. The map started with FPX collecting seven wins by the end of the first half – even though PRX did 5 consecutive wins. PRX continued to press in the second half, but a misstep in the second half caused FPX to steamroll ahead and squeaked a win for them with a score of 13-9.
Su “SUYGETSU” Dmitry had a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 78-65-26 while teammate and countryman Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky posted an 82-64-40. For Paper Rex, Singapore’s Jing Jie “Jinggg” Wang led the way with a match-high 95 kills.
As the winner of Masters Copenhagen, FunPlus Phoenix walks away with $200,000 in prize money and 1000 circuit points, which gives them the points to be seeded at the VCT Champions Istanbul tournament set to play in September. Paper Rex meanwhile walked away with $120,000 and 750 circuit points. They also join FPX as one of the pre-qualified teams for Istanbul.
The next stage for VCT 2022 will be the Last Chance Qualifiers, where teams will battle to secure their last chance to play in Istanbul.
