Day 2 of BLAST Valorant Twitch Invitational continued the four-team European tournament. Day 1 saw Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) and Team Liquid fall to the lower bracket while G2 Esports and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) stayed on in the upper bracket. The respective teams faced off on day two of the €50,000 tourney.

NiP vs Team Liquid

Ascent

The best-of-three (BO3) lower bracket matchup was a do-or-die scenario for NiP and Liquid. It all started out on Ascent, map pick of the Ninjas, as they kicked things off on the attacking side. Similarly to day 1, NiP needed time to get rolling, as Liquid took the first four rounds before NiP got their first on the board. The half was overall a huge pain for the Swedish org. as they failed to find their drive on attack, managing to plant the bomb only twice at the half. This left them trailing 8:4 before side switch.

Liquid’s attacking side, however, proved to be an absolute frag-fest. Led by Travis “L1NK” Mendoza in frags, Liquid went on to string four rounds in a row once more. NiP managed to get one last round before they would lose their map pick. This led to a disappointing performance on Ascent by the Ninjas as Liquid took home the first map 13:5.

Haven

Haven is definitely up there on Liquid’s favorite Valorant map list. However, Liquid’s map pick ended up being much closer than most would have expected. NiP finally took the initiative and started things off on their defensive side by picking up the pistol and subsequent round. A back-and-forth game emerged, but after round 7, Liquid switched on take the remaining five rounds on attack by simply outfragging their opponents. The half finished 7:5 for Liquid.

Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and co. were looking to close out the map easily on defense Haven. And so they got the first two rounds to bring them very close to that 13th point. NiP managed to get within reach of their opponents on the back of Niels “luckeRRR” Jasiek’s 3k, which propelled the team to get three in a row. Liquid then jabbed back with expertly orchestrated retakes that brought the score to 12:8 in their favor. Dom “soulcas” Sulcas’ 3k on round 22 sealed the deal, as Liquid took their own map pick 13:9. ScreaM and co. live to fight another day on day 3 in the lower bracket of BLAST Valorant Twitch Invitational. NiP finish the tournament in fourth place.

• Ascent: Liquid 13:5 NiP
• Haven: Liquid 13:9 NiP

G2 vs FPX

Split

FunPlus Phoenix came into this matchup with high hopes. After yesterday’s stellar performance against Team Liquid, the series against G2 commenced on their own map pick, Split. What a tragedy that turned out to be for FPX, however. G2 started out on Split’s defense and showcased a phenomenal defensive display on the map. The duo of Jacob “pyth” Mourajärvi and Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks were fantastic at anchoring sites and retaking them with ease using raw fragging power. This led to FPX getting frustrated more and more as time went by. G2 took the half forcefully with a dominant 10:2 scoreline. FPX had a huge task on their hands to turn this around.

This task was an ultimate failure. FPX only managed to get in one round, while G2 simply outfragged their enemies to victory on their attacking side. Patryk “Patitek” Fabrowski’s 3k was the nail on the coffin in the last round as G2 closed out Split 13:3.

Ascent

If Split wasn’t an impressive enough performance by G2, their own map pick was equally, or even more, flamboyant. G2 decided to replicate the show on their own map pick, Ascent. On attack, Patitek led the charge as the European superteam got 9 rounds in a row to propel them to another easy win in the BO3 series. Despite Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow’s best efforts on defense, the team was looking helpless going in on the offensive side.

And this is precisely what happened. G2 transferred their momentum to defense. A 3k by pyth in the pistol showed G2’s tenacity moving forward. FPX failed to put up any rounds on attack and were blown out on Ascent the same way they were blown out on Split, 13:3.

• Split: G2 13:3 FPX
• Ascent: G2 13:3 FPX

FunPlus Phoenix will face Team Liquid in the lower bracket on day 3 of BLAST Valorant Twitch Invitational, while G2 has entered the final of the event.

Check out our Day 1 recap of the BLAST event. As always, tune in to Run It Back for all the latest news, extensive guides, and exclusive interviews in the world of Valorant.