VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Group Stage Week 6 Recap
The sixth week of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event has featured three Group A and one Group B game. As covered, the ex-Gambit roster competed as M3 Champions and picked up three wins on the last day of the group stage.
M3 Champions vs Natus Vincere
_1611007730948.png&w=64&q=75 "VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event")
nAts
7ssk7
After not competing for a while because of non-esports reasons, the Gambit Esports roster was back on the battlefield with a different name, M3 Champions. Natus Vincere picked Ascent as the opening map of the series. Despite losing the pistol round, M3 Champions found a way to start a winning streak that lasted seven rounds. Natus Vincere’s efforts were not enough as the other side of the competition was hungry for a win. MC3 won the first half with a score of 9-3, maintaining a huge lead before going into the second half. Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov had a wonderful Jett performance with 5 first bloods. even though he was on the defending side in the first half. Besides him, M3C’s real star was Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin as the Russian Astra ended the first half holding a 2.11 rating and 346 ACS. The scenario didn’t change in the second half as the ex-Gambit roster won four more rounds to close out the first map with a score of 13-5. Except Denis "dinkzj" Tkachev, who didn’t have the best performance, all the players had similar statistics. On the M3 Champions’ side, nAts had 23 kills at the end of the game with a 1.92 K/D to crown his superb performance.
M3C managed to upset Natus Vincere on Ascent with a promising performance and the second map was Breeze as their choice. Unlike the first map, Natus Vincere had much better performance and finished the first half ahead with a score of 8-4 as the defending side. Both Sova’s, Mikhail "Duno" Fokin, and Igor "Redgar" Vlasov had a serious beef going on as they stepped for their teams in the first half. Even though giving up eight rounds in the first half may seem harrowing, M3C picked up four rounds on the attacking side, which is crucial on Breeze. As expected, M3 Champions played much better and got nine wins, losing only one in return. Again with nAts’ lead, the five-man Russian roster closed out the series with an impressive 2-0 start to the last week of the group stage.
Fnatic vs Guild Esports
Derke
Boaster
MAGNUM
Sayf
koldamentaAs the only undefeated team in the tournament, Fnatic played its last group stage game against Guild Esports to protect the title and improve its winning streak to five games. In the first map of the series, Guild Esports pulled out a major upset to make a strong start to the competition. Fnatic picked Haven as the opening map to dominate the competition with a pick that the players were comfortable playing but Guild Esports had a brilliant performance to top its opponent. The first half ended with a score of 7-5, in favor of GLD. The European team was on the defending side and Leo "Leo" Jannesson had an incredible 17-kill Breach performance to defend the bomb sites. Fnatic’s Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev’s Jett was the main reason that the team won five rounds but the plans didn’t work in the second half. Guild Esports completed a 6-round winning streak to sweep Fnatic in the second half and win the first map. Russel "Russ" Mendes joined Leo with Killjoy in his hands, securing 19 kills on the top of a 1.36 rating. FNC’s James "Mistic" Orfila had a poor Astra performance on the defensive side, without a single kill and a 27 ACS in total.
Fnatic played like a different team on Guild Esports’ map pick, Bind. The first-half scenario was the same as the previous game but this time the roles were reversed. Fnatic topped its opponent with a score of 7-5 in the first half with Derke stepping up for his team, getting 17 kills and holding a 1.87 rating on Raze. The Finnish star of the team had a one-man show as he also held a 1.89 K/D. On the other side of the competition, Nikita "trexx" Cherednichenko ended the first half with 12 kills and a 1.38 rating with Viper in his hands. The second-half scenario was also not different than the first game but again with roles reversed. Fnatic swept Guild without giving away a single round in the second half and closed out the second map after 18 rounds of play. Derke’s world-class performance continued in the second half as the Finnish player had 28 kills at the end of the last round. He also held a 2.13 rating and 2.55 K/D.
Funnily enough, the whole scenario and destiny of this series were written in a single way. The last map of the series was Split and again, the first half ended with a score of 7-5, in favor of Fnatic. Even though the scores were always the same, the players that stepped up were different. FNC’s Martin "MAGNUM" Penkov Viper came in handy for the European team and he was surely the most important piece of Fnatic’s defence. For the first time in the series, Guild’s duelist Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel stepped up and secured 17 kills on Raze in the first half. Guess what happened in the second half? Right, Fnatic won six rounds in a row to end the series with a victory and the group stage without a single loss. MAGNUM and Derke’s clutch performances were the main factors of Split. Despite Sayf’s 359 ACS-performance, Guild failed to show its existence in the second half and lost the game in 18 rounds.
M3 Champions vs BIG
ObnoksThe second match of M3 Champions was against the Germany-based organisation, BIG. BIG failed to grab a single win before coming into this matchup and to be fair, nobody really expected a win from them against the ex-Gambit Esports roster. The first map was picked as Split from BIG. After winning the pistol round, BIG surprised the fans and showed life pulse in the last game of the group stage for them. However, M3 Champions pulled out a second-round win and kept the performance at the highest level to secure an 11-round winning streak in the first half. BIG didn’t have the tools to attack the bomb sites and the Germany-based team couldn’t find a solution for Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov’s incredible Chamber performance. The Russian player ended the first half in style, securing 16 kills and holding a 2.10 rating on the top of a 387 ACS. Fatih "gob b" Dayik’s Breach wasn’t very effective as the experienced player could only pick up 2 kills as well as a 0.90 rating. Just like the very first round of the map, BIG won the pistol round and even won the subsequent round but the Russian team called the game off after 17 rounds. Chronicle’s Chamber played the biggest part in the win.
The Russian team picked Breeze as the second map of the competition. As the attacking side, M3 Champions picked up nine rounds in the first half and gave away only three to hold an advantage in the second half of action. Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov’s Jett was the protagonist for them, of course with the help of Chronicle and Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov. BIG started the second half with a 4-round winning streak and impressed many fans with their performance. However, M3C was right behind the back of their neck the whole time. The ex-Gambit Esports roster won the game after grabbing four rounds in the second half. d3ffo’s Jett picked up 21 kills to secure the win for the team and the talented player also held a 1.32 rating.
FunPlus Phoenix vs Natus Vincere
baddyG
ardiisAs the ex-Gambit Esports roster was back in action, FunPlus Phoenix had to grab a win against Natus Vincere to protect its leadership spot. However, the CIS representative also needed to have a better performance in terms of round difference and Natus Vincere was the superior side of the first map, Ascent. In their pick, Na’Vi players played their hearts out and won the first half with a score of 8-4. Artur "7ssk7" Kyourshin starred in Na’Vi’s first-half performance with 14 kills to his name and a 1.75 K/D to carry his team to glory. FunPlus Phoenix’s defending-side performance wasn’t the worst but the real difference showed itself during the second half. Na’Vi had a better defence and after a very close matchup, the CIS representative won the game with a score of 13-11 on Ascent. Yaroslav "Jady" Nikolaev joined 7ssk7 in the second half with a 19-kill KAY/O performance, holding a 1.28 rating. FPX’s Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky had an impressive Sova performance but it wasn’t enough for the team.
FunPlus Phoenix picked Breeze to hold onto the series and literally demolished Natus Vincere in the first half. Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks and his friends showed dominance on the attacking side, grabbing ten rounds to their names and losing only two before switching sides. FPX’s Breeze performance was very important considering the round difference statistics race with M3C. The China-based organisation kept its dominant performance in the second half and ended the game after 19 rounds, 13-6. Natus Vincere showed a little life pulse in the second half and picked up four rounds to stay in the game but ardiis’ Jett was almost unstoppable with 17 kills.
Lastly, another close matchup was played but this time the venue was Icebox. The first half ended with a tie, 6-6. Both teams implied different strategies and they were “equally successful” in the end. The Belarusian star of Na’Vi, 7ssk7, carried his team on his shoulders with a 15-kill Jett performance on the defending side. The second half also started head-to-head and both teams showed impressive performances to show how eager they are to grab another win in the group stage. FunPlus Phoenix was the side that made the difference and grabbed the victory after 24 rounds, 13-11. Na’Vi’s 7ssk7 had a monstrous performance in the second half as he had 29 kills at the end of the game. However, FPX players had better chemistry and teamwork which won them the game. FPX lost many rounds which resulted badly in the standings despite picking up the win.
M3 Champions vs LDN Utd
BooM3 Champions and OG LDN Utd faced each other in the last game of the VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event Group Stage. The Lithuania-based team picked Ascent as the opening map of the series. M3 Champions did a great job on the defending side, winning nine rounds and losing three to demonstrate their dominance before the playoffs. Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov had a perfect Killjoy performance in the first half with a 2.5 K/D and a 1.71 rating. Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin helped him with a 15-kill Astra performance. LDN Utd’s attacking strategies weren’t optimal against one of the strongest teams in the world but the European team still had a decent performance. M3C won four more rounds in the second half to close out the first match with a score of 13-5. nAts had 21 kills and a 1.91 K/D at the end of the game. The Russian player also had a 51% Headshot stat which is definitely an important fact to point out.
Lastly, M3 Champions secured one of the easiest wins of the tournament. The Russian team won the first half of Breeze in style, 11-1. M3C didn’t face any troubles on the attacking side and managed to imply every strategy on the battlefield to dominate the game. After losing a couple of rounds in a row, the LDN Utd players failed to keep their heads in the game. Despite the rout, Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius held a 1.20 rating on Viper and he looked like the only standing member on the roster. nAts and his teammates picked up two more rounds in the second half to grab their fourth win of the group stage after an uncontested 13-1 win on Breeze. As a result, the team secured the first spot in the group.
Upper Bracket Quarter Final Bracket
- M3 Champions vs Guild Esports | March 22 15:00 UTC
- G2 Esports vs Team Liquid | March 22 18:00 UTC
The group stage of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event has come to an end. Fnatic and FunPlus Phoenix are waiting for their opponents in the Upper Semi Finals as both teams got a bye. You can find more information regarding playoffs on the events page.
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