Fnatic defeat LOUD after a nail-biting series to lift the VCT 2023 LOCK//IN trophy

Fnatic has defeated LOUD after incredible five games to win the first international trophy of the year, VCT 2023 - LOCK//IN. It was surely one of the most historical VALORANT games ever. The EMEA representatives dominated the series on all maps and didn’t give their opponents any chance. We are months away from the next event, and EMEA started the fire with a decisive performance!

ASCENT

The grand final matchup between LOUD and Fnatic started on Ascent. LOUD made a fast start, but Fnatic had the better post-plant game and won the first two rounds. The Brazilian side looked solid in the first gun round and later evened the scoreboard with back-to-back wins. However, they failed to keep up the pace, losing five rounds in a row. Fnatic led the half with a score of 8-4. They looked strong on defense, with Leo "Leo" Jannesson leading his team. Leo held a 2.03 rating and proved why he is one of the best players in the game. Derke’s three first bloods also greatly helped the team, hindering LOUD’s fast executes. The Brazilian side didn’t let their opponents win the pistol round of the second half on their map pick. Fnatic’s dominance on the attacking side started by winning the first gun round. The EMEA representatives made a couple of mistakes and lost two rounds but closed out Ascent after 21 rounds, 13-8. Leo finished the game with a 1.77 rating, picking up 23 kills with a 1.92 K/D. Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov had the biggest help with a 1.34 rating. Derke grabbed two more first bloods in the second half, but the Finnish player lost more first duels. Fnatic made a solid start to the series by winning with a decent gap.

FRACTURE

Fnatic’s first map pick of the day was Fracture. Boaster and Alfajer led the EMEA team in the pistol round and made a decent start to the map. However, LOUD had a better read on their opponent’s offense in the later stages of the first half. Both teams won six rounds before halftime. LOUD’s young talent Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira led his team on Breach, holding a 1.81 rating, and Arthur "tuyz" Vieira was right behind him with 14 kills and a 1.68 rating. Leo secured 14 kills for his team and played a big role in the first half. We have seen a whole different Fnatic team in the second half as they dominated the competition and didn’t let LOUD move to bomb sites. Their defensive efforts denied LOUD from executing their attacking strategies. Only one round of the second half went to the attacking side, and other than that, the whole competition was one-sided. Fnatic won the last five rounds, eliminating all the enemies in four and defusing the bomb to conclude the map. Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro’s Raze didn’t help the team at all, both on attack and defense. The Argentinian played finished the game with a 0.27 rating, four kills, and 19 deaths. Leo was once again the leader on the other side, with a 1.53 rating. He grabbed 23 kills on Fade while dying 11 times.

SPLIT

LOUD got so close to winning the first pistol round, but Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder and Jake "Boaster" Howlett played it wisely to defuse the bomb and hold an early advantage. LOUD answered rapidly and sat behind the wheel in no time. The Brazilians had a decent performance on the attacking side, winning seven rounds to start the second half with a slight advantage. aspas held a 1.40 rating in the first half with 12 kills, but cauanzin’s four first bloods came in handy for the team, especially for opening up bomb sites. Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev tried to keep his team in the competition with a 1.31 rating, and Alfajer was his biggest supporter on Cypher, securing 11 kills while holding a 1.83 K/D. LOUD’s performance continued in the second half as they defused the bomb in the first two rounds. Felipe "Less" Basso had an incredible on defense. He denied almost every attack of Fnatic, grabbing 15 kills while dying only 5 times. Less had a 2.05 rating and finished the game with 24 kills. LOUD didn’t let a clean sweep and forced another map in the series.

LOTUS

Fnatic had a chance to close out the series on their map pick, Lotus. Despite making a decent start, they failed to keep up and lost seven rounds in a row. LOUD clearly dominated on the attacking side with Less’ 13-kill Killjoy performance. The Brazilians led the half with a small advantage, 7-5. Fnatic won the pistol round once again, but LOUD’s answer came rapidly with the first gun round. Saadhak joined Less on defense with Viper in his hands to keep LOUD’s hopes alive. They won six more rounds to tie the series and win the tournament after a possible reverse sweep. aspas didn’t really show any presence throughout the map, but his teammates were there to help him and play another map. Less had 22 kills at the end of the fourth map with a 2.0 K/D and four first bloods. On the other side of the competition, Boaster tried to keep his team in the series with 19 kills on Astra but it wasn’t enough.

ICEBOX

It all came down to Icebox, the fifth map of the series. LOUD dominated to first half with greatly executed attacking plans. They won nine rounds and only lost three, while aspas played incredibly good. He held a 2.08 rating and a 3.5 K/D with 21 kills. He stepped up after not showing too much presence on Lotus. LOUD made a good start the second half by playing the post-plant scenario perfectly with flash peeks as well as Erick "aspas" Santos’s early kills. Fnatic tried to turn things around with a force buy, but LOUD didn’t let them. The Brazilian squad showed dominance on Icebox. aspas had an impressive performance as he won the majority of the duels. Fnatic fought well and didn’t let LOUD dominate the last map. LOUD had problems defending the A bomb site, and with Derke’s individual efforts, the tension got higher and higher. Fnatic were 11-3 behind, and LOUD were having the time of their lives but the game’s fate was different. The EMEA representatives won seven rounds in a row and got closer to their opponents. The 22nd round was very tense, but Fnatic picked it up and won more to reach the map and series point. Jake "Boaster" Howlett was left 1v2 against LOUD players, he planted the bomb but couldn’t resist against the double peek. Derke carried the first overtime round and gave his team the lead. Fnatic had a perfect attack to B site on Icebox and secured the opening kills.

VCT 2023 - LOCK//IN

LOUD

2

X

3

Fnatic

Grand Final, Best of 5 - March 4, 2023 - 6:45PM

8

Ascent

13

7

Fracture

13

13

Split

9

13

Lotus

8

12

Icebox

14

LOUD

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Less

1.24

245

98/78/27

+20

1.26

75.2%

173.4

26%

75%

12

4

cauanzin

1.06

191

74/86/46

-12

0.86

71.0%

116.1

18%

65%

17

9

aspas

0.91

183

79/74/13

+5

1.07

72.3%

119.4

31%

48%

10

11

tuyz

0.87

157

64/77/32

-13

0.83

70.6%

100.3

32%

53%

8

7

Saadhak

0.84

189

65/86/43

-21

0.76

73.5%

132.8

25%

28%

9

23

Fnatic

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Leo

1.17

230

89/68/32

+21

1.31

82.3%

147.4

25%

33%

3

6

Derke

1.08

242

91/88/24

+3

1.03

72.1%

160.4

19%

55%

28

23

Boaster

1.00

192

75/74/41

+1

1.01

78.1%

116.7

22%

36%

8

14

Chronicle

0.96

195

70/81/40

-11

0.86

67.7%

135.5

20%

56%

9

7

Alfajer

0.89

186

76/69/18

+7

1.10

75.6%

129.4

29%

50%

6

6

Fnatic have won the first international trophy of the year after an incredible competition. This means they have granted an extra spot for EMEA at Masters Tokyo 2023. On the other hand, LOUD fought until the end, coming back from 2-0 to overtime in the fifth map. The 2023 season will continue with regional challenges and more international tournaments. If you want to see more stats, check the events page. For the upcoming tournaments, take a look at our VCT 2023 Hub.