Cloud9 Blue, Team Secret & X10 Crit move on to the quarterfinals

Today was the last day of the group stage of VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021. Cloud9 Blue, Team Secret, and X10 Crit have made it to the playoffs stage while Vision Strikers, Team Vikings, and Envy got eliminated and sent home.

Vision Strikes and Cloud9 Blue competed against each other for the second quarterfinal spot in the Decider match of Group D. Cloud9 picked Ascent and started things off very well taking an 11-1 lead on defense. As sides where changed Vision Strikers really did try their best to make a comeback. Nathan "leaf" Orf was the difference-maker for the North American representatives as he got 26 kills with a 1.66 rating after the game was over. Cloud9 ended winning the first map with a score of 13-10 to get the lead in the series.

The second map was Vision Strikers’ pick Split. Their chemistry on this map is surely on another level as they grabbed the win and held onto the competition. Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul stepped up for his team with a 313 ACS and a 1.34 rating. Even though Cloud9 managed to steal 9 rounds, none of their players had a positive score.

It all came down to the last map in the group of death. Vision Strikers and Cloud9 battled on Breeze for a chance to make it to the quarterfinals and it was the North Americans that succeeded on the mission. The game went head-to-head until the very last round but C9 Blue closed out the series with a 13-11 Breeze win. Nathan "leaf" Orf finished the game with a 1.28 rating and 66 kills in total.

Team Secret has picked Haven and they made it clear from the very first round that they aimed for the quarterfinals. Jayvee "DubsteP" Paguirigan played out of his mind, finishing the game with 28 kills, 432 ACS, and a 2.0 rating. The talented player put on a show before the quarterfinals with Jett in his hands thanks also to the help of his team mates with strategic ability usage.

Team Vikings picked Icebox to keep their quarterfinals dreams alive. However, the result wasn’t different from the opening map. Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi and Leandro "frz" Fukuda Gomes did everything they could to keep their team in the game but Team Secret’s chemistry and teamwork came in handy for the Filipino squad. With Kevin "Dispenser" Depio Te’s performance and Jim "BORKUM" Timbreza’s insane clutches, Team Secret ended the series in two games and most importantly, in style.

The Thai squad made an impressive start to the series as they got the lead in the early stages of game one. They won seven rounds in the first half and looked strong, but Envy had different plans for the second half. The North American team looked much better on the attacking side and won the game with a score of 13-10 on Icebox. Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen played a great second half with 22 kills and a 1.41 rating in total.

Envy activated the “beast mode” to make a strong start to the second map. After a disappointing performance on the first map, Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker stepped up for his team, adding an important ace on his own on their road to glory. X10 Crit answered back to their opponents’ moves with clutch calls during rounds to even the score before halftime. The Thai team had a great attacking half on Split and managed to force a third map for another chance.

Even though Envy won the first half with a scoreline of 9-3, X10 Crit fought back in the second half as they won round after round. The competition turned into a duel between Austin "crashies" Roberts, and Patiphan "patt" Chaiwong. X10 Crit took the victory in overtime, completing a great comeback after the first half to reach the quarterfinals stage against Gambit Esports.

The playoff stage of the tournament will be streamed live on the VALORANT official stream starting tomorrow 6PM CET / 9AM PT.