Cloud9 victorious over NRG in the Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE grand final

Last night marked the conclusion of the first major Valorant tournament in the NA region: Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE - Main Event. Two of the 16 invited teams made their way to the Grand Finals after spectacular performances in the Group Stages and Playoffs. An earlier write-up on THESPIKE.GG described how Cloud9 and NRG Esports qualified for the Grand Finals, while this article will take a detailed look at the matchup and how it unfolded.

Map Pick:

Although this matchup was the Grand Finals of the tournament, it featured an unconventional Best of Three format. NRG picked Icebox, Cloud9 went for Bind, and Breeze opted as the decider map.

Agent Protection & Bans: NRG Protect Astra / Cloud9 Protect Brimstone / NRG Protect Sova / Cloud9 Protect Yoru / NRG Ban Reyna / Cloud9 Ban Jett

Icebox:

Given that Icebox was NRG’s pick, the audience anticipated them to have the upper hand. However, from the very moment that both teams left the gate, the map had Cloud9’s name written all over it. Round after round, NRG struggled to penetrate Cloud9's formidable defense and were unable to plant a single spike over the course of 11 rounds. The first half ended with only one round to NRG and the rest 11 to Cloud9. With an 11-1 lead, the chances of a comeback were slim but ever present. However, Cloud9 didn’t seem to be interested in letting the map continue any longer as they took Icebox with a 13-1 score, courtesy of Erick "Xeppaa" Bach finishing the map with a mind-blowing 2.24 rating, 345 ACS, and 100% KAST.

Bind:

NRG’s performance on Icebox raised eyebrows from the Valorant community, but more importantly, it served as a wake-up call for the roster to come back in the matchup. They started the map with four consecutive rounds, and just when they were about to establish firm control over the map’s momentum, Cloud9 started to display resistance and they managed to turn the tables quite rapidly taking six rounds in the first half faster than NRG did. The 2nd half featured a similar start with NRG taking control of proceedings early on only to surrender momentum to Cloud9 and then attempting to regain it. This back-and-forth resulted in Cloud9 leading NRG 12-11 in round 24 with a point away from winning the tournament. In this do-or-die situation, NRG managed to survive in a 1v1 situation between Erick "Xeppaa" Bach and Sam "s0m" Oh. Overtime meant that each team would get a chance each on Attack and Defense, both of which went NRG’s way winning them the map and forcing the decider map.

Breeze:

If the events of previous maps seemed entertaining to you, then this map will not disappoint! After the second half on Bind, it seemed that NRG had finally found its form and was ready to topple Cloud9, one of the participants at VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021. This speculation started morphing into reality when they started Breeze with 9 consecutive rounds on Defense. NRG was giving Cloud9 a taste of their own medicine, one which they had to painfully tolerate on Icebox. The Valorant community was left shocked with this fascinating performance from the team. The Cloud9 roster, which once had nothing to lose, were now on their toes trying to figure out a strategy to combat this unfamiliar situation and desperately managed to finish the half with three rounds to their name. During this break, however, the team needed to come up with a strong plan for their Defense phase and from the results that soon emerged it seems like they did. As soon as the second half commences, the community witnessed frightening defense from Cloud9 resembling their performance in the first half of Icebox. From being down 9-3 at the end of the first half, Cloud9 finished the map with a 13-9 score and earned the Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE title and $12,500.