Top Esports intimidates their opponents for 2022 as they defeat FunPlus Phoenix in the grand finals of Demacia Cup 2021, coming back from a 0-2 deficit. With the reverse sweep, thanks to Tian’s hard carry, TES secured the championship and will start 2022 on a high note.
Although the prize money isn’t disclosed, the last time it was announced, it was ¥500,000, around €66,500. However, the real prize at Demacia Cup for a team like Top Esports was seeing their team after changing the head coach and adding a new top laner and a jungler succeed against several teams from LPL. Find more details below.
Demacia Cup Grand Final
As they qualified for Worlds, FunPlus Phoenix skipped the group stage of the Demacia Cup. However, Top Esports earned their rights for the quarterfinals by defeating Team WE, Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming. While FPX played against Cryin’s Ultra Prime and LNG with Tarzan&Doinb, Top Esports went through the new RNG roster and academy players of Invictus Gaming.
Although they are still able to make additions, both Top Esports and FunPlus Phoenix participated in the Demacia Cup with a roster that they would trust. There are rumors of FPX still looking for a jungler, but they are perfectly fine with Xiaolaohu and Beichuan duo at top lane and jungle. On the other hand, TES has a championship contender roster.
FPX started the series really well, shocking Top Esports. By using Lwx on Caitlyn as their main carry with the popular Caitlyn&Lux duo, FPX started the series with a 16-5 win under 26 minutes. Although TES had more answers in the second game, with a well-fed Talon&Orianna duo supported by a strong side lane potential with Gwen, FPX ended the second game in 32 minutes, winning it 22-10.
Things changed in the third game where Tian finally got his hands on Viego, his comfort pick. With the help from Tian, all three carries of TES had a great time, and Jayce-Orianna-Aphelios being all fed meant that Top Esports would win this one easily. Next up, Tian played another Viego with a 8-2 Renekton from knight. Supported by JackeyLove’s Ziggs, the team won it in 33 minutes, sending it to game five. Oh, by the way, Tian stole a Baron Nashor which affected the game dearly, stopping FPX’s momentum.
For game five, FPX went for a 1-4 composition with Jax to dominate the sidelanes and Xin Zhao, Akali, Aphelios and Thresh to hold the gates and win the teamfights. Their opponents went for a high damage team comp composed of Camille, Viego, Twisted Fate, Ziggs and Leona, with Camille being able to stop Jax at the side lane after some point and the rest being able to hold FPX’s team fight power back, in theory.
TES’ plan proved to be better, as with incredible crowd control and high damages especially from Ziggs, they left very little openings for FPX. Zoom pushed to end the game persistently, and the reverse sweep became real.
Top Esports
As mentioned earlier, this championship means more than how it looks for Top Esports. Creating competitive teams with highly skilled players like Karsa, knight and JackeyLove, TES couldn’t get close to winning anything during 2021. Yes, I consider the top four to be a disappointment for such a team. During 2020, they took second place in spring and won LPL in summer, but Worlds ended early for them in the semifinals, as they were the favourites of many.
This year, TES changed their iconic top laner 369 with Zoom from JDG, replaced Karsa with FPX’s disappointing jungler Tian and kept the rest of the team with knight, JackeyLove and Zhuo. This team aims high, and it needs to win things to keep their morale high. Thus, a win at the Demacia Cup, as much as it’s a pre-season tournament, is very valuable for Top Esports. Their performance here might shape their chances at LPL 2022 Spring.
If you are also a League of Legends fan who doesn’t miss their favourite team’s matches and already have an account? You can Deposit now to make your predictions. Or new to Luckbox? You can Create your free account.
