FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) flares up in the VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: Masters Shanghai (2024 VCT Masters Shanghai) after winning their opening series against FUT Esports.

FPX finally earned their first win on a Masters stage after outclassing FUT 2-1 in their tough best-of-three series in Masters Shanghai, winning it on home soil too!

The Chinese representatives convincingly won the first game on Sunset, winning the first game 13-7. After that, they had a major step back in the second game on Lotus, losing 14-12 to FUT Esports in overtime. When it all seemed bleak, FPX bounced back in Icebox to secure the series.

During the third game in their series against FUT Esports, FunPlus Phoenix also debuted Clove in Masters Shanghai. Prior to this, they have been using the Scottish agent already back in their region, specifically using her on Icebox for their matches in the VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: China Stage 1.

FunPlus Phoenix Rises in Sunset

To start their 2024 VCT Masters Shanghai campaign, FunPlus Phoenix decimated FUT Esports in Sunset to claim the first blood in the series.

FPX ran a rather interesting agent composition on this map.

First, they had Qu “Life” Donghao on Yoru as their lone duelist. Then, their double controller setup involved Chang “BerLIN” Po-lin on Harbor and Liang “Lysoar” Youhao on Omen. Their last two agents, Cypher on Kale “autumn” Dunne and Fade on Zhang “AAAAY” Yang, were standard picks for the map.

With this agent composition, Funplus Phoenix dominated the first half as attackers, closing it out 9-3 in their favor prior to halftime. That massive gap gave Funplus Phoenix a comfortable lead which FUT Esports never got close to.

Circling back to the agents for this game, Life's Yoru was quite an effective duelist. As Yoru, Life racked up 25 kills and two assists while only having 13 deaths on an impressive 329 ACS.

On the other hand, FUT's star duelist, Mehmet “cNed” İpek, had a less-than-stellar performance on Sunset. As Raze, CNed disappointingly only managed to get nine kills and four assists in all twenty rounds of the first game.

FUT Esports Ties Series With Overtime Win on Lotus

Even though they had a fantastic start in this series, FunPlus Phoenix came up short for their second game against FUT Esports on Lotus.

In Lotus, FUT Esports exposed FunPlus Phoenix's weak defense. As defenders in the first half, FPX only secured four rounds compared to FUT's eight.

Despite having a terrible first half, FunPlus Phoenix regained its composure to win six straight rounds to start their attacking half. Eventually, they forced overtime to extend their lifeline for just two more rounds.

Although they forced overtime during their attacking half, FPX's efforts were in vain as FUT ultimately won the overtime rounds to tie the series 1-1.

During this game, FPX found themselves in CNed's sight. Back on his signature Jett, CNed shrugged off his game one jitters by going 22/15/6 in Lotus with 248 ACS.

FunPlus Phoenix Heats Up in Icebox to Secure Series

The third and last game on Icebox saw FunPlus Phoenix triumphant for the first time in a VALORANT Masters stage. The home crowd favorites took Icebox 13-10 to secure a 2-1 victory in their first match in the 2024 VCT Masters Shanghai Swiss stage.

In this game, FPX yet again showed their creative agent composition, opting for a triple controller setup with Clove, Harbor, and Omen. Their agent composition in this game also excluded duelists and instead opted for double initiators with Gekko and KAY/O.

FPX's defensive holes were still exploited by FUT Esports as the EMEA representatives were up 8-4 by halftime. Fortunately, FunPlus Phoenix turned on the heat when it was their time to attack, eventually closing the game with a jaw-dropping nine-round win streak.

With the result of the series, FunPlus Phoenix and G2 both currently have a winning record in the 2024 VCT Masters Shanghai with one win apiece. Meanwhile, T1 and FUT Esports both have one loss so far in the tournament.

For more 2024 VCT Masters Shanghai news, follow us at ClutchPoints Gaming.