In the history of LPL, there have been 3 world champions (World Championship) to date, including Invictus Gaming (IG), FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), and Edward Gaming (EDG). The time this region became a rival to LCK has been quite a while, but LPL has shown more affinity in the MSI arena than in the World Championship. However, they have had representatives in the World Championship finals for 4 consecutive years, bringing home 3 titles. Only the LCK region has a better record than LPL.
However, not all world champions have a bright fate after their coronation. Specifically, IG only managed to hold on for one more year in 2019 before plummeting uncontrollably. FPX faced a similar fate as they struggled both domestically and internationally at the World Championship. In particular, at the 2021 World Championship, FPX marked a forgettable milestone as the first LPL representative to exit the tournament from the group stage. EDG fared slightly better by reaching the semifinals of the 2022 World Championship, but last year was still a barren season despite EDG’s recent championship in 2021.
But perhaps, no team has a “miserable” fate like FPX. After winning the 2019 World Championship, they were abandoned by their own home audience. The reason given at that time was that FPX did not defeat any LCK representatives on their path to the title, even in the group stage. This led to FPX’s victory being seen as “less glorious” compared to teams like IG or EDG.
Subsequently, FPX’s champion skin was also rated as one of the least aesthetically pleasing championship skins in history. Doinb also expressed great regret over his choice of Malphite after seeing his skin design. According to him, at that time during the pandemic (2020), Riot was unable to work directly with players to produce better products.
Recently, during the 10th anniversary celebration of LPL, FPX once again faced neglect. Lwx shared that he felt disheartened when both IG and EDG received recognition but FPX was completely overlooked. The only acknowledgment was Doinb being included in the Top 10 Greats of LPL, but that led to another issue.
Specifically, Doinb’s appearance was cut from the Top 10 Greats broadcast. Additionally, images of FPX were also omitted from the film about LPL champions. No one knows why this happened. However, many opinions suggest that it could be due to LBL (Doinb’s self-organized tournament) attracting more viewers than Tencent’s tournaments. Furthermore, GimGoon had previously commented on skin revenue or the match-fixing case involving Bo.
Of course, Tencent, Riot, and LPL organizers remain silent about the incident. It is a pity that FPX truly delivered one of the most exciting World Championship experiences with their unpredictable gameplay. But now, they only exist in the memories of League of Legends fans.