OpTic Gaming and LOUD will meet in the upper bracket finals

The fourth day of the VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul playoffs has concluded with the Brazilian powerhouse, LOUD, who advanced to the upper bracket finals after breezing past Leviatán in the previous round, squeezing DRX with an incredible comeback on Breeze. OpTic Gaming, on the other hand, secured their spot in the upper bracket finals with the help of their dominant fashion against their regional rival XSET, who sent Fnatic to the lower bracket in the first round. Here is the recap of the day for those who had no ample time to catch the full action.

DRX vs LOUD

The only team that hadn't lost a single map throughout the VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul was the Korean representative going into the series. LOUD, on the other hand, was expected to be the underdog of the series with their incredibly talented team. However, they demonstrated against DRX that they are more than just an underdog, and established themselves as the upper bracket finalist by defeating the undefeated DRX.

Having been able to secure three rounds in the first half, LOUD captured a winning series heading to the end of the opening map. DRX, on the flip side, appeared to be struggling to carry out their primary plan, which was based on aim fights and map rotations. Both teams headed to Haven, where LOUD had the chance to send DRX to the lower bracket without playing their decider match. This time the Brazilian powerhouse got off a better start, sweeping eight rounds to seal the map right away. It's also worth mentioning that LOUD mostly took pistol rounds played on the series, which helped them narrow the economic gap. They wasted no time taking the hammer down on undisputed DRX as they qualified for the upper bracket finals, where they will take on OpTic Gaming.

VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul

DRX

0

X

2

LOUD

Upper Bracket Semi Final, Best of 3 - September 12, 2022 - 2:00PM

11

Breeze

13

6

Haven

13

DRX

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Rb

1.03

231

34/30/5

+4

1.13

67.5%

148.7

34%

83%

5

1

MaKo

0.89

168

25/31/19

-6

0.81

71.2%

107.3

31%

22%

2

7

Zest

0.82

166

26/33/9

-7

0.79

67.0%

109.5

35%

60%

3

2

stax

0.75

164

24/34/8

-10

0.71

70.7%

104.4

48%

38%

3

5

BuZz

0.61

166

21/39/8

-18

0.54

54.5%

112.9

32%

33%

5

10

LOUD

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Less

1.23

237

41/23/8

+18

1.78

76.4%

147.0

28%

62%

8

5

Saadhak

1.22

239

36/28/13

+8

1.29

87.0%

145.2

29%

60%

9

6

pANcada

1.12

191

32/27/18

+5

1.19

85.3%

126.7

31%

67%

2

1

Sacy

1.09

186

27/22/22

+5

1.23

76.0%

123.5

32%

25%

1

3

aspas

1.02

223

31/30/12

+1

1.03

80.7%

146.7

26%

63%

5

3

OpTic Gaming vs XSET

Both teams have competed against one another several times in their respective regional tournaments, but this time, the stakes are considerably higher. Prior to competing in the VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul, XSET struggled to overcome OpTic and only received %16 of the community votes for the upper bracket semifinal. OpTic, on the other hand, put a great showing starting from the group stage, demolishing LOUD and Team Liquid led by their superstar Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker.

On the opening map of the second series, the two NA powerhouses gave off the impression that their matchup will be fiercely competitive. Even though OpTic dropped eight rounds in the first half, four consecutive wins at the beginning of the second half paved the way for them for a comeback. After taking down XSET five rounds in a row, OpTic took the lead on the action-fuelled series.

On Ascent, OpTic and XSET were playing chess against one another, with the two NA representatives responding to each other without hesitation. XSET closed out their map pick thanks to the three-round wins led by Jordan "AYRIN" He. Fans believed that the final map would be jaw-dropping after watching the first two maps with their banners in their hands. OpTic Gaming stepped forward at the beginning with the help of Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker's entry picks, capturing eight rounds on the attack. Although XSET tried to stay alive in the match with four round wins in the second half, OpTic Gaming completed Pearl in a dominant fashion, making their way to the upper bracket finals to go up against LOUD. XSET, on the flip side, will square up against FunPlus Phoenix in the lower bracket to keep their final hopes alive.

VCT 2022 - Champions Istanbul

OpTic Gaming

2

X

1

XSET

Upper Bracket Semi Final, Best of 3 - September 12, 2022 - 4:30PM

13

Haven

9

11

Ascent

13

13

Pearl

8

OpTic Gaming

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

yay

1.23

254

63/40/5

+23

1.58

76.2%

155.4

25%

67%

10

5

Victor

1.10

220

54/48/14

+6

1.13

73.1%

134.1

25%

57%

12

9

crashies

1.05

185

44/46/31

-2

0.96

76.3%

123.7

27%

43%

3

4

Marved

0.95

202

45/52/20

-7

0.87

72.9%

136.3

35%

57%

8

6

FNS

0.74

157

33/41/23

-8

0.80

75.0%

102.0

23%

10%

1

9

XSET

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

BcJ

1.02

190

44/48/29

-4

0.92

79.4%

124.7

17%

50%

7

7

Cryocells

1.02

224

53/47/10

+6

1.13

68.6%

138.2

19%

53%

10

9

AYRIN

0.95

181

44/46/25

-2

0.96

66.6%

116.9

18%

17%

1

5

zekken

0.91

204

46/53/13

-7

0.87

62.4%

141.4

26%

56%

9

7

dephh

0.86

172

40/45/20

-5

0.89

80.4%

110.1

24%

50%

6

6