Acend, FOKUS and Fnatic dominate the last week of EMEA Groups

The last week of VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event has featured great competition between the best teams in the region. Fnatic, Acend, and FOKUS are the winners of Group A in the last week and here are more details about the week!

FunPlus Phoenix vs Acend

The tie-breaker for the second spot on top of a possible leadership opportunity, FunPlus Phoenix and Acend battled against each other. Acend picked Bind as the first map of the series and started the game strongly. They were the attacking side and by executing their composition and strategies almost perfectly, the European team won the first five rounds of the competition. FPX’s defensive abilities as well as the utilities were not enough to hold Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt’s Omen. The Polish star put on a recital on the smoker agent, securing 15 kills in the first half. He got 4 kills in the second round in which FPX players had Sheriffs but he had a Spectre with him the whole round. With Pontus "Zyppan" Eek and Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow stepping up, FunPlus Phoenix secured their first-round after falling 5-0. The CIS team picked up three more rounds before the end of the first half. Acend had the lead before going into the second half, 8-4. Acend’s Polish star, zeek, held a 1.67 rating and a 2.5 K/D at the end of the 12th round. FPX made a great start to the second half, showing their attacking capacity and reminding them that they are the reigning champions. However, the dynasty lasted for two rounds. Acend quickly sat behind the wheel and won all the rounds until the very end of the game. After securing 5 rounds in a row, Acend made a miraculous start to the series, 13-6. Patryk "starxo" Kopczynski and Ondřej "MONSTEERR" Petrů’s defensive performances were the main factors of the second half ending in favor of the European team. zeek, MONSTEERR, and starxo picked up 55 kill combined and carried their team to the victory. On the other hand, Zyppan finished the game with 17 kills and 3 first bloods in total. FPX’s attacking performance was not optimal compared to Acend’s.

FunPlus Phoenix chose Breeze as the second map to force another game in the series. They started their run strong by winning the pistol round as well as the second round. Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow and Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin both secured 4 kills in the opening rounds to put their team ahead. Acend won two rounds by the 5-round point but after that, FunPlus Phoenix put on a show and held a 6-round winning streak. The winning streak continued until the last half of the round and Acend were the winning side of that after a successful defuse. The Russian Viper, SUYGETSU, had an incredible performance in the first half, securing 22 kills and golding a 2.50 rating on the top of the 5.5 K/D and 457 ACS. All of his stats were out of mind as he carried FPX on his shoulders. MONSTEERR tried to answer his moves but he also was not very successful. FunPlus Phoenix had the lead with a 6-round margin at the end. Keeping their dominance at the beginning of the second half, FunPlus Phoenix successfully defended the bomb sites to make a good start to the second half. This time, ANGE1 stepped up once again on Yoru, securing 4 kills in the opening rounds of the game. Acend managed to win 6 rounds in a row to show their existence in the competition. MONSTEERR was the hero again but it only lasted for 6 rounds as FPX closed out the map by winning two rounds in a row. The CIS representatives managed to force another map and keep their hopes alive. SUYGETSU finished the game with 35 kills, and a 3.50 K/D. He had one of the best games of his career.

In the decider map of the series, it was time for both sides to fight on Split. The CIS representatives started the map rapidly, winning four rounds in a row. Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky’s 3-kill Fade performance in the pistol round was the main factor of this lead, both psychologically and also score-wise. Moreover, Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks picked up 8 kills in the first four rounds to keep his team ahead in the competition. Acend won their first round of the map by making it 4-1 on the scoreboard but FPX quickly increased the lead to 5-1 in the next round. After that point, we saw a different Acend team on the battlefield. The European representatives managed to lead a 6-round winning streak until the end of the first round which put them ahead on the scoreboard, 7-5. Ondřej "MONSTEERR" Petrů finished the first half with 13 kills on Cypher and the Turkish superstar, Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek grabbed 11 kills on Chamber. ardiis was the only player with over 10 kills as he had 13 at the end. Acend’s streak continued in the first two rounds of the second half. FunPlus Phoenix managed to answer back with a couple of rounds but Acend were the superior side on Split. The European team completed the series after taking down FPX on Split with a score of 13-10. MONSTEERR had a great day with three important performances, closing the day with a 22-kill Cypher performance.

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event

FunPlus Phoenix

1

X

2

Acend

Group A, Best of 3 - June 10, 2022 - 2:00PM

6

Bind

13

13

Breeze

9

10

Split

13

FunPlus Phoenix

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

SUYGETSU

1.17

228

56/42/12

+14

1.33

77.5%

145.8

29%

100%

4

0

ardiis

1.05

244

48/47/20

+1

1.02

67.1%

164.2

17%

58%

11

8

Shao

1.00

188

43/42/21

+1

1.02

67.6%

129.6

29%

57%

4

3

Zyppan

0.76

178

36/50/13

-14

0.72

68.5%

112.1

24%

43%

6

8

ANGE1

0.67

157

34/46/8

-12

0.74

59.2%

102.2

30%

50%

10

10

Acend

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

MONSTEERR

1.29

266

61/43/12

+18

1.42

75.2%

167.3

30%

62%

8

5

zeek

1.00

185

45/40/15

+5

1.13

70.7%

112.6

27%

58%

7

5

starxo

0.98

216

48/45/11

+3

1.07

64.4%

139.4

18%

35%

6

11

cNed

0.83

181

42/43/6

-1

0.98

69.7%

122.3

36%

33%

4

8

vakk

0.65

146

31/46/12

-15

0.67

61.5%

99.7

29%

40%

4

6

OG LDN Utd vs FOKUS

OG LDN Utd and FOKUS were the two teams of Group A who were out of the playoffs race. FOKUS picked Breeze to start things off in the last game of the stage for them. They made an impressive start by winning the pistol round with Ilari "iluri" Puranen’s 3-kill Sova performance. For some time, the game went both ways as both teams were winning rounds one by one until the 9th round. OG LDN Utd managed to secure the lead by winning the remaining 4 rounds of the first half which put them ahead, 7-5. Lukas "feqew" Petrauskas’s 16-kill Jett performance was very important for the team as he also secured 4 first bloods. On FOKUS’ side, Jakob "JUGi" Rask Hansen answered back with Jett in his hands, securing 11 kills and drawing 3 first bloods to open up bomb sites for his teammates. The second half started with OG LDN’s dominance as they won 4 rounds in a row. The only Polish player on their roster, Michał "MOLSI" Łącki had a stand-out Skye performance to wrap things up in the first half of the competition. OG LDN won the game after 20 rounds in total, 13-7. The Lithuanian duelist, feqew, finished the game with 22 kills to his name and a 1.48 rating.

OG’s pick for the day was Ascent. FOKUS were the winners of the pistol round and also the second round of the competition. Jakob "JUGi" Rask Hansen grabbed 4 kills in the opening round and played a huge role in his team’s success. The first half went on just like the previous map. Both sides won consecutive rounds to break the tie. Lastly, FOKUS did a better job on defending the bomb sites as they had the lead at the end, 7-5. JUGi and Ilari "iluri" Puranen grabbed 25 kills combined to stop OG’s attacks. On the attacking side, Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius was the hero with 13 kills on his Omen. However, feqew once again played a huge role by drawing 6 first bloods on the attacking side. He was on fire, especially in the opening duels. OG started the second half strongly but FOKUS rapidly answered back with a 3-round winning streak. The competition was very close among the teams but finally, FOKUS managed to win the game on Ascent and force the third map in the series. The Finnish Sova, iluri had 23 kills at the end of the game with a 1.35 K/D. He also had the best HS accuracy with 42%. Boo and feqew both grabbed 21 kills but it was not enough to complete the sweep on the second map.

Lastly, it came to Fracture to break the tie between two teams, FOKUS and OG LDN Utd. FOKUS successfully defended the bomb sites in the opening 2 rounds. OG LDN Utd managed to plant the bomb and watch it explode two times in a row, mainly thanks to MOLSI’s Raze. Even though the game looked very close between the two teams, in the beginning, FOKUS caught a 5-round winning streak until the end of the first half. They completed the half in the lead as expected, 8-4. JUGi had an incredible performance on Neon, grabbing 22 kills in 12 rounds and holding a 1.63 rating with 5 first bloods to his name. He had one of the best performances of his career in the last group match for them at this stage. Lewis "YaBoiLewis" Hughes followed him with 14 kills and a 1.46 rating. MOLSI carried OG LDN’s attacking weight with 13 kills on Raze. The second half was almost the same as the first half but this time, the roles reversed. OG LDN Utd started a 4-round winning streak at the very end of the competition to close out the game for themselves. Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius’s Sage stepped up this time with 18 kills and a 2.25 K/D. We also have to keep in mind that Tomas "Destrian" Linikas and Tautvydas "hype" Paldavicius had 4 first bloods each to stop FOKUS’ fast pushes or disrupt their attacking strategies. As it was a tie, the game went to overtime and after 8 rounds, FOKUS won the map, 17-15. They have also closed out the series and secured their first-ever win in the group stage. JUGi had an incredible Neon performance with 41 kills and 8 first bloods.

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event

OG LDN Utd

1

X

2

FOKUS

Group A, Best of 3 - June 11, 2022 - 5:00PM

13

Breeze

7

11

Ascent

13

15

Fracture

17

OG LDN Utd

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

feqew

1.26

256

66/52/16

+14

1.27

74.2%

155.6

28%

58%

14

10

MOLSI

1.13

236

62/58/19

+4

1.07

74.1%

154.6

25%

47%

9

10

Boo

1.01

204

55/45/18

+10

1.22

80.6%

146.9

24%

57%

4

3

Destrian

1.01

185

44/52/41

-8

0.85

82.4%

121.2

18%

54%

7

6

hype

0.88

164

47/55/21

-8

0.85

75.6%

104.6

20%

64%

9

5

FOKUS

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

JUGi

1.36

283

77/52/17

+25

1.48

72.4%

174.6

22%

56%

19

15

iluri

0.97

201

54/56/19

-2

0.96

70.3%

134.3

45%

38%

3

5

bucher

0.92

183

52/46/10

+6

1.13

71.6%

120.1

30%

36%

4

7

YaBoiLewis

0.84

171

47/64/24

-17

0.73

64.2%

113.0

32%

37%

7

12

vong

0.68

138

32/56/30

-24

0.57

72.9%

95.7

20%

20%

1

4

G2 Esports vs Fnatic

The last Group A game of the week was between the only undefeated team, Fnatic, and the G2 Esports which failed to make it out of the group stage. Fnatic picked Icebox, which we know G2 Esports were very good in the previous stage but currently, Fnatic are on fire basically on every map. They started the match with 2 quick wins including the pistol round. Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder and James "Mistic" Orfila stepped up in the first 2 rounds with 4 kills each. The first half continued with both teams winning rounds mutually. In the end, Fnatic secured the lead with a 2 round deficit, 7-5. Enzo "Enzo" Mestari, Alfajer and Mistic were the heroes for the side of Fnatic as they grabbed 38 kills combined. The French Sova, Enzo, held a 1.38 rating and a 3.67 K/D whereas the Turkish Killjoy, Alfajer held a 1.60 rating as well as grabbing 14 kills in total. Johan "Meddo" Lundborg had 10 kills on Killjoy which was fairly enough to stop Fnatic’s attacks. As the sides switched, Fnatic got the momentum and demolished G2’s hopes after a 5-round winning streak on defense. Despite winning the next 4 rounds, G2 still were very behind in the map as Fnatic closed out Icebox after winning the 22nd round of the game. Enzo had a great performance in the second half with 12 kills on Sova and a 1.65 rating. G2 Esports’ attacking arsenal was insufficient as they fell behind in the series after a poor attacking performance.

G2’s pick for their last match of the group stage was Split. Despite Losing the pistol round, they quickly answered back by winning the eco round. The first half was very close until Fnatic completed a 4-round winning streak at the end of the first half. Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas’s 12-kill Raze performance kept G2 Esports in the game but Alfajer’s 14-kill Raze performance had Fnatic in the driver’s seat. The Finnish players on both sides, Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas and Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev both helped their teams to succeed in the first half with 10 kills each. The second half started with G2 Esports’ dominance. They looked like a different team on the defending side, starting it strong with 2 wins. Fnatic won the next 3 rounds to get ahead once again but after that point, G2 Esports almost did not make a single mistake until the end of the game. They won all the remaining rounds to end the second map and force another in the series. hoody completed Split with 24 kills while holding a 1.43 rating and a 1.71K/D. On FNC’s side, Alfajer tried his best to complete the sweep but his efforts weren’t enough.

Lastly, it was Bind to decide the winner in the matchup. Fnatic once again made a great start to the game on the defending side. They won the opening 3 rounds with Mistic grabbing 6 kills in total, and 2 kills in each round. G2 Esports showed a pulse by winning a couple of rounds before the end of the half but Fnatic had the lead, 8-4. Derke and Alfajer had 26 kills in total with Alfajer holding a 1.74 rating on top. Auni "AvovA" Chahade had the best performance on G2’s side with 8 kills and a 1.15 rating. The second half started with Fnatic’s back-to-back wins on the attacking side. Derke and Enzo were the real heroes of the opening rounds with 4 kills each. After that point, G2 Esports managed to get into the game and completed a couple of successful defenses. However, Fnatic were the superior side in the series from the beginning until the very end. They won the map with a score of 13-11 and closed out the series in 3 maps. Derke finished the game with 27 kills on Raze.

VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 2 - Challengers - Main Event

G2 Esports

1

X

2

Fnatic

Group A, Best of 3 - June 12, 2022 - 4:10PM

9

Icebox

13

13

Split

10

11

Bind

13

G2 Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

nukkye

1.00

232

48/55/22

-7

0.87

72.3%

161.5

17%

39%

7

11

m1xwell

0.96

208

51/48/9

+3

1.06

68.4%

139.0

26%

50%

13

13

Meddo

0.93

204

50/50/8

0

1.00

81.0%

139.8

23%

100%

4

0

hoody

0.93

182

46/46/16

0

1.00

76.6%

118.3

29%

40%

4

6

AvovA

0.76

163

37/47/21

-10

0.79

70.7%

112.2

34%

27%

3

8

Fnatic

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Alfajer

1.22

252

61/48/17

+13

1.27

74.0%

167.6

34%

59%

10

7

Derke

1.10

232

59/49/9

+10

1.20

76.9%

150.5

20%

71%

12

5

Enzo

1.03

184

44/36/28

+8

1.22

74.5%

124.1

33%

67%

2

1

Mistic

0.86

177

42/48/20

-6

0.88

71.4%

109.7

26%

33%

4

8

Boaster

0.80

169

40/51/17

-11

0.78

64.9%

114.9

19%

50%

10

10

Fnatic, Acend and FunPlus Phoenix are the playoffs representatives of Group A. On the other hand, G2 Esports and OG LDN Utd are going to fight their way at the Last Chance Qualifiers.