DRX VS and Talon Esports dominate day 5 of VCT LOCK IN

After the fifth day of VCT 2023 - LOCK//IN, two teams continue their run at VCT LOCK IN Sao Paulo, while two teams bid farewell to the tournament. While DRX and Talon Esports will continue their run for the trophy, it is the end of the road for Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses. Here is the recap of the day!

DRX; slow but steady

The competition started with Cloud9’s Pearl pick. DRX managed to steal a couple of bomb plants but C9’s post-plant performances were almost all on point. The NA team started the game with a 4-round winning streak in which they defused the bomb three times. DRX looked lost while trying to execute their attacking strategies on Pearl and eventually grabbed three rounds at the end of the first half, 9-3. Cloud9’s defensive efforts were too good. Erick "Xeppaa" Bach and Nathan "leaf" Orf secured 26 kills combined on Skye and Killjoy, making it almost impossible to win any round for the opposing team. Unlike Cloud9, DRX VS failed to defend the bomb sites. This much dominance wasn’t expected from the side of C9 but in the end, the NA representatives closed out the first map after only 15 rounds, 12-3. leaf finished the game with a 1.66 rating, 19 kills, and a 2.38 K/D.

It was not the time for DRX VS to even the series and hold onto their lives in Sao Paulo. The second map was Haven and the South Korean team dominated the first half on the attacking side. They grabbed nine rounds and only lost three, making up for their poor attacking performance on Pearl. Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan had an incredible performance with Omen in his hands, holding a 2.01 rating in the first half. MaKo finished the first half with 12 kills and a 2.4 K/D. DRX didn’t waste too much time and finished the job after eight rounds in the second half. The South Korean representatives won the game with a score of 13-7. Kim "stax" Gu-taek held a 1.90 rating in the second half and helped his team to glory.

The decider map of the series was Icebox. KIWOOM DRX started the last map in strong fashion with a 6-round winning streak. They dominated the first half on the attacking side and only lost one round. Cloud9 failed to defend any bomb sites on Icebox and Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro’s Sage pick didn’t work well for them. Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul’s Jett was very effective for DRX in the first half with a 1.61 rating.

Talon complete tight sweep

Evil Geniuses picked Haven as the first map of the series and managed to defuse the bomb three times in a row at the beginning. The NA team used the defensive advantages of the map and finished the first half with nine rounds while losing three. Daniel "C0M" Lee finished the first half with a 1.41 rating on KAY/O and Alexander "jawgemo" Mor followed him with a 1.39 rating and 12 kills. Talon Esports had an unexpected performance in the second half and dominated the map on the defensive side. EG could only pick up two rounds while Talon closed out the game after 24 rounds, 13-11. Jittana "JitBoyS" Nokngam held a 1.47 rating on Breach and used his utility perfectly to help his team win the first game.

TALON’ map pick was Split and they had a chance to sweep the North Americans while holding the advantage in their hands. EG led the first half with a score of 8-4. Kelden "Boostio" Pupello’s Killjoy was very effective for them as he held a 1.70 rating and grabbed 15 kills. On Talon’s side, Apiwat "garnetS" Apiraksukumal finished the half with a 1.71 rating and 14 kills. Talon Esports had a wonderful performance in the second half and didn’t let EG play their attacking plays except for two rounds. Talon closed out the series after winning the map with a score of 13-10. JitBoyS had a 1.34 rating throughout the series.

MVP of the day

Both MaKo and JitBoyS had impressive performances but the Thai player had a slightly better performance today. Below you will find his stats of the day!

The competition will continue tomorrow with some very exciting matchups. You can find more information on the events page and don’t forget to check our VCT 2023 Hub!