EG, DRX, T1 find success on opening day of Masters Tokyo, DRX stax: "My goal is to obviously win Champions, win the whole thing."

VCT Masters Tokyo has finally began with the first three opening matches of the event in Japan over and done. The first day of the event saw the following matches take place:

• Evil Geniuses vs. FUT Esports
• DRX VS vs. Attacking Soul Esports
• T1 vs. EDward Gaming

The first day of competition saw the event get off to a hot start as we witnessed two maps go to overtime, blowout map wins, and high octane VALORANT action. Here is how day 1 went and what some of the players said at the post-match press conferences at Masters Tokyo.

EG brush FUT aside

In a battle of the third-best teams following their regional VCT events, Evil Geniuses swiftly dealt with their first opponent at the event.

A dominant Split with a 13-5 scoreline saw Daniel "C0M" Lee top the leaderboard on Viper as EG ran a double Controller comp with Kelden "Boostio" Pupello on Astra. A close half at 7-5 saw EG dominate on their defense side, where they went on a flawless run, denying FUT of even a round on the attack side.

The second map saw us travel to Lotus, pick of the Turkish side. There, we finally saw the FUT that we were anticipating. Ata "ATA KAPTAN" Tan and Doğukan "qRaxs" Balaban paved way for FUT to reach success in the score chart albeit a close affair throughout the match. The battle on Lotus even reached overtime as EG made up ground on attack by grabbing 3 straight rounds. They then proceeded to extend their streak by stealing the two rounds in overtime to send FUT Esports to the lower bracket and ending the match in a 2:0 sweep.

"We're feeling good, feeling really good. Second map got a bit shakey, but we're shaking that off completely. It's not really how we started, we're just proud of how we ended it. Definitely feeling confident that we closed out that second map," - said Christine "Potter" Chi.

DRX overcome Attacking Soul Esports

Attacking Soul Esports have made their debut on the international VALORANT stage. Unfortunately for the Chinese team, they were thrown in at the deep end as they had to face one of the most consistent and best teams of VALORANT, DRX VS. Still, ASE gave it a solid shot and it was by no means a one-sided blowout overall.

The opening map, Fracture (pick of ASE) saw Qu "Life" Donghao take charge on Jett. The former EDward Gaming player wrecked havoc on Fracture, keeping his side well in the match despite the 7-5 half in favor of DRX VS. Despite that, another masterclass performance from DRX's Controller main Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan, propelled DRX to an eventual victory at a close 13-10 victory.

"We knew how they played (due to scrims) and they didn't really change their playstyles. But they switched up their comps a little bit, so that was a minor change I noticed," said Kim "stax" Gu-taek.

Pearl, pick of DRX, is one of the maps where Harbor can shine if mastered. Goo "Rb" Sang-Min showed us just that. Attaining THESPIKE Rating of 1.98, 295 ACS, and 25 kills over the course of 20 rounds in a 13-7 victory showed the scene that it is rather unwise leave Pearl wide open when trying to snag a win against the Korean side.

"My goal is to win Champions, win the whole thing. I don't have a team I'd really like to face right now, but I'd like to face LOUD eventually," - said Kim "stax" Gu-taek

EDward Gaming put up a solid fight against T1

The last day of Masters Tokyo saw EDward Gaming, the second Chinese team in attendance, take the fight to T1 for survival. The only game to go to the decider map saw action unfold on Fracture, map pick of T1. The Chinese side put up solid resistance on the opening map, making it a tied 6-6 at the half. Ha "Sayaplayer" Jung-woo, who was starting to warm up, gave T1 the boost that they needed to eventually claw their way to a 13-10 victory on their own pick.

EDG found their footing on their own map pick, Haven. Despite T1 giving EDG a fair fight in the first half, T1's attack was sloppy as EDG duo of Zheng "ZmjjKK" Yongkang and Zhang "Smoggy" Zhao put up huge numbers on defense to close the map in their favor at 13-7.

Finally, Pearl, the remaining decider map, turned into a rollercoaster match in Tokyo. Yet again, a 6-6 half would go to only show that we're in for a long match. The second half saw T1 start out on attack and chain 5 straight rounds, only needing two rounds to seal the deal. However, EDG began their miracle run by putting together 6 straight rounds, leaving them at match point. At the last possible second, T1 switched back on to force overtime and take the two rounds necessary to seal the deal. It was a much closer affair than it had to be for the Pacific side.

"Today was a great opportunity to check how we've improved and also I am sure were better prepped this time around. Today was a tough match and I think it was partly because EDG is one of the tough teams to play against and I feel like if we were to go up against other teams we could've played better," - commented Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom.

Following matches at Masters Tokyo

Day 2 of VCT Masters Tokyo will see two matches be played out and they are:

• NRG Esports vs. Natus Vincere
• DRX VS vs. Evil Geniuses

Make sure to check out our Masters Tokyo event page to stay up to date on the elusive VALORANT event. And for all stats, make sure to go to our comprehensive VALORANT stats page where you can find Agent pick rates, most picked compositions, and more!