VCT Champions Match Day 3 Viewers Guide

After a thrilling day of matches on day 2 of VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021, which we revised in our Day 2 Recap, day 3 will take us to two group A opening matches and the first winners match of the tournament from group D. This Viewers Guide will tell you all you need to know and more about the third day of Champions.

Match 1: Acend vs Vivo Keyd at 3:00 PM CET / 6:00 AM PST

The inaugural group A match features the European mix Acend against the Brazilian lineup Vivo Keyd Stars. Both teams have been in good form this year, the former having won VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - Europe Masters and recently LVP - Rising Series - Finale, while the latter come off of a dominant win at VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Brazil - Challengers Playoffs. These wins are fueled by the players brimming with firepower on each side, most notably Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek for Acend and Olavo "heat" Marcelo for Vivo Keyd, and a lot of key rounds are sure to be decided by which of these players perform.

Head-to-head:

Acend and Vivo Keyd were in attendance at Masters Berlin, but were unable to face off due to the Brazilians being knocked out in the Group Stage. It will thus be interesting to see what both teams bring to the table for the first time playing each other.

Players to watch:

Acend - Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek is a beast with Jett and holds a 1.30 rating and 259 ACS Vivo Keyd - Olavo "heat" Marcelo is their star man with a 1.34 rating and 280 ACS

Map picks:

Both teams share a similar set of maps, and we might see a surprise punish pick from either side.

Agents:

Acend

• Vladyslav "kiles" Shvets - Cypher, Viper, Killjoy
• Patryk "starxo" Kopczynski - Astra, Skye, Sage
• Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi - Omen, Brimstone, Viper
• Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek - Jett, Sage
• Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt - Sova, Raze, Reyna

Vivo Keyd

• Olavo "heat" Marcelo - Jett
• Gabriel "v1xen" Martins - Viper, Astra, Brimstone
• Lucas "ntk" Martins - Sova, Sage
• Murillo "murizzz" Tuchtenhagen - Raze, Skye, Reyna
• Jonathan "Jhow" Glória - Killjoy, Sage, Viper
• Leonardo "mwzera" Serrati - Skye, Raze, Reyna

Match 2: Vision Strikers vs Fnatic at 6:00 PM CET / 9:00 AM PST

We approach the end of the opening matches section of the tournament with this group D winners matchup of DRX against Fnatic. The South Koreans come into this clash fresh after dealing a crushing defeat to fellow Asians FULL SENSE, winning both maps 13-5. The European side, on the other hand, had a completely different experience in their first match against Cloud9, having to work hard, including going to overtime on the last map, to clinch a narrow 2-1 win. Fnatic and Boaster are going to have to reach even deeper into their playbook if they want to overcome a confident Vision Strikers side who were barely tested in their previous match.

Head-to-head:

Both these sides have not faced each other yet, courtesy of having attended opposite international Masters events.

Players to watch:

Vision Strikers - Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul is the standout player, with a 1.51 rating and 40 kills over two maps against FULL SENSE Fnatic - Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev was the player who dragged Fnatic over the line against Cloud9 Blue with an unbelievable 74 kills over three maps and a 1.07 rating overall

Map picks:

Both teams have a tendency to pick Haven, especially with Vision Strikers having played it last match against FULL SENSE. Fnatic will look towards Icebox as a comfort pick, having picked it a lot more than Vision Strikers historically.

Agents:

Vision Strikers

• Kim "stax" Gu-taek - Breach, Skye, Sage
• Lee "k1Ng" Seung-won - Killjoy, Cypher
• Goo "Rb" Sang-Min - Raze, Jett, Sova
• Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan - Astra, Viper, Omen
• Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul - Jett, Raze
• Kim "Lakia" Jong-min - Sova, Skye, Raze

Fnatic

• Jake "Boaster" Howlett - Sova, Astra, Viper
• James "Mistic" Orfila - Astra, Viper, Omen
• Domagoj "Doma" Fancev - Skye, Sage, Raze
• Martin "MAGNUM" Penkov - Killjoy, Cypher, Viper
• Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev - Jett, Raze, Reyna

Match 3: Envy vs X10 Critat 9:00 CET / 12:00 PM EST

Day 3 is rounded out by Masters Berlin finalists Envy going up against Thai squad X10 Esports. The North Americans come into the clash in not just red hot form, but also unreal consistency throughout the year. X10 Crit have some covering up to do, not even looking like the best team in their own region in the second part of the year, and go into the match as clear underdogs.

Head-to-head:

Both teams have gone to Masters events but have not faced off against each other, and it will be an exciting debut contest against the two teams.

Players to watch:

Envy - Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker is the team’s star player, with a 1.36 rating and 280 ACS overall X10 Crit - Patiphan "patt" Chaiwong has been the man to watch, with a 1.23 rating and 266 ACS

Map picks:

Envy have a tendency to pick Ascent and Bind, while X10 Crit play Icebox and Haven frequently, so the map veto will certainly be very interesting.

Agents:

Envy

• Pujan "FNS" Mehta - Cypher, Killjoy, Viper
• Austin "crashies" Roberts - Sova, Viper, Cypher
• Victor "Victor" Wong - Skye, Raze, Phoenix
• Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen - Astra, Viper, Omen
• Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker - Jett, Reyna, Sage

X10 Crit

• Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut - Breach, Sage, Skye
• Nutchapon "sScary" Matarat - Astra, Viper, Brimstone
• Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj - Killjoy, Cypher, Jett
• Itthirit "Foxz" Ngamsaard - Sova, Skye, Sage
• Patiphan "patt" Chaiwong - Jett, Phoenix, Reyna

You can find all the matches over at the official VALORANT stream.