LoL World Champions FunPlus Phoenix reportedly buying into CSGO
ESL / FunPlus PhoenixLeague of Legends Worlds 2019 champions FunPlus Phoenix are reportedly buying into CSGO’s Flashpoint League just days before its expected to kick off, acquiring the Heroic roster in the process.
FunPlus Phoenix took the League scene by storm in 2019, making a remarkable run in China to qualify for Worlds, before demolishing everyone in their path to lift the Summoner’s Cup.
They’re now hoping they can translate that same story into CS:GO after reportedly buying into the FPS title as their first expansion outside of League of Legends.
Michal Konkol for Riot GamesAccording to a report by neL, FPX are jumping right into CS:GO, buying a slot in Flashpoint and acquiring Heroic’s roster.
The 14th-best team in the world, according to HLTV standings, would be jumping into the inaugural season of the FACEIT-run league as the second-best squad.
- Read more: Thorin’s CSGO World Rankings (March 10 2020)
Heroic were set to play in the ESL Pro League franchised league, and with Season 11 kicking off on March 16, ESL have less than a week to find a replacement or run one of the groups with five teams.
We have the Groups for Season 11 of the #ESLProLeague!
Which one are you most excited to watch? 🤔
Find out about how we created these Groups, as well as some other cool new features you may have missed, over at:https://t.co/0Avx0ez5Eo pic.twitter.com/cZ6WF8IQ5I
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 5, 2020
Heroic didn’t play in the European Qualifiers for Flashpoint after being invited to the ESL Pro League. The full Danish squad has spent the start of 2020 playing in qualifiers for various events, including the upcoming Rio Major.
They managed to qualify for DreamHack Open Leipzig over CIS team Gambit Youngsters, but failed to make it to DreamHack Open Anaheim or the Rio Major after being knocked out by ForZe and Copenhagen Flames respectively.
The squad also went through a rebuild in the later stages of 2019. After three of their players left, including Adam ‘friberg’ Friberg and Benjamin ‘blameF’ Bremer, Heroic picked up Danish veterans like Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller and Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer to take their place.
DreamhackThere are still three spots available in the Flashpoint League with action expected to kick off on March 13.
It’s reported that Havu and Chaos will be taking the final two places alongside FunPlus Phoenix, while Copenhagen Flames will be replacing BIG — who are choosing to play in the ESL Pro League instead.
The expected FunPlus Phoenix roster is as follows:
- Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer
- Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller
- Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen
- Martin ‘stavn’ Lund
- Johannes ‘b0RUP’ Borup