LVL VALORANT Clash 2 Recap

From the beginning, the LVL VALORANT Clash 2 set out to be Europe’s best so far. From the broadcasted group stage draw to inviting teams the community wanted to see, they did pretty well. Here’s how all the action went down!

Group Stage

Group A featured Ninjas in Pyjamas, Rix.GG Thunder, GIANTX, and Inferno. The mixed roster of Inferno couldn’t get a whole lot going, despite good performances from William "draken" Sundin and Christian "lowel" Garcia Antoran, and fell out in last after close games against NiP and Giants. Rix.GG, a team we haven’t seen that many games of, took a stellar 13-9 win over Giants but lost to NiP for the first seed. However, Rix.GG beat Giants again, 13-6, to advance as the second seed.

Group B was where the action was really fun, with Team Liquid, Guild Esports, Orgless, and SKADE. Again it was the mixed roster, Prodigy this time, falling out in last place. The real surprise of the openers, however, was the former lineup of FABRIKEN, now SKADE, pulling out to an early lead on Bind against Team Liquid. They couldn’t close it out, but handily beat Prodigy to move on in the lower bracket. Bonk beat Team Liquid 13-7 on Haven, off of a stellar performance from Yacine "Yacine" Laghmari, sending Liquid to face SKADE again.

This time the upset was completeted, as SKADE won, 13-11. Oliwer "LATEKS" Fahlander put up a particularly good performance, with 5 first bloods out of 12 rounds on defense, as well as 3 3Ks and 1 4K. For Liquid, Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom bottom fragged on Sage, going 3/10/1 on their attack with only 99 ACS. One of Europe’s best had been knocked out of the group stage by a brand new team.

Group C saw yet another mixed team, VALORANDO, fall in last, with G2 Esports cleaning house to win the group. The final match saw BIG vs HEET, and the Germans won it in one of their first big (no pun intended) tournaments to advance to the bracket stage.

Lastly, Group D had FunPlus Phoenix absolutely run over the group, with a 13-2 win against Wave Esports and a 13-3 win against BBL Esports. After a loss to BBL in the opening round, qualifier team Souldazz won the rematch in dominant fashion, 13-3, to secure the second seed.

Bracket Stage

For the bracket, Group A winner Ninjas in Pyjamas matched up against BIG, B winner Bonk played Angry Titans, C winner G2 faced off against Rix.GG, and D winner FunPlus Phoenix played the shockers SKADE. The higher seed won every map, and most weren’t particularly close, such as NiP winning 13-0 against BIG on Bind and FunPlus Phoenix winning 13-1 against SKADE on the same map. This all set the semi-finals as Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Bonk and G2 vs. FunPlus Phoenix.

Bonk and NiP went the distance, to three maps. Ascent was incredibly close, with each half ending 7-5 but Bonk winning in overtime. NiP came back dominant on Bind, though, winning 13-3. On Haven it was Bonk’s turn to dominate, though, winning 15-5 to close out the series with Leo "Leo" Jannesson top fragging on the map. Emir "rhyme" Muminovic top fragged all three maps for NiP, but they just couldn’t close it out.

FPX vs G2, a rematch of the Allied Esports Odyssey finals, was just as close. Bind went to several rounds of overtime, with G2 ultimately winning 15-13 despite 318 ACS from Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow. Split was just as close, but with G2 on match point at 12-10, disaster struck. FPX’s Pontus "Zyppan" Eek lagged defending ropes, possibly costing FPX the game.

Ultimately though, it’s just one of the difficulties of playing online, and there’s nothing that could be done. G2 won the series to move on to the grand finals.

Finals

The first match was close. The Viper pick from Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel caught G2 somewhat off guard. Ultimately, though, this is still G2 Esports we’re talking about. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks went 29-14 with 396 ACS, and G2 won Split 13-8.

Ascent was much less close. On a map where Killjoy had a 60% pick rate and 70% win rate throughout the tournament, G2 were the only team to pick it. Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi top fragged on the agent, and G2 won 13-4 to take yet another Ignition Series championship.

Final Standings for LVL VALORANT Clash 2:

1. G2 Esports - €7,500 2. Bonk - €3,500 3-4. FunPlus Phoenix - €1,500 3-4. Ninjas in Pyjamas - €1,500 5-8. BIG - €250 5-8. Angry Titans - €250 5-8. Rix.GG - €250 5-8. SKADE - €250 9-12. Giants Gaming 9-12. Team Liquid 9-12. need more DM 9-12. BBL Esports 13-16. Inferno 13-16. Prodigy 13-16. VALORANDO 13-16. Wave Esports