NA Challengers Stage 1 Main Event - Week 5 Group A Recap
With the conclusion of matchups this weekend, the group stages of VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 1 - Main Event have come to an end. This weekend Group A featured one of the most anticipated matchups between Cloud9 and The Guard, as well as a chance for the new 100 Thieves roster to redeem themselves one last time before bearing the misfortune of being eliminated from the tournament.
Cloud9 vs. The Guard
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It was the two 4-0 teams, Cloud9 and The Guard, going head-to-head in the first matchup of this week. The hype surrounding this matchup was surreal. Even though, Cloud9 had a better tournament record with a win at Knights Arena VALORAMPAGE - Main Event and the highest placement for the region in VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021, the Guard had proved their dominance in more recent matchups forcing the Valorant community to acknowledge their potential in the ongoing VCT.
Proceedings commenced on Bind, the Guard’s map pick and they were successful in demonstrating their intent to win this matchup from the get go. One round after the other fell to the surprisingly aggressive strategies that the Guard was deploying with a slightly different composition than their preceding matchups owing to the recent patch Riot had introduced. Cloud9 were, however, able to launch a desperate attempt and take the last two rounds of the half to reach a score of 8-4. Despite having to change sides and play Defense, the Guard was able to maintain consistency in their performance and win the map limiting Cloud9 to seven points.
The loss on Bind came as a dismay to the Cloud9 fans, as well as the participating roster. Instead of being demoralized and giving up, they used their loss as a lesson and bounced back with unparalleled ferocity. From the pistol round on Ascent, it was clear why Cloud9 chose this as their map pick. They started off with four consecutive rounds, were briefly interrupted by the Guard’s attempts to put an end to the momentum, and then continued once again to put up a three round streak to end the half 9-3. The same narrative continued even after halftime and the Guard couldn’t do much to slow Cloud9 down as they finished the map 13-4 tying the matchup 1-1 and forcing the decider with considerable ease.
Deciders are known to be the pinnacle of entertainment due to the intensity of battle it features, but that wasn’t the case for this matchup courtesy of none other than Nathan "leaf" Orf who finished the map with a 2.61 Rating, 504 ACS and 4.29 KD – numbers which are usually a rare sight in Tier 1 tournaments. The Guard was only able to take round 7 and 8 of Haven in part due to a few amazing plays from Trent "trent" Cairns.
100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses
In polarizing contrast to the 4-0 score by both teams in the previous matchup, it was the two teams with a 0-4 record in the event facing off in this matchup. Although their record had eliminated them from contending for a playoff spot, this matchup served as the last chance for either team to redeem themselves.
With dignity on the line, both teams started strong on Breeze and took turns controlling the momentum such that the scoreboard read 6-6 by halftime. Being on equal footing gave both teams a plausible chance at turning the map in their favor. It was 100 Thieves that took this opportunity early in the second half and reach 12 score by round 22, while Evil Geniuses sat at 10. Winning a couple of rounds would’ve been enough to force overtime, but 100 Thieves were looking to secure lead in this matchup and managed to sneak in a final round.
100 Thieves’ performance witnessed a significant boost in the first half of Haven, their map pick. They were able to take 10 out of the twelve rounds by halftime putting them within arm’s reach of their first win of the tournament but EG wasn’t planning on giving up that easily and decided to launch a comeback attempt on their attack phase adding ten more rounds under their belt and force overtime with hopes to delay the matchup to yet another map. In overtime, 100 Thieves’ new addition Noah "jcStani" Smith came to their rescue and with a 3K and paved the way for them to win the map after an equally strong position on the subsequent round.
XSET vs. Luminosity Gaming
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Since both teams had qualified for the Playoffs, this matchup served the purpose of deciding their opponent in the Playoffs. A win would result in a match against OpTic Gaming and a loss in a match against Version1. The match began on Breeze, XSET’s map pick and denoting the events on this map as ‘one-sided’ wouldn’t be any short of accurate given the performance put up by XSET in both halves of the map. As soon as they left the gate, they were in control of the momentum and gradually strengthened it until Luminosity Gaming finally decided to intervene and take a few rounds themselves. Their attempts at taking rounds were briefly successful with a total of 5 rounds to their name in the entire map, while XSET finished the map and gained the upper hand in the matchup.
The loss served as a wakeup call to LG, who now looked to turn the tables in their favour especially since it was time for their map pick. After the first couple of rounds fell to XSET, it seemed that history was repeating itself and the matchup would not last very long. However, the LG roster still kept their hopes of winning intact and put up five rounds of their own by halftime trailing only by two rounds to XSET. Round 10 marked the first time LG had the lead. In the second half, LG decided to take charge from the start to give them a leverage and tie up the score. From not being able to put up any resistance on the first map, LG seemed to have improved a lot. However, XSET proved once again that they were the better team and reached 13 before LG could force overtime. With this loss, LG is set to face Version1 in the playoffs who sit at the top of the Group B leaderboards with a 5-0 tournament record.
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