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FunPlus Phoenix beats iG to head to League of Legends world final

FunPlus Phoenix celebrates after defeating Invictus Gaming. Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

FunPlus Phoenix knocked off defending champion Invictus Gaming 3-1 to reach the final of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship on Saturday.

Playing at the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid, FPX was led by jungler Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang, who earned MVP honors.

IG, the No. 2 seed out of Group D, returned to the 2019 Worlds with their entire roster intact, including stars Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok in the top lane and mid laner Song "Rookie" Eui-jin.

But after splitting the first two maps, IG had no answers for the upstart FPX team that previously didn't have a single player with experience at Worlds.

FPX won the LPL Summer Playoffs to earn an automatic entry into the World Championship.

SK Telecom T1 and G2 Esports will play for the second spot on Sunday.

The winners of the semifinal matches will take the stage at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on Nov. 10 to battle it out for the Summoner's Cup and title as the LOL 2019 World Champions. The champion will also receive 13.5 percent of the prize pool, which will be at least $2.225 million.

Invictus Gaming earns at least $155,750 for their 3-4th finish.

The Worlds began with 16 teams divided into four groups for a double round robin of best-of-one matches. The top two teams in each group advanced to the best-of-five quarterfinals.

-- Field Level Media