Team Liquid, FURIA, and FULL SENSE book ticket to VALORANT Champions

The weekend saw the conclusions of the VCT 2021 - EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, VCT 2021 - South America Last Chance Qualifier, and VCT 2021 - APAC Last Chance Qualifier, wherein Team Liquid, FURIA, and FULL SENSE were victors in their respective regions and claimed their spots for VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021.

VCT EMEA Last Chance Qualifier was the most stacked of them all, featuring not only powerhouses Team Liquid and Guild Esports, but also Masters Berlin VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Playoffs squads Papara SuperMassive and G2 Esports, the latter even having finished 3rd-4th place at the prestigious event. The results at EMEA LCQ were difficult to predict initially, with SuperMassive Blaze falling out early to the hands of Risingtw, but the later stages saw familiar faces go head to head.

Guild Esports, having dropped to the lower bracket following a loss to Team Liquid, battled all the way to find themselves in the finals, where they were unable to beat the British core yet again in a rematch. On the other hand, Liquid breezed through the European competition, not losing a single match through the entire event. The taste of victory would surely be sweet for Team Liquid after the bitter disappointment of missing out on Masters Berlin.

Much like the EMEA LCQ, the South America Last Chance Qualifier saw four fan favorites: Australs, FURIA, Gamelanders, and Havan Liberty, juke it out in the playoffs. Havan Liberty, who had made it to Masters Berlin just last month, fell to a red hot Australs lineup that had a six match win streak going into the first semifinal, which booked them a ticket to the final. In the other semifinal, FURIA edged Gamelanders 2-1 thanks to stellar performances by Alexandre "xand" Zizi and Matheus "mazin" Araújo. The stage was set for an exciting and nail-biting grand final, but FURIA made quick work of their South American counterparts, taking all three maps with ease. The result sees FURIA finally take the next step onto the international stage at Champions.

The third LCQ that concluded this weekend was the APAC Last Chance Qualifier, which saw Thai squad FULL SENSE pulling out a surprise victory and nabbing a VCT Champions spot. The event was a huge disappointment for the Korean squads of NUTURN and F4Q, along with Paper Rex, all of whom have played at Masters events this year but will not be making it to Champions later this year. NORTHEPTION continued their consistent form in this tournament, winning every match leading up to the finals, where they were beaten in a gruelling 3-2 fashion by a FULL SENSE team that impressed everyone at the tournament.

As for VCT 2021 - North America Last Chance Qualifier, we are yet to receive more information about when and how the tournament will take place. After two players of FaZe Clan were reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and with the general dissatisfaction around the conditions at the event, the NA LCQ has been indefinitely postponed and will likely be held online. The field remains open for the tournament, with no team having been eliminated before play was stopped.