VCT Champions Match Day 9 Viewers Guide - Quarter Finals

Match 1 Gambit Esports vs X110 Crit: at 6:00 PM CET / 9:00 AM PST

The champions of VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Masters Berlin - Playoffs have had a strong run at VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021 defeating Team Secret and Team Vikings with a 2-1 score each. The match against Team Secret was played Icebox with the result being announced against Gambit. In hindsight, it seems that the loss on Icebox served as a wake-up call to the beast within the Russian team since Breeze witnessed Gambit embark on an undisputed 13:0 run to close the map. Unfortunately, Bind wasn’t any better for Team Secret either with Gambit taking the map 13-6 to move to the winners match and face off Team Vikings. Despite getting a head start by closing Split, the first map, with a 13:6 score, Gambit faced considerable resistance from the Brazilian team. The second map itself was enough to alert Gambit players to revise their defensive strategy and realize that Team Vikings wasn’t messing around. Icebox, which had been Gambit’s weak point in the previous matchup, almost witnessed history repeat itself. Team Vikings startled their opposition by taking 9 at the end of the first half. The entire community was at the edge of their seats, especially Gambit’s fans, who were hoping for a miraculous comeback. Despite being 12-5 on round 17th, their prayers were answered when Gambit managed to force overtime by taking seven consecutive rounds on defense and then winning Icebox with a 14:12 score. Even though it might’ve seemed like a one-sided competition on paper, this series did not fail to disappoint.

After both matches in the group, Gambit should’ve understood to never underestimate a team, especially X10 Crit, which shocked the Valorant community by toppling one of the best teams in the NA region. Their journey in the Champions event deserves to be recorded as a historical moment for the SEA region. Starting the tournament with a loss against Envy, they became dispirited – only momentarily though. Their second matchup was against Vivo Keyd, and the scoreline for both maps shows that it was a walk in the park for X10 with a 2-0 finish. That win earned them the rematch against Envy, and most people were expecting a similar outcome as their first match. However, X10 proved to the world they are worthy of the quarterfinals. The series was tied 1-1 with Haven as the deciding map, and despite a 9-3 by Envy in the first half, X10 Crit came back and caused overtime to ensue resulting in their victory.

Both teams have had unbelievable comebacks and ironically after being down 9-3 in the first half. It is difficult to predict which team will emerge victorious in tomorrow’s matchup given their performances so far, but don’t count either one out yet.

Head-to-head:

Due to being part of separate international tournaments, both teams have yet to go head-to-head. Having their first match against each other as a quarterfinal in the VCT Champions is as exciting as it gets for fans of both teams.

Players to watch:

Gambit Esports - Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov with a 1.16 rating, 249.5 ACS and a 75.30% KAST he has been the most consistent player for the Russian team. X10 Crit - Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj played out of this world in his previous game to take his over rating to 1.12, 229.10 ACS and a KAST % of 73.20.

Match 2 Fnatic vs KRÜEsports: at 9:00 PM CET / 12:00 PM PST

Despite a compelling performance at VCT Stage 2 Masters - Reykjavík, Fnatic had encountered several obstacles in retaining their form and fans were doubtful if their performance was up to par before VCT 2021 - VALORANT Champions 2021 began. However, after prevailing from an intense, mind-blowing battle against Cloud9 it became apparent why Fnatic was one of the best teams in the EU region. In the winners match, a similar pattern emerged. Vision Strikers, the reputed Korean team couldn’t put up enough resistance to prevent Fnatic from qualifying as they encountered a 2-1 defeat courtesy of Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev’s stunning plays.

As for the LATAM team, the journey through the Champions has been a roller coaster. With the initial matchup being scheduled against Team Liquid, their winning chances had been slim from the start and it came as no surprise when they had to face a 2-0 defeat on the 2nd day of the tournament. Nonetheless, they did not let the defeat demoralize them or compromise their performance, instead, they figured out the areas that needed improvement and came back with a 2-1 against FURIA. But they weren’t done just yet! On day 6 of the event, they brought the NA superpower, Sentinels, on their knees by coming back not once but twice on consecutive maps and both from being down 8-4 at the first half. The entire Valorant community was left with their jaws dropped in awe of this LATAM team.

History tends to be in favor of Fnatic for tomorrow’s matchup, but with underdogs like X10 and KRÜ Esports, you can never be entirely certain until after the match ends.

Head-to-head:

Both teams have previously engaged in a head-to-head battle at Masters Reykjavik in the Upper Bracket Round of 16. Fnatic was able to execute a clean sweep against KRÜ Esports without breaking a sweat.

Players to watch:

KRÜ Esports - Angelo "Keznit" Mori is KRÜ Esports’ player to watch with a 1.08 rating and 226 ACS so far. Fnatic - Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev has been key to Fnatic’s offensive plays with a 1.18 rating overall and 258 ACS.

Map Picks:

Fnatic has consistently picked Icebox in their last two matches. On the other hand, KRÜ Esports has opted for Fracture and Haven so far in the tournament. Therefore, the map picks for the series will likely involve Fracture and Icebox.

Agents:

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

KRU Esports: Juan Pablo "NagZet" Lopez Miranda - Jett, Sage Roberto "Mazino" Rivas - Sage, Viper, Killjoy Nicolas "Klaus" Martin Ferrari - Killjoy, Cypher, Sova Joaquín Ignacio "delz1k" Espinoza Soto - Astra, Sage, Brimstone Angelo "Keznit" Mori - Skye, Reyna, Raze

You can catch these matches at the VALORANT official stream.