After outside circumstances denied them their big break in Stage 1, FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks will make their international debut this week at long last.

From the very onset of competitive Valorant, FunPlus Phoenix have been a staple name of the EMEA scene. Top-four finishes at both First Strike: Europe and Stage 1: Masters Europe made them one of the favorites to represent EMEA at Valorant's first ever international tournament. Winning Challengers 1 at the start of Stage 2 further confirmed their overdog status, but they ultimately faltered in the Challengers Playoffs, going out in groups.

FPX's performance in Stage 2 was indicative of an ongoing pattern throughout their 2021 season. In the lead-up to a Masters event, they would show promise by dominating the qualifiers and getting wins over big teams, but they were never able to convert this form into a deep run or a slot at an international event.

Due to their poor showings in the Challengers Finals events, FPX were five points short of a slot at the Last Chance Qualifier, ending their season prematurely. Over the winter, FPX waved goodbye to ShadoW and dimasick and brought in SUYGETSU and ardiis . With this pairing rounding out their ranks, FPX hoped to breathe new life into their project ahead of the 2022 season.

With all but one of their players now hailing from the CIS region, FPX shifted away from Europe to compete in the CIS qualifiers. Thanks to a reverse sweep in the qualifier grand finals, they narrowly edged Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #19 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky to qualify for EMEA Challengers as the first seed from CIS.

The first signs that this new roster iteration could be something special came in the second week of EMEA Challengers, when FPX matched up against CIS powerhouse and recent Champions finalist Gambit Esports Gambit Esports Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Chronicle Timofey Khromov d3ffo Nikita Sudakov sheydos Bogdan Naumov nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin . After one of the most bizarre opening maps in recent memory – Gambit came back from a 12-3 deficit only to lose 17-15 in overtime – FPX closed out a 2-1 upset, which established them as a serious contender.

Following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in the middle of the season, FPX employed the services of baddyG to substitute in for their Ukrainian in-game leader ANGE1 . Despite a loss to LDN UTD LDN UTD Inactive feqew Lukas Petrauskas Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius Destrian Tomas Linikas MOLSI Michał Łącki near the tail end of group play, FPX secured the first seed in their group, which granted them a bye into the second round of playoffs.

Still playing with baddyG as a sub, FPX took a 2-0 victory over Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #23 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak in their opening playoff match, confirming their slot at Masters Reykjavik. ANGE1 made his return to the team in the upper bracket final, but as a substitute for ardiis, who was unable to play due to COVID.

Unbelievably, with a substitute and ANGE1 playing Jett in a competitive match for the first time ever, FPX ran over FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu stand-in Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder with a 13-0 opening map, afterwards closing out the series 2-0. The cherry on top of this magical playoff run was a 3-1 victory over G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive in the grand final, finally granting FPX their first European title.

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Under extraordinary circumstances, FPX prevailed to lift the EMEA crown in Stage 1.

However, even before the playoffs, there was a looming threat that FPX might not be able to attend Masters Reykjavik due to travel restrictions imposed on their CIS-based players. These suspicions were confirmed the day after the conclusion of the playoffs, when Riot announced that FPX would be unable to participate in Masters, and their vacant slot would be handed down to Team Liquid.

Despite this setback, the players decided to stick together as five in hopes of repeating their Stage 1 success and getting another chance to attend a LAN event. FPX started the Stage 2 group stage with a narrow loss to Fnatic, before they confirmed their playoff slot with three wins in a row. Another narrow loss to Acend Acend Inactive ALIVE Gilad Hakim musashi Alessio Xhaferi pyrolll Artur Minin cullumx Nikolaj Cullum Andersen chiwa Egor Stepanyuk in the final week meant they would go into playoffs as the third seed.

ANGE1 and co. took the longest route possible through the playoffs, playing six series and going to a deciding map in all their qualifying matches. They started off with a win over Liquid in the opening match before being sent down to the lower bracket by Fnatic. They won the rematch over Acend before finally defeating regional rivals M3 Champions M3 Champions Inactive Jady Yaroslav Nikolaev purp0 Semyon Borchev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Redgar Igor Vlasov to confirm their slot at Copenhagen. They swept Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive in the lower bracket but were dealt a sweep in the grand final against Fnatic, which locked them in as second seed .

Unfortunately, the conflict in Ukraine is still ongoing, which means the players' travel situation remains a challenging obstacle to overcome. At the time of writing, ANGE1 and Shao have been cleared to travel and have arrived in Copenhagen, while SUYGETSU's attendance is still shrouded in uncertainty. FPX have lined up SEIDER from Alliance Alliance Inactive to stand in during the group stage, but there is still a chance SUYGETSU will be able to acquire his visa for playoffs, should his team make it to that point in the tournament.

From the very beginning of this roster, ANGE1 and his squad have pushed the meta forward with compositions and playstyles unlike any other team. Each member is capable of playing a variety of agents and roles, which the team takes full advantage of. Rather than forcing themselves to play a specific way, FPX will usually adapt their compositions and playstyles to their opponents. The element of innovation is also still there: FPX are one of the only teams in the world who consistently dabble with Yoru on various maps.

Because of their frequent role swaps, FPX doesn't have any players with abnormally high stats, unlike a lot of other teams. Their best two performers throughout EMEA Challengers have been ardiis and SUYGETSU, with 228 and 221 ACS respectively. Both of these players have been the X-factor in many games for their squad, ardiis primarily on his signature Chamber with SUYGETSU mainly playing the sentinel role.

While Zyppan is no longer the team's primary superstar like he once was, he is still very capable of putting up a star performance the likes of which reminds his opponents why this team was once called ZyppanGoKill ZyppanGoKill Inactive Shao Andrey Kiprsky ShadoW Tobias Flodström Meddo Johan Renbjörk Lundborg Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov . Primarily fielding KAY/O and Raze, he tends to be a major spacemaker for his team.

The support duo of Shao and ANGE1 keep the FPX machine running. Shao's Fade play has been a major driving force making the team's meta-defining comps work. ANGE1, the captain and brains behind the operation, is generally happy to fill into whatever role is needed to make his ideas work, which includes being his team's primary Yoru player.

Not only is ANGE1 one of the longest standing members and captain of the team, he is also the player with by far the most competitive FPS experience. The Ukrainian's Counter-Strike career spans back all the way to 2005. With Masters Copenhagen being the first Valorant tournament to feature a live crowd, having a journeyman of the FPS scene with a wealth of LAN experience on the team could give FPX an advantage over other teams.

ANGE1 at Starladder i-League ANGE1 is the oldest and most experienced player attending Masters Copenhagen. (Photo: Starladder)

FPX finds themselves in a competitive group with three Asian teams. Their opening match will be against the experienced XERXIA Esports XERXIA Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #29 b3ta Puwadon Jaisuekul Siraww Siraphop Honghirun bnwgiggs , who are attending their fourth international tournament. The other side of the bracket features another four-timer in the Korean powerhouse of DRX DRX Korea Rank #7 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) . Rounding out the group is the debuting NORTHEPTION NORTHEPTION Japan Rank #18 , who recently pipped Reykjavik top-three finisher ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #2 Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe CLZ Hikaru Mizutani SyouTa Shota Aoki Xdll Yuto Mizomori for the Japanese crown.

Expectations will be hard to gauge for FPX. On one hand, Fnatic's underperformance at Reykjavik with two substitutes indicates the difficulty of adapting to a last-minute substitution. On the other hand, FPX proved their adaptability in a scenario very similar to Fnatic's when they won EMEA Challengers with two substitutes on their team.

Time will tell whether FPX will struggle to replace a key player like SUYGETSU on short notice, or if they will adapt, as they did in Stage 2, and take the fight to the best in the world.