VCT 2022: NA Challengers Stage 1 Main Event - Week 5 Group B Recap
The last week of matches in group B of VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event were decided in rather unceremonious fashion, with all three ending in 2-0 scorelines. Regardless, there was no shortage of interesting storylines and crucial seeding to play for, so here’s a quick rewind of the weekend.
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eeiu
The first matchup of the weekend was that of NRG Esports and Rise. Both sides had shown in short bursts how high their skill ceiling can be, most memorably in the latter’s win against OpTic Gaming in the opening week, but failed to consistently maintain their form and now found themselves playing for their pride at the bottom of the table.
NRG kicked things off on their pick of Fracture, a map where they’ve had mixed results at Challengers so far. Their shakiness showed in the early rounds, as Rise found themselves on the front foot after winning the pistol and anti-eco. With rifles in hand, NRG reverted to their fundamentals as they went for an all-out take of the B site and subsequently squashed the opposing retake. The rest of the half saw both teams ride small periods of momentum and the scoreline was a competitive 6-6 at the break.
The neutrals would have loved to see this back and forth continue, but in the second half NRG looked like a completely different team. Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic continued to show how much value Breach can bring on Fracture, not only topping the scoreboard with a 1.63 rating but also executing set plays with his utility and boasting an 85% KAST for the map. With the exception of one anti-bonus round win, Rise could neither crack open the NRG defense nor deal with their clean retakes, surrendering the rest of the seven rounds to fall 13-7.
Going into Haven, Rise would have to reach deep into their offensive playbook to deny NRG their first win at Challengers. Things didn't look too good for them starting off, falling behind 0-3 to Sam "s0m" Oh’s surprise Yoru pick. The attackers finally found some success on A, forcing NRG into an eco round, but solid teamplay saw the latter bounce right back with just Sheriffs and eeiu’s Hunter’s Fury. Rise got themselves in post-plant situations frequently, as is the case on Haven, but simply could not repel the retakes fueled by the triple-flash composition of Omen, KAY/O, and Yoru. Despite scavenging a few rounds towards the end, the half ended in a grim 4-8 scoreline for Rise.
eeiu had been a menace for Rise to play against and he did it again in the pistol round, clutching out a 1v3 with 10 health remaining to kill all hopes of a comeback. NRG just abused the C site repeatedly and won five in a row to finish off the map 13-4 and the series 2-0.
wippieFormer Masters Reykjavik champions Sentinels went head to head against a resurgent Version1 to decide who would claim top spot in the group. Interestingly, the latter had been beaten twice by Sentinels in 2021 and were looking to get their first ever win over them.
Version1 got the match rolling on their pick of Ascent, where they were beaten handily by OpTic Gaming just last week. The Alexander "Zander" Dituri led side were determined to not let that happen this time around, however, as they recovered quickly from a pistol round loss and took full advantage of the economy once they picked up rifles. Their fast pace and willingness to hit either site with full force was too much to deal with for Sentinels, along with the crucial opening kills Erik "penny" Penny was able to find with Jett. Apart from the occasional round here and there, Version1 were in full control as they led 8-4 at half time.
Version1 continued to keep a strong hold on the match in the second half as well, picking up the pistol round in close fashion and putting Sentinels’ backs against the wall. But the latter couldn’t fight back, failing so far as to get a single spike plant on the back of zander’s impressive performance on Astra, whom he continues to use even after the heavy nerfs, and Zellsis’s constant disruptions with KAY/O, who ended the map with a 1.86 rating. It was cruise control for the North American squad who didn’t drop a single round in the second half en route to a 13-4 win.
Sentinels’ defense of their map pick of Haven began in nervy fashion, as in-game leader Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan, who was in top form this series, edged out wippie in a 1v1 retake. They then incredibly were able to win two bonus rounds in a row to cripple the Version1 economy and race to a 4-0 lead. Loic "effys" Sauvageau on Breach then decided to take matters into his own hands in the following round, not only winning out the A site with his Rolling Thunder, but then also capitalizing on dapr’s misplaced Lockdown and destroying it immediately with his Aftershock. That was all that was needed to catapult them to a six round win streak and equalize the scores at half time.
Proceedings were much more back and forth in the second half, even though Version1 picked up early rounds to lead 10-7. This is where the teamwork from both squads came through, especially with Sentinels playing off-site post-plants using their utility and ultimates to prevent the spike defuse. But as the scoreline went to 11-11 and everything was on the line, Version1 were clearly the more polished and drilled out team, winning out two incredibly difficult retakes on the A and B sites to clinch the map 13-11 and series 2-0.
OpTic Gaming vs Pittsburgh Knights
GenghstaThe very last match of the group stage saw Pittsburgh Knights take on OpTic Gaming for a better seeding position. This was the first time both organizations faced each other despite being in the same region since the inception of VALORANT.
The Knights started off on the offense of their map pick of Ascent, which interestingly is also a very strong map for OpTic Gaming. Both sides looked sharp, and even though OpTic grabbed the pistol, Knights fought back with rifles and stole a thrifty round on their way to a 3-3 scoreline. But FNS and co. found a win streak on the back of a strong retake and the following economic advantages and edged the half 7-5.
The offense is where the star Jett of Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker shines, and the Knights got to experience that firsthand in their defensive half, as the American tore through their defense with six first bloods and a 1.50 rating. OpTic Gaming just had far too much quality and decisiveness in their site hits and post-plants, and the Knights only managed one round win before falling to a tough 13-6 loss.
OpTic Gaming kept the good times going on Bind, as they took a strong 5-1 lead on their attacking side. Now it was Victor "Victor" Wong’s time in the spotlight, taking so much map control with Raze and always ready to explode onto a site, allowing yay to play a slightly more passive role with Chamber, whom he has been playing as of late. Crucial aim duels in Hookah and Showers seemed to always go OpTic’s way as they dominated the B site time and time again. Sheer confidence pulled the team to a 9-3 lead at the break.
Winning the pistol saw OpTic Gaming move to a 10-3 lead, but the Knights squad showed great character to win the next three and make it competitive at 10-6. But they were perhaps a bit overzealous in trying to kill yay while he was saving his Operator, losing three players in the process. That came back to bite them economically in the next couple of rounds, as they lost and fell into a weapon disadvantage. A top team like OpTic took full advantage of the situation and shut the Knights down quickly at 13-7 to take the series 2-0.
As a result of these matches, Pittsburgh Knights will be the team to face a deadly Cloud9 Blue in the playoffs, while OpTic Gaming get the slightly more favorable XSET. Meanwhile, Version1 set up their match against Luminosity Gaming and Sentinels go up against The Guard.
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