Valorant Champions: Liquid and Acend are in the Semifinals
We’ve already covered the previous Valorant Champions group stage matches and mentioned how each group had its own underdog that somehow pulled through into the playoffs. Additionally, we saw the fall of Sentinels and Vision Strikers, the two Valorant powerhouses that many Valorant betting predictions placed in the top 3 spots.
The first two quarterfinals matches finished yesterday and there were no significant surprises this time. Acend overpowered Team Secret and sent them home, while Team Liquid fought Cloud9 Blue and secured yet another confident win.
The Semifinals
The current Valorant Champions playoffs situation is quite interesting. Now that C9 Blue has been eliminated, the majority of the remaining teams are from the EMEA region. Some have jokingly started calling the Valorant Champions playoffs as the “EMEA Regional Playoffs”, and if Gambit and Fnatic win their matches today, it will definitely look that way.
The first semifinals matchup has already been decided, and it’s going to be a match between Team Liquid and Acend. And if there’s no more surprises today, there’s a high likelihood that the second semifinals match will be between Gambit and Fnatic.
Honestly, this would be the ideal scenario. All of these teams have some of the best Valorant players, so it would definitely be a real spectacle. However, KRÜ Esports and X10 CRIT are still in the game. One eliminated Sentinels, while the other defeated Envy. We’ll see how Gambit and Fnatic will fare against these squads, and whether they’ll take two easy wins or suffer two unexpected losses.
End of the Road for C9 and Secret
Cloud9 Blue and Team Secret have had a great run in Valorant Champions, finishing their respective groups in 2nd place and securing spots in the playoffs. However, the quarterfinals proved to be too much of a challenge and both of these squads dropped out.
Still, this has been a great esports tournament for both teams. Not only did they get to fight against the best Valorant teams in the world, but they’re both leaving with an extra $40.000 in their pockets.
Cloud9 Blue outlived all other North American teams and finished the Valorant Champions Season as the top NA team in Valorant Champions. Team Secret, despite entering Valorant in early September this year, achieved an amazing result. They were one of the biggest surprises this time around and we’ll most certainly be seeing more of them in the future.
Who Could We See in the Grand Final
The first team we see in the grand final is Team Liquid. Although they’re facing Acend next, we believe they’ll survive the encounter. The last time these two met was during the Red Bull Home Ground #2 grand finals in November, where Team Liquid won 3-1.
The second team is a coin toss between Gambit Esports and Fnatic. Gambit won the last Masters event and is considered the top pick in this event, but Fnatic have a very strong lineup that can easily catch Gambit off guard.
Of course, since this is Valorant Champions, we might witness a total upset and see KRÜ Esports win all three matches in a row and claim the title. All bets are off this time.
