FunPlus Phoenix have sent home a tournament favorite in Fnatic, beating them 2-1 in the Masters Copenhagen semifinals. FPX advance to the lower bracket final where they will meet OpTic Gaming at 11 a.m. ET on July 23.
“I think OpTic are one of the strongest teams,” FPX’s Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks said in the post-game interview. “They have such a good team. I think they’re very similar to us where they don’t have a weak player.”
For their part, Fnatic head home in fourth place. It’s not the result that the team was hoping for after coming into Copenhagen looking like one of the best teams in the world. Even still, they can look forward to Champions 2022.
FPX stay alive with win over Fnatic
To say Fnatic have had FPX’s number in their past meetings may be an understatement. In all their previous meetings — including an opening playoff match in Copenhagen — Fnatic have come out on top. Both regionally and internationally, online and offline, all signs pointed to Fnatic, but FPX had other ideas.
Map 1 was Split. On a map famous for close overtime bangers, this game absolutely delivered on that promise. FPX’s Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin went absolutely nuclear, dropping 3o kills over the course of the double OT map. That included one of the most wild aces you’ll see in pro VALORANT. Unfortunately for FPX, SUYGETSU wasn’t enough to carry the team; Fnatic heated up towards the final stages of regulation and that momentum carried into overtime.
ACEEEEE + MAP POINT
@suygetsu_ | #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/BjXcjymErK
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) July 22, 2022
Things started better for FPX on Bind. Their defense was solid, and even though Fnatic started closing the gap, FPX still led at the half. A pistol round win and a few follow-ups were enough to put themselves out of reach — FPX won the map 13-7 and forced the series to Fracture.
The next opening pistol round once again went in FPX’s favor on Fracture. From there, FPX went up 6-0 in a blistering run. Fnatic struggled to do anything and the map ultimately ended 13-5. Once again, SUYGETSU proved that he is one of the best players in the world, or at least the best player in the server.
“Recently, [Fnatic has gotten] the edge on us,” ardiis said. “But listen, we beat them now. When it mattered the most, we came up clutch.”
