Total Shorty Kills
All Qualified teams for the Main Event of VCT Europe Stage 3 Challengers 1
Naim "EnKay" Rosinski
07/02/2021
VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is now in full swing over in Europe. The battle for qualification for Masters Berlin continues despite a long road ahead for every team. However, some teams have gotten closer than others as 8 squads have booked themselves a spot in the European VCT Challengers 1 Main Event. From there four teams will receive a ticket to the EMEA Challengers Playoffs where four tickets await for Masters Berlin.
The teams that were eliminated in the Upper Bracket were dropped to the Lower Bracket. There, they had another shot at qualifying for the VCT Challengers 1 Main Event.
Upper Bracket Qualifiers
Guild Esports
Guild Esports has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the European VALORANT scene. They came into this qualifier with confidence and it showed.
Their Upper Bracket Round 1 match went as smooth as ever. Leo “Leo” Jannesson’s side swiftly brushed aside their opponents, BK ROG, winning the best-of-three (BO3) with a clean 2-0. BK ROG only managed to accumulate 9 rounds over the two maps; Split and Haven.
Upper Bracket Round 2 however, saw Guild take on a much tougher opponent. It was Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow’s FunPlus Phoenix. Despite facing a formidable opponent, Guild emerged to be the stronger side on Icebox and Split, closing out the BO3 in their favor at 2-1 by a very narrow margin.
Acend
The champions of the very first Masters event in Europe saw a lackluster run during their contention for Masters Reykjavik. The team also saw a roster change. Jose “koldamenta” Luis Aranguren Herrero was traded to G2 Esports while another Pole joined the Acend squad; Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt. It seems like those changes were very favorable for the talented Acend lineup.
Their UB Round 1 match against BIG was a miniscule matchup. Mehmet “cNed” Yağız İpek’s side expertly dismantled the German side to advance to the Round 2 of the qualifier with a clean slate. There, Acend faced Team BDS, the former org-less team named Opportunists. Acend was no match for the French medley. Easy 13:5 sweeps on both Icebox and Haven sent Acend straight to the Main Event.
Team Liquid
Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Team Liquid were one of the two EMEA representatives at Reykjavik. It’s safe to say that Liquid are a team to definitely fear at this stage (or any, for that matter). What’s more, they have not disappointed with their performance, though Team Finest and Alliance did give them a run for their money.
Team Finest was a 2-0 sweep for TL. However, Breeze was a challenge as the map saw the two teams go into triple overtime. ScreaM and co. finally closed it out at 15:13. The following map, Ascent, was a 13:8 outclass.
Alliance was the next team to defeat. Enzo “Fearoth” Mestari’s side saw Alliance challenge TL by taking away the first map, Ascent, rather comfortably. This led to Team Liquid coming back stronger on Breeze and then on Haven. The reverse sweep was done and dusted and Team Liquid qualified through as expected.
G2 Esports
2021 has so far been a dreadful year for G2. After having a fantastic 2020, VCT has been a nightmare for Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho and his team. Failing to qualify for both, Masters 1 and then Masters Reykjavik, it was time for a major overhaul. A trade with Team Heretics and acquirement of Cista “keloqz” Wassim, sees a brand new G2 shake it up on the scene.
G2 started their journey with an extremely tough matchup against Team Vitality. The BO3 was riddled with overtimes and tight encounters that could have gone either way. However, G2 prevailed after finally pulling ahead on Ascent with a 13:8 score to close out the series.
Their next matchup was the true test they were waiting for. It was Jake “Boaster” Howlett’s Fnatic. The team that emerged as the runners-up at Masters Reykjavik. It was a tough sell to bet on G2. However, the biggest upset so far had taken place.
Fnatic failed to capitalize on their new Bind agent composition and lost 13:9. Afterwards, Haven did not go in their favor either, as a quadruple overtime saw G2 snag Haven to sweep Fnatic with a clean 2-0. A truly unexpected result very few could have predicted.
Lower Bracket Qualifiers
Fnatic
Europe’s finest bounced back quickly after that dreadful loss to G2 Esports. After coming down to the Lower Bracket Round 2 to face Wave Esports, Fnatic’s performance was rather mixed. A clean 13:1 sweep on Icebox was countered with Wave taking Breeze with a 13:9 score. The decider, Bind, did go Fnatic’s way, as they eventually made it out alive into the the Main Event.
Rix.GG Thunder
The Rix.GG Thunder team was defeated by Team BDS at the Upper Bracket Round 1, effectively sending them straight to the Lower Bracket Round 1. They had to win two straight matches to qualify. With the odds against them, the underdogs of the tourney managed to make it out alive.
After defeating the German BIG squad, Rix.GG went on to battle Alliance for qualification. A tight Breeze saw Rix.GG close it out in their favor in overtime. Alliance snagged one map to force the decider, Haven. There, Alliance fell apart as the promising Rix squad closed it all out comfortably at 13:4. This is the biggest surprise qualifier of the event thus far.
Team BDS
After a lackluster performance against Acend, Team BDS had a lot to prove against Team Finest. And they did just that. Despite Bind being an absolute walk in the park for the French medley, Team Finest made BDS struggle on Icebox. Nevertheless, it was the favorites that took Icebox in their favor at a tight 13:11 scoreline. This also meant that they are advancing to the Main Event.
FunPlus Phoenix
FPX faced another tough opponent in the Lower Bracket Round 2, Team Vitality. Despite ANGE1‘s side coming out with a 2-0 triumph, both Bind and Icebox were extremely close matchups. Bind finished off with a narrow 13:10 win for FPX. Icebox saw overtime ensue as Vitality mounted a comeback to tie it all up. FPX’ efforts were just a bit better as they took what was theirs at 14:12 to qualify for the Main Event of this VCT European qualifier.
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