VCT Masters Berlin: The Rundown

The much-awaited Stage 3 Masters in Berlin enters its VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Group Stage this weekend, as we prepare to get VALORANT LAN action for the first time since VCT 2021 - Stage 2 - Masters Reykjavík in May earlier this year. The flagship tournament will feature 15 premier teams, five more than its predecessor, and interestingly, 12 new teams that will be making their offline debut. Only three teams made it both times to the two official LAN tournaments organised by Riot including from Japan, Crazy Raccoon, South America, KRÜ Esports, and the defending champions of Masters Reykjavik, Sentinels.

The teams that qualified for this event from all over the world are:

Vision Strikers F4Q Sentinels 100 Thieves Envy Crazy Raccoon ZETA Division Acend SuperMassive Blaze Gambit Esports G2 Esports Havan Liberty Vivo Keyd KRU Esports Paper Rex Bren Esports (due to COVID restrictions the team was not allowed to travel to Germany and will have to skip the event)

While we all know about all the plays that TenZ, cNed and other big names in the scene do, here's a quick recap of some players one need to look out for:

• Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas: nukkye made the switch to G2 Esports back in June as part of a team reset and has changed the European organization’s fortunes completely. After securing top 4 finishes in their last three competitions en route to their first Masters, nukkye has cemented himself as the star beside Oscar Cañellas "m1xwell" Colocho on G2 and the Raze aficionado will no doubt continue to impress.
• Baran "Izzy" Yılmaz: Izzy has been the spark from Turkey who is taking the European region by storm. Boasting a ridiculous 1.31 rating overall and recently trashing FPX and Gambit on Ascent at EMEA Challengers Playoffs, his rapid rise to the top is startling and time will tell whether he can perform at the same level against global competition.
• Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov: After having won Stage 1 VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - CIS Masters earlier this year, longstanding M3 Champions member sheydos makes his second appearance at Masters at Berlin. The Russian has impressed on Skye and Sage recently, using the pseudo-duelists to put up some of the best numbers on the roster. His consistent numbers leading up to the event, as well as a 1.27 rating and 1.49 KD overall, make him a deadly player to play against for any team.
• Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul: BuZz has been quite the journeyman in the Korean VALORANT scene, from the Cloud9 Korea project to Rio Company in May. However, since him and Myeongkwan "MaKo" Kim joined the legendary Vision Strikers squad, there has been no denying he is one of the most valued players in the region. The Jett purist has only had less than 200 ACS twice in his last 22 matches, amassing a 1.31 KD and 150 ADR on the way. BuZz is only 18 and will only continue to improve and we are sure to see a masterclass from him at Masters Berlin.
• Kouji "Laz" Ushida: Coming in from the Japanese scene is Laz, the initiatior focusing on Skye and Sova for ZETA Division. With a rating of 1.21 and 1.32 K/D he will be a player to watch out for at Berlin after ZETA Division managing to take the win over Crazy Raccoons in the VCT Stage 3 Challengers Finals in Japan. ZETA Division, previously known as Absolute Jupiters were the same team that lost to Crazy Raccoons in Stage 2 hence losing the opportunity to attend Masters Reykjavik.
• Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker: At a time where Envy were looking shaky and looking like they might miss out on Masters Berlin, the addition of yay in August has turned them into a team playing with real confidence. His performances over this short period have been stunning, bringing in some much-needed firepower for the roster with over 200 ACS in all but two maps. The Jett main had the second-highest ACS at NA Challengers Playoffs, and few doubt he can do it again versus international competition.

After the disappointing news that Bren Esports will not be able to attend and participate the event, Group D which Bren were part of with Sentinels, G2 Esports and F4Q, was changed from a GSL format to a double round robin group. Two teams will qualify from each group to the playoffs stage. The teams will then be randomly selected for the playoffs stage from the first teams pot against the second teams pot. For example, who wins Group A can play against the second team from Group B, C or D. The full schedule of the group stage will be as follows:

• 10th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • Acend vs Suppermassive Blaze
  • G2 Esports vs F4Q
  • 100 Thieves vs Havan Liberty
• 11th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • Vision Strikers vs Paper Rex
  • Gambit Esports vs Crazy Raccoon
  • Vivo Keyd vs Envy
• 12th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • KRU Esports vs ZETA Division
  • G2 Esports vs Sentinels
  • Group C Winners Match
• 13th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • Group B Winners Match
  • Group A Winners Match
  • Sentinels vs F4Q
• 14th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • G2 Esports vs F4Q
  • Group B Elimination Match
  • Group C Elimination Match
• 15th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • Group A Elimination Match
  • G2 Esports vs Sentinels
  • Group B Decider Match
• 16th September - starts on 3PM CEST / 11AM EDT / 6.30PM KST
  • Group A Decider Match
  • Group C Decider Match
  • Sentinels vs F4Q

All matches will be streamed on several channels with different languages and you can find these on each match page. The main English broadcast will be on twitch.tv/valorant. Who do you think will manage to take the winning spot? Will Sentinels keep their winning streak or a new powerhouse will rise up?