China's FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) have won the finals of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, achieving victory over home favourites G2 ESports (G2) in what many claim to be the pinnacle of eSports.
Nearly 100 million people around the world tuned in for the 2018 finals and this year's event may go on to smash that figure when viewing figures across all streaming platforms are tallied up.
Billed as Europe vs. Asia, G2 were hoping to become the first Western team to lift the Summoner’s Cup in eight years.
But after a spectacular opening ceremony that featured augmented reality hip-hop collective True Damage, FPX dominated their rivals with a clean sweep of victories to win the match 3-0.
The Independent was at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris to cover the event.
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship finals. We're at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris to bring you all the latest from what has been dubbed the biggest event in the history of eSports.
After months of intense clashes, 24 teams have been whittled down to just two: G2 Esports (G2) and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX).
G2 are the clear home favourites and if they win they will become the first European team to lift the Summoner's Cup in eight years.
There's less than 30 minutes to go until the pre-show starts, which will come in the form of the virtual hip-hop collective True Damage.
It includes League of Legends’ characters Qianna, Akali, Senna, Ekko, and Yasuo.
League of Legends developer Riot Games claim Akali came up with the group after she was “given creative control by her label to start her own hip hop record imprint”.
While we wait, we've got a full round-up of everything you need to know about this year's finals.
Perennial trash talker Kim ‘Doinb’ Tae-sang from FPX (left) was downplaying G2's chances of victory on Friday, claiming the European team were only in the finals because of the luck of the draw.
“If they’d met us in the quarter finals or semi finals, they would not be in the finals,” he said.
Less than 10 minutes to go now until the opening ceremony.
If you want to watch along, there are plenty of live streams to choose from .
There's the official League of Legends Twitch channel and Riot Games’ LoL eSports site.
A live stream is also being hosted on YouTube.
The AccorHotels Arena is full-to-capacity, with cheers going around the stands for home favourites G2.
The home support are calling for a 3-0 obliteration of FPX.
"This G2 team was not built to win, it was built to conquer," proclaims G2's Caps in a video played across the big screens.
With 10 minutes to go until the finals get underway, it's now or never for the European team.
"The French crowd is our 6th man today"
The teams have take their seats on stage, with the five players from each team separated by what they're playing for: The Summoner's Cup.
The start has been delayed due to a technical problem. The players don't seem too anxious about the added build-up though. Doinb just yawned.
Mexican Waves are rolling around the AccorHotels Arena as the crowd passes the time.
Despite their chants for a 3-0 victory by home favourites G2, such an outcome is unlikely considering the strength of the FPX team.
The first game will be crucial to gaining a psychological advantage over the opposition and FPX will be coming out hard.
Technical problems fixed - we're off!
It's first blood to FPX, with massive attacks along the top lane. A very strong opening from the Chinese team.
FPX may have overloaded the top lane, with Perkz making a big play for G2 by taking down Tian.
Huge cheer from the home crowd.
Slight technical problems here too, apologies.
We're back now in time for game two.
A stunning first win for FPX. Two more and the title is theirs.
First blood again to FPX! Three kills already and G2 are on the ropes here.
It's 6-1 now as FPX strike three times in quick succession.
History repeating itself as a European team with high hopes stumbles in the final to a Chinese team.
It's 8-1 now but the game has been unexpectedly paused.
No one is quite sure why.
Here's a stat that G2 won't want to hear: No team that lost game one has gone on to win the 5-game match.
The second game remains paused. Here's how it currently stands:
Kills
FPX 8-1 G2
Towers
FPX 3-1 G2
Gold
FPX 39k - 32k G2
Please wait for the live blog to load.
