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FunPlus Phoenix & Invictus Gaming to kick off LPL 2020 Spring Split

The 2018 and 2019 champions of League of Legends Worlds are slated to kick of the LPL 2020 Spring Split in first matches of the new competitive year.

TJ Denzer

January 2, 2020 9:50 AM

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It’s 2020 and the new year of League of Legends competition is coming fast following an amazing 2019 Worlds championship. Teams around the world are preparing for the upcoming 2020 Spring Split, but LPL may be the one to watch at the season’s start. Coming off of their 2019 Worlds championship victory, FunPlus Phoenix is kicking things off in the first match of the LPL Spring Split, and they’re going against none other than the 2018 Worlds champions, Invictus Gaming.

The LPL 2020 Spring Split schedule appeared on January 2, 2020, as first reported by DotEsports. Beginning on January 13, 2020, FunPlus Phoenix and Invictus Gaming will kick off the LPL end of League of Legends’ 2020 competitive year. Not only will it be a contest between consecutive champions of League of Legends Worlds, but also a rematch between the two high caliber teams following their 2019 Semifinals clash, of which FunPlus Phoenix was the dominant victor in a 3-1 finish before their 2019 Worlds championship win against G2 Esports.

Undoubtedly, Invictus will be looking to take sweet revenge as the two teams clash to set the tone for their region this year, but they may have to do with a new starter in their ADC position. Star player and 2018 Worlds champ Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo has failed to enter a new contract with Invictus as of this writing, leaving backup Ding “Puff” Wang to fill in the role. Meanwhile, FPX is still rocking all of the successful players that got them to the finish line in 2019 which includes the 2019 MVP jungler Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang and Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang, with whom Tian’s synergy arguably made competing jungles and mid lanes a non-factor throughout the 2019 international competition.

Even so, Invictus has tasted the same victory as FunPlus before and is no doubt hungry to make a statement against the reigning champs to start 2020. It will be well worth watching the two championship teams throw down as League of Legends esports gets underway in the new year.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.