VCT EMEA Challengers Stage 1 Main Event - Week 2 Group A Recap

The second week of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event has passed and FunPlus Phoenix stayed at the top in Group A, continuing their journey without a loss.

Gambit Esports vs FunPlus Phoenix

The series started with a great competition from both sides on Gambit Esports’ pick, Fracture. It was a close game until the very end but in the battle of the CIS represetantives, FunPlus Phoenix won the opening map with a score of 17-15. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks popped off with a 35-kill Jett performance as he carried his team on his shoulders. Gambit’s Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov had an awesome Brimstone performance, holding a 1.45 rating but his efforts weren’t sufficient. FPX won the first map and started the series with a huge advantage.

FPX picked Bind as the second map of the series but Gambit Esports played the map perfectly from the very start to the end. Despite losing the opening game, the Russian team bounced back stronger than ever to even the series after a 13-6 Bind win. It was Chronicle’s Brimstone once again who made the biggest impact. The Russian player held a 1ç44 rating and 1.64 K/D to force a third game. FPX’s Pontus "Zyppan" Eek had an awful Raze performance as he only had 4 kills at the end of the game with a 0.22 rating.

Lastly, we saw another highly competitive game as both teams played their hearts out to win the series in three games. This time, Zyppan had different plans as he shined with KAY/O in his hands. The Swedish player held a 1.48 rating but even better than that, Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky finished the game with a 1.92 K/D. FunPlus Phoenix won the series after a close 14-12 Icebox win.

BIG vs LDN Utd

Despite looking very different from their qualifier performances during the first week, OG LDN Utd made a confident start to the series and won the first map with a score of 13-4. The Lithuanian team played together as one and showed an impressive performance to start things off. All the players had similar stats but on the other side, Ceyhun "AslaN" Aslan had a disappointing Jett performance, holding a 0.34 rating with only 6 kills and 88 ACS.

BIG bounced back to even the series in the second game. Their Split performance looked much better, especially with the experienced Fatih "gob b" Dayik taking charge and responsibility to carry his team to victory. The German player has so much experience both with FPS games and the organisation. With him stepping up, even Michał "MOLSI" Łącki’s 23-kill Raze performance wasn’t enough. BIG won the second map to force another game in the series.

BIG’s hopes died earlier than expected as LDN Utd demolished their opponents with dominance, winning the game with a score of 13-4 on Breeze. Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius’s Viper decided the game with a 1.99 rating, 345 ACS and 3.83 K/D. The Lithuanian player had one of the greatest performances in the tournament so far. BIG’s tools weren’t enough to stop their opponents and LDN Utd won the series to take their first win in the group stage.

Team Liquid vs Natus Vincere

In the first game of the series, Natus Vincere decided to pick Haven but Team Liquid played much better overall. Na’Vi had problems taking first bloods and such but with TL’s Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen had no troubles with Chamber in his hands. The Finnish player ended the first map with 23 kills and 283 ACS. Normally, we see Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom with Jett and Reyna most of the time but just like last week, he picked Skye to help his team. Eventually, the new strategy worked for Team Liquid.

Even though facing a hard loss on their map of choice, Natus Vincere showed courage and mental strength to even the series. The CIS representatives showed decent performances in every round even when they lost. Na’Vi won the map with a score of 13-10 to force another game in the series. Kirill "Cloud" Nehozhin popped off with Sova, holding a 1.63 rating and 304 ACS to help his team win the game. On the Liquid side, none of the players had a positive K/D, which explains the game in a way.

In the do-or-die game of the day, the competition lasted until the very last round. In the end, Team Liquid closed out the series with a 13-10 Split win. Dom "soulcas" Sulcas’s Raze performance played the most important role in the last game, the British player carried his team with 19 kills and 250 ACS.

The third week games will continue on February 25 with Group B matches. You can find the fixture here.