In a matchup pitting two of China's most recognizable outfits against each other,
FunPlus Phoenix
FunPlus Phoenix
China
Rank #9
Autumn
Kale Dunne
Life
Qu Donghao (瞿东豪)
AAAAY
Zhang Yang (张杨)
BerLIN
Zhang Bolin (張柏霖)
yosemite
Wang Lei (王磊)
and
Bilibili Gaming
Bilibili Gaming
China
Rank #6
whzy
Wang Haozhe (王昊哲)
Levius
Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中)
rushia
Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰)
nephh
Marcus Tan
Knight
Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔)
squared off in the first upper semifinal game of China Kickoff.
The two-map series played out on Bind, Lotus, with the decider map Abyss being unnecessary. Bind was BiliBili's map pick, and Lotus was FPX's.
Bind has proven to be a more defense-sided map across the region in Kickoff so far. Before BLG and FPX's match, the total number of defending rounds outnumbered attacking rounds 33-17. That trend seemed to follow in this match, with FPX ending their defense-sided first half with an 8-4 advantage. The map was tight to close, with BiliBili tying the map six rounds into the half.
A well-executed 5v5 retake helped BLG claim their first lead of the map.Though it looked like FPX had stopped the bleeding and figured out their attack with two straight rounds, BiliBili Gaming stormed back, claiming the final four rounds to close the map 13-11. Longtime BLG duelist whzy impressed on Bind, recording a server-high 26 kills and 325 ACS to help his team secure their map pick.
That shifted the focus to Lotus, where FPX famously stole maps off of
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #1
Foxy9
Jung Jae-sung (정재성)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
yoman
Chae Young-moon (채영문)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
and
Team Heretics
Team Heretics
Europe
Rank #1
MiniBoo
Dominykas Lukaševičius
Wo0t
Mert Alkan
RieNs
Enes Ecirli
benjyfishy
Benjamin David Fish
Boo
Ričardas Lukaševičius
in the Swiss Stage at Masters Shanghai. Last year's team opted for a triple Controller team composition, but this year's approach appears different. A double Controller, double Duelist team composition saw
Autumn
pick up Yoru, flexing his versatility.
With defense-sided rounds hard to come by, FPX relied on some heroics from a former BiliBili player to work their way up to four on the board by halftime.
yosemite with the clean Guardian 4K against his former team.Victories in the pistol round and ensuing anti-eco round put BiliBili just three rounds away from closing the series. Facing a 10-4 deficit, FPX went on a run of their own, grabbing four straight rounds, but the series began to close once BLG snatched a half-buy round. That snowballed into them grabbing three of the next four rounds, securing BiliBili a spot in the upper semifinal and a win away from a spot at Masters Bangkok.
FPX, of course, has momentum rolling over from 2024. They finished second at China Kickoff last year, helping them secure one of China's two slots at Masters Madrid. They continued to ride this momentum through the rest of the year, en route to becoming one of just two Chinese teams to qualify for all three international events, alongside eventual Champions 2024 winners
EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming
China
Rank #1
S1Mon
Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋)
ZmjjKK
Zheng Yongkang (郑永康)
nobody
Wang Senxu (王森旭)
CHICHOO
Wan Shunzhi (万顺治)
Smoggy
Zhang Zhao (张钊)
. In the lower bracket, they will take on the winner of
Nova Esports
Nova Esports
China
Rank #5
o0o0o
Ye Xiaodong (叶晓东)
SWERL
Ali Kobraee
CB
Wang Qingchuan (王庆川)
Ezeir
Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏)
GuanG
Guang Honglin (光洪霖)
and
Dragon Ranger Gaming
Dragon Ranger Gaming
China
Rank #7
Flex1n
Lo Rui (罗瑞)
vo0kashu
Ilya Ushakov
Cangshu
Zheng Yujun (手郑宇峻)
Nicc
Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群)
TvirusLuke
Chen Cheng-ching
Ying
Wang Chenxu (王晨旭)
SpiritZ1
Lin Dingyu (林定宇)
, two teams they have never lost to.
On the flipside, BiliBili seem far removed from the mid-season difficulties they underwent last season. After missing out on both Masters events, the mid-season bounce-back, which included three roster changes, resulted in the team qualifying for Champions 2024.
rushia
joined the squad in the offseason, putting the finishing touches on a team still looking to reach its first Masters event. BiliBili Gaming will move on to face the winner of EDward Gaming and
Trace Esports
Trace Esports
China
Rank #2
LuoK1ng
Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏)
Kai
Lu Zhinan (卢智楠)
FengF
Song Xuefeng (宋学锋)
heybay
Ho Shun Hei
Biank
Zhong Jianfei (钟剑飞)
in the three-map upper final.
The next matches of VCT China Kickoff are: