Liquid, EG send LOUD and EDG to lower bracket at VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo, Sayf: We need to figure out solutions, not think about problems

On June 16, two pairs of teams battled against each other to move on in the tournament; it was the first day of VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo Playoff Stage. Surprisingly, Evil Geniuses swept LOUD to continue their impressive form, and in the second match of the game, Team Liquid put an end to EDward Gaming’s hot run. Here is everything you need to know about the initial playoffs matches.

Evil Geniuses vs. LOUD

In the initial series of the game, Evil Geniuses picked Fracture to start things off in the VALORANT Tokyo Masters Playoffs. The VCT 2023 Americas League representatives made an impressive start and showed supremacy on the battlefield by wiping out the enemy team in the first four rounds without missing a single one of them. EG used the attacking advantages on Fracture to lead the half 9-3. c0m’s 12-kill Sova performance came in handy for the organization as the American player ended the first half with a 1.45 rating. LOUD looked lost on the defending side of the map, and the dominance continued in the second half too. EG looked better on defense compared to the Brazilians and picked up a fairly-easy win, 13-7. jawgemo completed the first map with a rating of 1.43 and 22 kills on Raze.

Ascent was LOUD’s only chance to hold onto their dreams and continue competing in the upper bracket. The Brazilian team picked the map but failed to impress their fans against EG. Just like the first map, EG started with a 4-0 run to the game, and they denied every attack. LOUD planted the bomb twice in the first four rounds, but EG’s post-plant performance was also superior. The NA team led the map with a score of 7-5, but the real dominance happened in the second half of Ascent. LOUD couldn’t find a way to stop EG’s attacks, and they eventually failed to win a single round. Evil Geniuses picked up the 2-0 win over the successful Brazilian representatives. Jawgemo once again had an impressive performance with 21 kills and a 1.81 rating. On the other side of the competition, tuyz tried to keep his team in the game with a 1.23 rating, but that simply was not enough. EG closed out the series after a dominant 13-5 win on Ascent.

VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo

LOUD

0

X

2

Evil Geniuses

Upper Bracket Quarter Final, Best of 3 - June 16, 2023 - 3:00AM

7

Fracture

13

5

Ascent

13

LOUD

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

aspas

1.02

231

30/33/5

-3

0.91

68.3%

142.2

26%

58%

7

5

tuyz

0.94

194

24/31/12

-7

0.77

60.8%

120.6

33%

60%

3

2

cauanzin

0.88

180

24/32/9

-8

0.75

60.6%

123.3

26%

50%

4

4

Less

0.64

161

20/31/6

-11

0.65

68.6%

108.0

22%

14%

1

6

Saadhak

0.61

122

14/32/15

-18

0.44

68.6%

80.3

21%

17%

1

5

Evil Geniuses

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

jawgemo

1.62

293

43/24/13

+19

1.79

84.4%

186.8

25%

55%

6

5

Ethan

1.35

250

32/25/21

+7

1.28

84.4%

161.3

21%

75%

3

1

C0M

1.28

204

29/16/23

+13

1.81

86.9%

137.2

20%

33%

1

2

Demon1

1.26

242

36/20/5

+16

1.80

86.9%

163.3

41%

45%

5

6

Boostio

0.77

156

19/27/11

-8

0.70

71.4%

104.3

23%

78%

7

2

EDWard Gaming vs. Team Liquid

On the day's second match, EDward Gaming and Team Liquid fought against each other to continue their ways in the upper bracket. However, only one team gets the privilege. The series started on EDG’s map pick, Haven. We saw close performances from both teams in the first half. Neither of them increased the round gap, and in the end, the first half ended in a tie, 6-6. However, things changed when they switched sides. EDward Gaming couldn’t defend the bomb sites against TL’s attacks and only won three rounds in the second half. On the other hand, Liquid closed out the first map after a strong attacking performance, 13-9. Sayf showed his caliber with Jett in his hands, picking up 26 kills while maintaining a 1.66 rating.

Liquid caught wind in their sails as they had a chance to sweep the Chinese team on their own map pick, Split, but things did not go as planned. Despite making a strong start to Split, Liquid failed to keep their lead, and EDG showed an “OK” attacking performance to tie the game at the end of the first half. EDG’s star player ZmjjKK sat behind the wheel with Raze in his hands to keep his team in the race. Things got a different turn in the second half compared to what Liquid players and fans had in their minds. EDG turned the bomb sites into fortresses and didn’t let Liquid control the competition. EDG only lost two maps in the second half and tied the series after successfully defending both bomb sites seven times. ZmjjKK ended his Split run after grabbing 21 kills and 6 first bloods.

It all came down to Lotus, the decider map. EDward Gaming used both Raze and Jett very effectively on the attacking side and led the half 7-5. ZmjjKK had another stand-out performance with 17 kills and 8 first bloods in the first half. He opened up bomb sites for his teammates so that EDG could plant the Spike. The Chinese Dueslist held a monstrous 2.03 rating to lead his team. After changing sides, Team Liquid looked like a different team.The VCT 2023 EMEA League representatives won seven rounds in a row. Even though EDG fought until the end, Liquid won the last round to conclude the series. ZmjjKK’s first-half performance wasn’t unanswered by Liquid as Sayf also grabbed 17 kills on Raze and held a 2.0 rating. It was a duel between the Duelists, and the European team won the battler at the end of the game with a score of 13-11.

VCT 2023 - Masters Tokyo

Team Liquid

2

X

1

EDward Gaming

Upper Bracket Quarter Final, Best of 3 - June 16, 2023 - 5:30AM

13

Haven

9

8

Split

13

13

Lotus

11

Team Liquid

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Sayf

1.31

292

64/51/18

+13

1.25

76.0%

184.7

23%

54%

15

13

Redgar

0.99

169

42/40/30

+2

1.05

74.5%

106.6

32%

36%

4

7

soulcas

0.94

189

45/47/23

-2

0.96

73.0%

125.2

38%

17%

1

5

Jamppi

0.89

175

44/47/17

-3

0.94

65.8%

117.3

28%

15%

2

11

nAts

0.71

159

37/46/11

-9

0.80

74.6%

101.6

31%

56%

5

4

EDward Gaming

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

ZmjjKK

1.39

293

68/52/12

+16

1.31

69.9%

182.0

21%

71%

22

9

nobody

0.95

171

42/50/24

-8

0.84

76.1%

121.9

31%

50%

5

5

CHICHOO

0.88

174

42/43/13

-1

0.98

73.6%

111.9

30%

75%

3

1

Haodong

0.85

165

40/43/16

-3

0.93

80.7%

105.2

22%

44%

4

5

Smoggy

0.83

154

39/45/16

-6

0.87

69.8%

103.3

30%

46%

6

7

The competition will continue tomorrow and for more information, check out our VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo event page!