Top Esports Reverse Sweep FPX To Win Their Second Demacia Cup Title

The defending Demacia Cup champions, Top Esports, reverse-swept FunPlus Phoenix in the finals of Demacia Cup 2021 on Sunday, December 26. With that, TES became the first team since EDward Gaming in 2016 to win back-to-back titles.

Top Esports claimed their second LoL Demacia Cup title on Sunday, with a near-perfect run through the tournament. As the defending champions, Top Esports kicked off Demacia Cup 2021 in Group A, where they got seeded with Team WE, Bilibili Gaming, Huya All-Star, and JD Gaming.

But despite the stacked opposition, Top Esports did not fail to show up. The defending Demacia Cup champions made it through the group stage with only one defeat and a 3-1 record.

In the playoffs, TES got seeded with the LPL 2021 Spring and 2021 Mid-Season Invitational champions Royal Never Give Up. But even though they had to face a tough opponent, TES again proved their worth, swept RNG 3-0, and advanced into the semi-finals.

In the semis, Top Esports met with Invictus Gaming, who disposed of EDward Gaming in the quarters (3-1). But despite IG’s incredible performance in the quarter-finals, they proved no match for TES.

Expected to struggle against IG, Top Esports again proved all the doubters wrong and won the series 3-0. With that, they set themselves up to defend the Demacia Cup title against FunPlus Phoenix.

In the Demacia Cup 2021 finals, Top Esports met with FunPlus Phoenix, who entered the new season with a lot of question marks. The 2019 world champions made a major roster overhaul this offseason, leaving many to wonder whether FPX made the right call to part ways with most of its star players.

Still, FPX proved that they can still compete with the top teams in the region and put together a remarkable run in the playoffs.

FPX kicked off the Demacia Cup 2021 playoffs with a 3-0 sweep of Ultra Prime, to which they added a commanding 3-1 victory against LNG Esports in the semis. And while FPX won only two games, it was enough for them to enter the big stage.

By beating Ultra Prime and LNG, FPX proved that they are one of the top Chinese LoL esports teams. And they did not need long to showcase their might in the Demacia Cup finals.

Soon it became clear that FPX are a much tougher team than any opponent Top Esports have faced up to that point. FunPlus Phoenix won the first map without any issues and effortlessly went 2-0 up.

Only one map away from claiming their maiden Demacia Cup trophy, FunPlus Phoenix slowed down and dropped game three, as Top Esports reduced the gap to 1-2. With the wind in their sails, TES used the momentum to win the fourth map, tying the series at 2-2 before eventually completing the reverse sweep with 3-2.

By winning the second Demacia Cup, TES emerges as only the second team in history to successfully defend the title. EDward Gaming, who won Demacia Cup six times, are the only other team to achieve that feat.

With that win, TES are also only one of four teams to ever win the Demacia Cup, besides EDward Gaming (6), Royal Never Give Up (3), and Invictus Gaming (2).

Much of their success in the grand finals was thanks to the recently signed jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang. Tian stood with his individual input and claimed the MVP award for his performance against his former team.

The 21-year-old ended the series with a 9/13/37 combined score after managing only 0/8/10 in the opening two maps.

It remains to be seen whether TES will manage to keep their wheels spinning and look as dominant in the LPL 2022 Spring. But we should get more answers in a couple of weeks, with the start of the LPL 2022 Spring, on January 9.