Total Shorty Kills
Masters Reykjavik has its Upper Final as two more teams exit — Day 4 Recap
Brandon "Mothman" Moore
05/27/2021
Day three of Masters Reykjavik saw the first two teams eliminated in the form of Crazy Raccoon of Japan and Sharks Esports of Brazil. The eliminations are not stopping anytime soon as they will take place every day until the end of the event. Day four consisted of a huge Upper Semifinals contest between Version1 of NA and NUTURN Gaming of Korea. That match determined the team to take on Sentinels in the Upper Final.
Following that series saw two more teams exit the first international Valorant LAN tournament. Iceland was no more for the losers of FNATIC vs. X10 Esports and Team Liquid vs. KRÜ Esports. The action was just as intense as the first three days of Masters Reykjavik. Read ahead as Run It Back recaps day four of this historic event.
Version1 vs. NUTURN Gaming
The series started in V1’s favor. Two quick pistol wins on Haven were theirs. Three straight rounds went to Version1 before NUTURN Gaming took their first. Erik “penny” Penny showed why he is one of the best Jett players in the world. He consistently shut down NUTURN and left the Korean representatives with no room to work. It was complete dominance through the first half. NUTURN were able to scrape together a few rounds on the back of Seo “Suggest” Jae-young, but that would be it. Version1 ran through them to a 13:3 map one.
Ascent began exactly the same way. V1 snagged the pistol rounds, setting them up for early success. NUTURN was able to put one on the board much earlier, getting the Spike down and successfully preventing a retake. While V1 kept the lead, NUTURN were able to more rounds than they did on Haven as Park “allow” Sang-wook locked in. Moving to the defensive side saw NUTURN fully come to life. The last half of map two was a back and forth affair. Overtime was inevitable.
The first round of overtime saw a small war take place on A Site with only Loic “effys” Sauvageau alive to defuse the Spike. Another overtime period approached as NUTURN stopped a post-plant by V1. NUTURN took the next round for the lead as Jung “peri” Bum-gi planted the Spike at the last second. The team from KR was able to prevent a V1 clutch. A total elimination happened in the next round, giving NUTURN the victory in an incredible showing on Ascent.
The third and final map of the series found the teams on Split. NUTURN began on defense and held their ground very well. Through five rounds, only went to the team from NA. A wild Lockdown and retake by Kang “solo” Keun-chul tried to prevent V1 from gathering any momentum. The next two rounds were all V1’s as Anthony “vanity” Malaspina played time to stop a defuse.
Version1 managed to tie things up at the half. NUTURN dominated the first few rounds after halftime. V1 refused to die, however. Some absolutely insane defense from V1 forced time to run out multiple times, giving them the lead. A Flawless round featuring a bloodbath in B Garage took V1 to map point. Incredibly, NUTURN fought back to bring another map to overtime.
OT immediately saw NUTURN take the lead. They shut down an attacking push by V1 in quick fashion. NUTURN rapidly planted the Spike on their offensive round. That proved to be too much for Version1. NUTURN decimated V1 in the final round of the Split, taking an exciting series with a 14:12 map. That victory advances them to the Upper Semifinals of Masters Reykjavik against Sentinels.
FNATIC vs. X10 Esports
The second match of the day would send a team packing from Iceland. FNATIC came to play on Icebox to start the series. They took five straight rounds leading to an X10 Esports tactical timeout. James “Mistic” Orfila and Jake “Boaster” Howlett had a field day with X10, taking players out left and right. A huge clutch from Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard gave X10 a chance to pull back into it. He continued to make plays as the map reached halftime. Unfortunately, switching sides did not allow that momentum to continue. FNATIC easily dispatched X10 13:4.
With how drawn out and exciting the first match of the day was, the first map in this series was the exact opposite. Moving onto Haven, X10 picked up the pace. They started with two strong pistol round victories. It wasn’t long before FNATIC tied it up, though. Nutchaphon “sScary” Matarat was one kill away from an Ace before he was shut down as FNATIC took the lead. That lead never faltered. X10 made it much closer than they did on the previous map, but Domagoj “Doma” Fancev came through with several round ending plays. The series ended with a 13:9. That sends FNATIC forward in the Lower Bracket and X10 out of the tournament.
Team Liquid vs. KRÜ Esports
Team Liquid immediately took it to KRÜ Esports. KRÜ responded, but it wasn’t enough to gain momentum. In fact, the momentum stayed with Liquid. A 3K from Travis “L1NK” Mendoza locked down A on Split and a follow up 3K from Dom “soulcas” Sulcas did the same for B. Team Liquid continued to roll over KRÜ Esports through the first half. Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom was a consistent source of success for TL, pushing them further to the finish line. A quick beatdown on Split ended 13:2 in favor of the representatives from EMEA.
Ascent kicked off with TL on attack. They executed quick plants and were able to stop KRÜ Esports from retaking until the third round. KRÜ were able to eliminate TL and defuse the Spike to put their first on the board. They continued to snowball rounds, proving their defense strong. Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda took charge with the Operator, pushing them to a small 7:5 lead. KRÜ held onto the lead for some time, but Liquid battled back to tie it up. ScreaM began to pop off with headshots as TL jumped in front. A much closer map still saw TL take the win 13:9. Team Liquid now faces Team Vikings in the Lower Bracket and KRÜ Esports are eliminated.
Quick Results of Masters Reykjavik Day 4
NUTURN Gaming 2:1 Version1
- Haven 3:13
- Ascent 15:13
- Split 14:12
FNATIC 2:0 X10 Esports
- Icebox 13:4
- Haven 13:9
Team Liquid 2:0 KRÜ Esports
- Split 13:2
- Ascent 13:9
Stay tuned to Run It Back for further coverage of Masters Reykjavik, including recaps and player interviews!
