APAC Last Chance Qualifier – Day 1 Recap
David "Miles David" Josiah
10/11/2021
The time has come for Asia’s Last Chance Qualifiers. Ten teams from almost every Asian VALORANT region (Korea, Japan, SEA, and South Asia) are going to face off for the chance to play in VALORANT’s final main tournament of the year, CHAMPIONS. Double Elimination format will be used, so teams will have a chance to make a run in the lower bracket if they falter in a single series. It’s been an exciting day with two competitive and entertaining series that started off the tournament strong. Boom Esports ended up winning the first match against FENNEL with a 2-0 series score line after mounting two strong comebacks in the second halves of each map. After that, Global Esports pulled off the upset and took down Korean favorites, DAMWON Kia, in an exciting three-game series with a 2-1 score line.
There was supposed to be a third series between Thai team FULL SENSE and Japanese side REJECT. Unfortunately, the match had to be postponed due to serious technical issues and will be played the following day.
Let’s dive in and take a quick look at what happened:
Boom Esports vs Fennel
- Ascent: Boom Esports win 13:10
- Icebox: Boom Esports win 15:13
The first VALORANT series of the day at APAC LCQ saw a tempered battle between Indonesian representatives Boom Esports and the Japanese team FENNEL. Because of the double elimination format of the APAC LCQ, the loser of the series will find themselves playing in the lower bracket of the tournament. Fortunately for SEA fans, it was Boom that managed to come out on top of the matchup with strong performances from almost all of their players. The Indonesian team did have a slow start on both maps, but managed to pull it back in the end for a 2-0 scoreline. Despite the clean sweep, it was definitely a competitive series from both squads. Boom started out cold and FENNEL started out hot. The Japanese team were always leading by a wide margin by the end of the first half on both maps.
However, despite being down, it seemed like Boom had the mental edge the later the map went. The team managed to mount comebacks on both maps. Icebox even went to overtime.
There were some standout performers on both sides, but Saibani “fl1pzjder” Rahmad definitely showed his prowess on Jett with some really great holds on defense and had a strong impact on entries on Boom’s attacking side.
Still, the play of the match will probably go to Hiromichi “mittiii” Urahigashi.
That’s a Judge clutch that we won’t be forgetting any time soon in competitive VALORANT.
With this decisive win, Boom Esports continue in the upper bracket and will face Korea’s NUTURN Gaming for a chance at the upper-bracket semifinals. Meanwhile, FENNEL moves down to the lower bracket and will fight the loser of tomorrow’s match between F4Q and Northeption.
Global Esports vs DAMWON Kia
- Haven: Global Esports win 13:8
- Ascent: Damwon Kia win 13:7
- Split: Global Esports win 13:5
Damwon Kia entered this match as the favorites. Meanwhile, on the other side of the server, Global Esports have come into the qualifiers from the VCC. The Indian team dominated their local circuit but have never faced international competition. To most people, drawing Korea’s 3rd-4th best team sounded like a death sentence. After all, the region has had plenty of international success this year and boasts experience in so many esports titles in both the past and the present. It would be an uphill climb for Global Esports.
At least, that’s what everyone thought.
The Indian squad proceeded to not only take down Damwon Kia, they also did it in commanding fashion. Their all out aggression on both offense and defense took the Koreans by surprise. Just when it looked like DK would take a commanding victory after clinically taking down their opponents on Ascent, GE took an even more impressive victory right after. All in all, this can definitely be considered to be a major boon for the VCC region as a whole. GE at least proved that they’re more than a match for international competition. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how far this team can go in the Qualifiers.
As for standout players, GE as a whole definitely stepped up to the plate. In particular though, Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar had some really flashy Jett plays with a bit of over-aggression thrown into the mix as well. He showed that he can definitely compete with some of Asia’s best like Kim “t3xture” Na-ra.
On the other hand, Damwon Kia will have to struggle through the lower bracket.
GE will go on to face Paper Rex, the South East Asian representatives to Masters Berlin, in the upcoming upper bracket bracket quarterfinals. DK, on the other hand, will drop down to the lower bracket to face whoever loses between FULL SENSE and REJECT.
FULL SENSE vs REJECT
Match postponed to the following day.
Aftermath
With that, the first day of the Valorant APAC LCQ has been concluded. The fact that there’s already been an upset means the potential for more exciting matches is definitely at an all time high. Teams playing in the tournament aren’t just fighting for themselves, after all. They’re also fighting for the pride of their regions. This is most especially true for countries that have never really had the chance to be in the spotlight.
This is just the beginning. We here at Runitback will be covering the Qualifiers for every region. So make sure to stay tuned for more content coming your way very soon.
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