Paper Rex and Leviatán secure early wins at Champions Istanbul

Paper Rex and Leviatán decided to steal the show on the opening day of VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul. In case you were unable to catch up on today's matches, the following piece will get you up to speed before these teams go head-to-head tomorrow for the first qualification spot at the Playoffs.

Paper Rex vs Edward Gaming

EDward Gaming’s roster made their International debut in this matchup, and so did the map Pearl. As both teams left the gate, EDward Gaming got off to a surprisingly strong start with five consecutive rounds. The Grand Finalists of Copenhagen knew better than to panic; after collecting themselves and re-establishing composure, they launched a counter to tie up the score by halftime at 6 rounds apiece.

Despite taking the pistol round in the second half, PRX couldn’t capitalize immediately and a trend of alternating momentum over the following rounds ensued such that the scoreboard soon read 12-11 with PRX in the lead. Before EG could force overtime, Benedict "Benkai" Tan and Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto took 2 kills each to close out the map. Both teams then transitioned to Icebox, where EG were hesitant to redeem themselves; therefore, they started the map with an aggressive Attack to take 10 rounds out of the twelve in the first half.

PRX were in a difficult predicament, but it had been far too late to comeback as the Chinese tied up the series with a 13-5 score on Icebox. Finally both teams switched to Haven, and PRX’s experience helped them put up a significantly better defensive effort to lead by 7-5 at halftime. When teams switched sides, PRX continued their dominance taking four back-to-back rounds to elevate their lead by 6. The final two rounds of their win came later as EG put up a last desperate attempt. Nonetheless, PRX managed to advance to the next round of the Group Stages whereas Edward Gaming will be awarded a second chance.

Leviatán Esports vs Team Liquid

For the second matchup of the day, the reputed Team Liquid went face-to-face against Leviatán with the outcome favouring the latter. Teams commenced proceedings on Haven and considering the events that transpired in their previous international showing, they did not delay taking the lead at the first available opportunity with five consecutive rounds to start the map.

Team Liquid’s efforts to halt their momentum were largely in vain as Leviatán held an 8-4 lead at the half. The subsequent half witnessed retaliation from the EMEA team, especially during rounds 15-19 when the lead was reduced to a two point deficit. Unfortunately for them, however, Leviatan was quick to respond as they closed out the map granting themselves the early advantage.

Although the timeline for Ascent looked better for Team Liquid in the first half, the final score pronounced their relegation into the elimination match against EDward Gaming courtesy of Vicente "Tacolilla" Compagnon, who was featured in THESPIKE.GG’s Top 5 players to watch at the Champions earlier this week. He finished the half with a spectacular 1.81 Rating, 346 ACS and 213.5 ADR.