XSET Defeat OpTiC in VCT NA Challengers 2 Grand Final

Published: Jun 27, 2022

The VCT Challengers 2 action in North America ended yesterday, after XSET scored a convincing victory over OpTiC Gaming in the VCT Challengers 2 grand final rematch. Both teams won a slot in the upcoming VCT Stage 2 Masters in Copenhagen, with XSET landing the first seed and thus securing a more favourable starting position in the event.

The best-of-five grand final match ended with a 3-1 score for XSET, and the team finally broke the curse that’s been following them for nearly two years and won their first Valorant Champions Tour tournament.

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Image Credits | Riot Games

Becoming the North American Champions

XSET have come a long way since the early days of Valorant esports. For the longest time, they’ve been a team that was consistently landing into the top four spots in almost every tournament, but somehow never winning. All of this changed in the VCT NA Challengers 2.

They had a pretty smooth ride through the group stage, winning four matches and losing just one to 100 Thieves. As the first placed team in group A, they immediately landed into the upper bracket semifinals and had to face 100 Thieves in a rematch. This time, however, they came out much stronger and quickly overpowered the opposition.

Their first match against OpTic in the upper bracket final didn’t go too well. While they did establish a 1-0 lead, they didn’t quite manage to hold it and proceeded to lose the next three maps that followed. But the loss didn’t discourage them and they moved into their next match with confidence.

XSET knew they could take both NRG and FaZe, so when FaZe won the lower bracket semi-finals, XSET weren’t scared at all. This was reflected in the final score, where XSET won 3-1 against FaZe and prepared for round two with OpTiC.

Finally, the two teams clashed once again on June 26th and, this time, it was a complete 180 turn for OpTiC as they found themselves on the defensive against XSET. OpTiC got one map through overtime and that was it, the remaining three that followed were completely dominated by XSET.

This huge win not only landed XSET a spot in the upcoming Stage 2 Masters, but they’re also almost guaranteed a slot in the final event of the year, the Valorant Champions, that’s scheduled for September of this year.

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Image Credits | Riot Games

What’s Next for XSET?

XSET, along with OpTiC Gaming, will be representing North America in the second Masters event of this year’s Valorant Champions Tour season. This will be the first time this team will compete in an international VCT event and fight against teams from other regions.

Already, this is an incredible accomplishment for the team. They finally managed to break the curse and win a major event on home ground. However, an exciting opportunity now presents itself.

They’re stepping into an unknown territory where they’ll be able to fully gauge their capabilities and truly see what they’re made of. The teams from other regions have different play styles and strategies that will test XSET in ways they weren’t tested before. The experience could make or break them.

The action in VCT Copenhagen begins in roughly two weeks, starting on July 10th and concluding on July 24th. If you’re interested to see how XSET will handle the challenges that lay before them, make sure to tune in live and watch the action on the official Valorant Twitch stream. As the VCT Challengers 2 champions, they’ll most likely receive high Valorant odds, so this will not only be a great time to support the team, but also potentially score some lucrative bets.

Denis Alihodzic
Denis Alihodzic

Since: March 1, 2021

Freelance writer with a passion for gaming and esports. Loves a good old-school RPG, and enjoys spending time with his dogs.

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