Liquid and Leviatán bid farewell to İstanbul

Fnatic and FunPlus Phoenix were the winners of the day and they moved to the second round of the lower bracket at VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul. Unfortunately, it is the end of the road for Team Liquid and Leviatán.

In the first matchup of the lower bracket, FunPlus Phoenix faced Leviatán Esports on Icebox, their map pick of the match. The CIS team made an impressive start to the day with a 7-round winning streak. They looked unstoppable on the attacking side of the action, wiping the enemy team four rounds and successfully and exploding the bomb three rounds. Until the end of the half, FPX picked up one more rounds but Leviatán grabbed four, defusing the bomb three times to close the gap. Pontus "Zyppan" Eek held a 1.47 rating with 5 first bloods and 14 kills in total. Benjamín "Adverso" Poblete’s 10-kill Sova performance was one of the main reasons behind Leviatán’s late-game dominance. The EMEA winners once again showed why they picked Icebox in the first place and won four rounds in a row in the second half. Leviatán’s efforts were enough to grab two more until the end of the map as FPX closed out the first match after 19 rounds, 13-6. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks stepped up in the second half with a 2.18 rating on Chamber. The Latvian player grabbed 5 first bloods, winning all the first duels on defense.

Leviatán’s map pick of the day was Ascent. This time, it was the LATAM representatives’ turn to dominate in the early stages of the competition. They won six rounds in a row with two defuses. However, they failed to spread their performance throughout the half as FPX won five of the six remaining rounds. Francisco "kiNgg" Alberto Aravena’s grabbed 17 kills with KAY/O in his hands. FPX made a similar start on defense by winning the first five rounds of the second half. Even though the EMEA team reached 12 rounds, Leviatán held onto the competition by wiping the enemy team twice and reached the 11-round point. Lastly, FPX grabbed another defuse-win and completed the sweep after a 13-11 win on Ascent. Zyppan was the hero of the day for the EMEA winners.

After today’s second game, one of the EMEA representatives had to exit the tournament and the duel started on Bind, Fnatic’s choice. Fnatic dominated the competition by winning eight rounds in a row, successfully executing their attacking strategies on the map. Team Liquid stopped their opponent’s attacks for only three rounds in the first half and they fell behind on the defensive side, 9-3. Emir "Alfajer" Beder had a spectacular performance on the attacking side with 20 kills and a 424 ACS on Raze, holding a 2.10 rating. The Turkish player carried his team in front of the Turkish crowd. Fnatic won the first round of the second half by defusing the bomb and won one more. Liquid showed a pulse for three rounds but eventually lost their momentum as Fnatic won two more to win the first map of the series, 13-6. Alfajer completed the game with a 1.60 rating.

It was time for Team Liquid’s pick of the day, Haven. TL won the first round after a successful post-plant performance but Fnatic’s answers were always on point. Fnatic won seven rounds on the attacking end of the competition and lost five to hold an advantage before going into the second half. Jake "Boaster" Howlett led his team with a 1.27-rating Omen performance. The British player grabbed 11 kills including 3 important first bloods. Liquid’s Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom did everything he could on Breach, holding a 1.66 rating but he failed to keep his team in the lead. Fnatic were the better side generally as they defused the bomb three rounds in a row in the second half and they eventually closed out the series after 20 rounds, 13-7. Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev grabbed 19 kills throughout the game and he was one of the most important pieces especially on defense, alongside Alfajer.

The competition will continue tomorrow and more information can be found on the events page.