VCT EMEA Stage 1 Main Event - Week 5 Group A

The fifth week of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event continued with four Group A games. BIG has been eliminated and the Germany-based team will continue its way in the VCT Promotion.

Team Liquid vs FunPlus Phoenix

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event

Team Liquid

0

X

2

FunPlus Phoenix

Group A, Best of 3 - March 12, 2022 - 3:00PM

6

Ascent

13

7

Haven

13

Team Liquid

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

ScreaM

1.03

218

29/31/12

-2

0.94

72.1%

137.6

37%

100%

1

0

L1NK

0.93

178

25/28/14

-3

0.89

66.7%

111.6

28%

60%

3

2

Nivera

0.87

183

27/29/7

-2

0.93

66.7%

111.8

23%

14%

1

6

Jamppi

0.78

194

26/34/2

-8

0.76

64.2%

122.6

38%

50%

9

9

soulcas

0.49

118

14/32/10

-18

0.44

64.7%

82.9

20%

33%

3

6

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Zyppan

1.48

249

35/24/24

+11

1.46

82.2%

165.5

27%

40%

2

3

baddyG

1.31

237

33/24/16

+9

1.38

74.3%

153.7

26%

75%

3

1

Shao

1.12

190

27/19/15

+8

1.42

87.2%

125.8

33%

78%

7

2

ardiis

1.07

240

32/32/5

0

1.00

66.6%

157.7

21%

53%

10

9

SUYGETSU

0.96

194

27/22/10

+5

1.23

79.5%

147.9

34%

33%

1

2

In the first game of this week’s VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event Group A action, Team Liquid and FunPlus Phoenix competed against each other. Liquid picked Ascent as the opening map of the series but FunPlus Phoenix dominated the map all along. The CIS representative grabbed ten rounds in the first half as the defenders and Liquid failed to disorientate FPX in any means as the European team confined itself with two rounds. Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen’s Jett was not efficient as the Finnish player ended the first half with 5 kills, even though 4 of them were first bloods. On the FPX’s side, Pontus "Zyppan" Eek’s KAY/O made the difference with 16 kills and a 2.33 rating. FPX put an end to the first map after winning four rounds on the attacking side. FPX’s newest addition, Kamil "baddyG" Graniczka, had the best stats after Zyppan, holding a 1.52 rating and 280 ACS to upset Liquid in the first map.

FunPlus Phoenix picked Haven as the second map of the series. It happened to be a “dejavu” as FPX ended the first half with ten rounds. Unlike the first map, this time it was Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin stepping up with Killjoy to carry his team to victory. Team Liquid’s strategies weren’t effective in the end, especially Dom "soulcas" Sulcas’s Neon pick, as the British player secured 3 kills in the first half. Team Liquid showed a life pulse on the attacking side but it still wasn’t enough. FPX secured an incredible lead after the first half and the CIS team grabbed three more rounds to end the series. All of the FPX players had positive scores and impressive ACSs.

FunPlus Phoenix vs LDN Utd

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event

FunPlus Phoenix

1

X

2

OG LDN Utd

Group A, Best of 3 - March 13, 2022 - 3:00PM

10

Haven

13

13

Fracture

5

10

Ascent

13

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Zyppan

0.97

198

43/46/19

-3

0.93

70.5%

130.1

27%

53%

8

7

baddyG

0.96

196

43/41/17

+2

1.05

74.2%

127.4

26%

50%

5

5

Shao

0.94

190

44/42/16

+2

1.05

66.7%

127.8

25%

50%

5

5

ardiis

0.91

200

44/47/12

-3

0.94

64.7%

138.0

22%

43%

9

12

SUYGETSU

0.73

148

33/35/7

-2

0.94

65.1%

94.6

31%

50%

4

4

OG LDN Utd

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

feqew

1.18

253

58/45/9

+13

1.29

75.2%

159.9

27%

50%

11

11

Boo

0.89

165

36/41/25

-5

0.88

73.6%

111.0

22%

67%

4

2

MOLSI

0.87

189

39/42/21

-3

0.93

65.9%

125.9

18%

65%

11

6

Destrian

0.83

176

40/40/14

0

1.00

66.6%

120.4

30%

25%

2

6

Dreamas

0.78

154

38/39/12

-1

0.97

74.2%

99.0

22%

45%

5

6

LDN Utd’s map pick was Haven as the Lithuania-based organisation grabbed eight rounds in the first half to show its dominance on the map. Lukas "feqew" Petrauskas’s Jett was pretty effective for the team as the duelist starred with 12 kills and a 2.4 K/D in the first half. FPX’s Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks’s Jett on the other hand wasn’t as effective as feqew’s as the Latvian player held a 0.65 rating and a 0.7 K/D. LDN Utd’s impressive performance continued in the second half and the team closed out the game in 23 rounds. feqew ended the show with 23 kills and a 1.92 K/D to put his team 1-0 ahead in the series. FPX lacked firepower as all of the players had low ACSs and kills in general.

After a shocking loss on Haven, FunPlus Phoenix bounced back strongly with a confident win on Fracture. After a 9-3 run on the attacking side in the first half, FPX players were unstoppable as they were way better on the map than their opponents. Four LDN Utd players ended the game below 10 kills and the star of the first game, feqew, had 17 kills but he failed to carry LDN Utd on his own. On the other side of the competition, Pontus "Zyppan" Eek stepped up for his team with a 19-kill Raze performance. The Swedish player grabbed 4 first bloods which opened the bomb sites wide open for the CIS representative. Alongside Zyppan, Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin had a monstrous Cypher performance, holding a 1.22 rating and 3.75 K/D to top his game. The Russian player ended the game with 15 kills, 4 deaths, and 4 assists.

Lastly, FunPlus Phoenix started the last map, Ascent, with a 7-5 lead on the attacking side. FPX found a very important 6-round win streak in the first half but somehow LDN Utd managed to pick up the last three rounds of the first half. The scenario was reversed in the second half as LDN Utd demolished FPX while on the attacking side. Michał "MOLSI" Łącki had a great performance on KAY/O with 4 first bloods for his teammates to conquer bomb sites. More importantly, LDN Utd’s chemistry and effort as a team were the keys to success on Ascent. The Lithuania-based organisation closed out the map with a score of 13-10 to secure another win in the group stage. It was one of the greatest games of the event.

Team Liquid vs BIG

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event

Team Liquid

2

X

0

BIG

Group A, Best of 3 - March 13, 2022 - 5:15PM

14

Bind

12

13

Split

6

Team Liquid

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

L1NK

1.35

248

41/24/12

+17

1.71

80.1%

145.3

27%

75%

3

1

soulcas

1.25

253

40/30/13

+10

1.33

79.9%

174.4

24%

44%

7

9

Jamppi

1.05

222

35/30/7

+5

1.17

72.2%

146.8

29%

75%

6

2

ScreaM

0.90

178

28/25/16

+3

1.12

74.6%

122.0

39%

40%

4

6

Nivera

0.81

163

27/23/6

+4

1.17

84.4%

101.2

25%

57%

4

3

BIG

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Twisten

1.15

256

41/32/7

+9

1.28

62.9%

169.5

23%

56%

10

8

gob b

0.82

166

25/31/10

-6

0.81

70.0%

115.4

26%

67%

2

1

Obnoks

0.76

152

25/36/11

-11

0.69

68.1%

106.7

32%

33%

2

4

Kaspe

0.74

157

21/34/15

-13

0.62

64.3%

97.6

17%

44%

4

5

AslaN

0.62

150

20/38/9

-18

0.53

62.4%

102.5

32%

33%

3

6

BIG’s pick for the first map of the series was Bind but it is the second most-played map for the side of Team Liquid, with 51 appearances so far. Team Liquid had a great first half as the team held the advantage by winning nine rounds in the first half. Despite his earlier insufficient Neon performance, Dom "soulcas" Sulcas stepped up for his team this time by securing 13 kills in the first half. BIG made an incredible start to the second half and won nine rounds in a row without giving away a single round point. However, Team Liquid’s roster is full of experience and confidence as the team didn’t make any fuss but won the last three rounds to force overtime. After winning two rounds in a row in overtime, Liquid closed out the first map after 26 rounds. soulcas’ Neon played a huge role in TL’s success but Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen was also up there with 20 kills. BIG’s Karel "Twisten" Ašenbrener secured 32 kills and had a monstrous Raze performance but he didn’t get the help he needed from his teammates.

Team Liquid picked Split as the second map of the series. The European team picked up seven rounds on the attacking side and gave away five. Travis "L1NK" Mendoza’s Astra made the difference in the first half as the British player secured 13 kills on top of a 1.46 rating to keep his team ahead. BIG’s most experienced FPS player, Fatih "gob b" Dayik’s Breach prevented Liquid’s dominance with 9 kills and a 1.01 rating. The Germany-based organisation had an awful performance in the second half of Split. None of their plans worked as Team Liquid had one of the best defence performances of the event so far. In the end, TL closed out the map with a score of 13-6 to get the win.

Gambit Esports, now playing under M3 Champions as covered here, are due to be back in action and we await the outcome of the rescheduled games against Natus Vincere, BIG and LDN Utd.