VCT Stage 3: Europe Challengers 1 – Day 1 Recap
The Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3 officially started, and we’re now finally one step closer to the VCT Stage 3 Masters in Berlin. The European teams kicked off the event with four Upper Bracket Quarterfinal matches, followed by two Lower Bracket Round 1 matches.
Fnatic overpowered Team Liquid, sending them into the Lower Bracket to fight for survival. Acend made quick work of Rix.GG Thunder and are now facing FunPlus Phoenix. Speaking of FunPlus Phoenix, these guys completely demolished G2 Esports in their match. It was not even close. Lastly, Guild Esports claimed a 2-1 victory over Team BDS, and with that, the Quarterfinals were over.
The Lower Bracket matches were quite uneventful, as both Team Liquid and G2 Esports took a clean 2-0 win. However, the important matches are yet to come, and no matter what, one of these teams will go home empty-handed.
Fnatic pulls ahead
The Reykjavík runner-up squad has clearly shown for the second time who the best team in Europe is. They first beat Team Liquid in the Stage 2 Masters – Reykjavík with 2-0, eliminating them from the Lower Bracket. This time was slightly more difficult as Team Liquid managed to claim a win on Bind, but ultimately it didn’t matter.
This was a huge win for Fnatic, and whatever comes next should be smooth sailing for these guys. Guild Esports is a solid team, but Fnatic should have this one in the bag. FunPlus Phoenix and Acend could be slightly more dangerous, but after seeing Fnatic’s recent performance, we believe they should overcome these challenges with relative ease. If you’re looking to do some Valorant betting, Fnatic is a great choice.
Can Team Liquid climb back up?
Setbacks are a common occurrence in competitive esports, and that especially goes for Valorant. The meta is constantly shifting and teams are making changes after almost every Valorant Champions Tour event, so predicting the enemy becomes that much harder.
Team Liquid faced their first setback in the opening match against Fnatic, but they’ve already started recovering. They eliminated Team BDS, although it did turn out to be an unexpectedly difficult match for them. In any case, they moved forward and are now awaiting their next challenge.
Unless it’s Fnatic that somehow ends up dropping down to face Team Liquid in a rematch, they should be able to breeze through the Lower Bracket and still land into the Grand Final.
G2 Esports still unable to recover
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Not that long ago G2 were hailed as the number one team in Europe, and needless to say, that statement is no longer valid. They were completely destroyed by FunPlusPhoenix in their first match, and despite beating Rix.GG Thunder, the fans were a bit disappointed.
G2 Esports has a great squad, and individually, each of the players is extremely good. They just can’t seem to find the synergy they need to make this team work. They have the firepower, but they just need to work a bit more on their tactical aspect. They still have a shot at making it out of the Lower Bracket, but with Team Liquid there, it just makes things much more difficult.
