Total Shorty Kills
VCT EU Challengers 2 Lower Bracket: Alliance, Vitality storm out
Naim "EnKay" Rosinski
07/28/2021
With the Upper Bracket of the first day of Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Challengers 2 Main Event done and dusted, four teams have fallen to the pit that is the Lower Bracket. From now on it’s do or die as a loss here results in elimination. And with that, dreams of entering the elusive Masters Berlin shattered.
The following teams have been pitted against each other after their losses in the Upper Bracket on Day 1 of the Main Event:
- Team Vitality vs Team BDS
- Rix.GG Thunder vs Alliance
Team Vitality vs Team BDS
The first pair saw two teams of equal strength go head-to-head. Either team was expected to go far into this event. Yet one must fall for the other to rise this time around.
Bind
The Bind matchup was a back-and-forth affair. Both teams wanted to clinch the first map badly. It was BDS that kicked it into fifth gear on defense in the first half. An early 7:1 lead spearheaded by Logan “logaN” Corti and co. was shortened in the end as Vitality found their mojo towards the end of the half. Still, the French BDS medley closed it out in their favor at 8:4.
Team Vitality was a retake machine on defense. The first three rounds of the second half saw Vitality garner points after great retakes, including a 3k defuse by Mohamed “shalaby” Shalaby. BDS got one round back but it was followed up by two from Vitality to get them the draw at 9:9. From then on it was all BDS as four straight rounds led to victory at 13:9 ending on a 4k by logaN.
Icebox
It was do-or-die time for Team Vitality. Yet it was BDS that started off on the right footing. Four straight rounds led to the early lead on defense. Vitality managed to snag one back but was met with another two for BDS. Finally, LoWkii and co. managed to put together three rounds to get back in it. That was all she wrote in the half as BDS bagged the last two rounds of the half to make it a hefty 8:4 in their favor.
Vitality on defense started off right with a nice site retake to get the defuse on the pistol. Things started going downhill from there as BDS continued their mojo on attack to get themselves four straight rounds. This brought them the match point. Vitality tried to regain some ground but only managed to pull back one round as Dylan “hoppY” Aube and co. stopped the bleeding by getting the last round for the match win.
Team Vitality are eliminated from the VCT Challengers 2 Main Event. Team BDS continue their Lower Bracket run.
Rix.GG Thunder vs Alliance
The underdog Rix.GG Thunder squad took on Alliance, a team that either performs extremely well or has shaky matches in key moments.
Haven
Rix.GG Thunder started out on the attacking side. Things were looking bright for the first few rounds as the underdogs wer leading 6:2. Alliance managed to finally get some fresh air in to make it a square 6:6 at the half. Better late than never.
The second half was once again all the Rix team. Their first four points were all successful Spike defuses. The next two came from sheer fragging power. At that point, they were just 1 point away from victory on Haven. Alliance managed to pull off a well orchestrated push onto A in order to start a sequence of rounds to mount a comeback. In the end, their efforts were cut prematurely as a 1v1 clutch by Mikołaj “Mickebwoy” Chojnacki got Rix.GG the point at a 13:11 score to deny the comeback.
Breeze
Much like Haven, Breeze was an extremely back-and-forth match, especially in the first half. Rix stole the pistol and the anti-eco to gain some ground but were traded with one round immediately. From then on it was a round trade fiesta as neither side wanted to let this one go. In the end, Rix.GG were on top slightly at 7:5.
Alliance lost their footing on defense as Rix.GG were a force to be reckoned with on attack. Four straight rounds went to the Rix squad. Alliance manged to pull one back before their opponents jabbed back to get another. This put Alliance in a fatal spot as Rix was one away from match victory. Alliance buckled up and blew off the pressure to mount an admirable comeback by stringing five rounds. At that point it was 12:11 for Rix. Fortunately for them, a clutch was denied last second as Rix finally closed it out.
Alliance are the second team eliminated while Rix.GG Thunder battle on.
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