VCT EMEA Stage 1 Main Event - Week 5 Group B
After all the postponements, VCT 2022 - EMEA - Stage 1 - Challengers - Main Event games continued right where they left off. After this week’s games, Papara SuperMassive’s hopes died as the Turkish team will continue its way in the VCT Promotion. On the other hand, Fnatic, Guild Esports and G2 Esports have qualified for playoffs.
Fnatic vs SuperMassive Blaze
The competition between Europe and Turkey started with Fnatic’s map of choice, Icebox. The European organisation uses Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev’s Jett almost perfectly when it comes to Icebox and they showed it once again with a clean performance. Even though SuperMassive won five rounds on the defending side, Fnatic still had a small lead with seven rounds to close out the first half. The Finnish star of Fnatic, Derke, carried his team with 19 kills to grab seven rounds in the first half. He secured 6 first bloods which opened up the bomb sides for Fnatic. However, Papara SuperMassive’s Jett player,Baran "Izzy" Yılmaz, wasn’t as successful as his opponent. The Turkish player grabbed 8 kills on the attacking side and SuperMassive failed to win more than four rounds in the second half. Fnatic closed out the first map after 22 rounds. Derke ended the first map with 24 kills and a 1.43 rating to have the advantage in the series.
Despite failing to prevent Derke’s Jett many times, SuperMassive Blaze still showed promising performance in the first map but the scenario was totally different during Ascent. Although Ascent was SMB’s map pick, Fnatic conquered the map from the start to the very end. On the defending side, the European representative grabbed 9 rounds and only gave 3. Andrew "braveaf" Gorchakov and James "Mistic" Orfila played huge roles on the defending side with Sova and Astra, respectively. On the SMB side, Eren "Brave" Kasırga tried his best with Sage in his hands but again, SMB lacked entry frags as Izzy underperformed once again. With braveaf in the lead, Fnatic closed out the second map with a score of 13-4 to secure another win in the group stage. The Russian player grabbed 24 kills in 17 rounds and held a 2.03 rating.
G2 Esports vs BBL Esports
After all the roster changes, it looks like G2 has found its rhythm as the European organisation proved it against BBL Esports. G2 picked Icebox as the opening map of the series and won the first half with a score of 7-5. Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas stepped up for his team with a 1.32 rating on Sova and made it easier for his teammates to get the bomb sides quickly. G2’s duelist, Oscar Cañellas "m1xwell" Colocho, didn’t have his best Jett performance in the first half but he still made many important moves to keep his team ahead. On the other side of the competition, BBL’s Jett, Doğukan "QutionerX" Dural had a wonderful performance to keep his team in the competition, securing 16 kills on the defenders’ side. However, the Turkish player had an awful attacking performance, securing only 3 kills in eight rounds. G2’s defence was on another level for sure as the team won 6 rounds to close out the game with a score of 13-7. Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas’s Sage was the main factor of G2’s dominance as the Finnish player held a 1.82 rating and secured 10 kills.
BBL’s pick was Split to force another game in the series. However, with the confidence that G2 had after the last game, it was very hard for the Turkish team to overcome its opponent. The Spanish star, mixwell, secured 14 kills in the first half in which G2 won with a score of 9-3. Johan "Meddo" Lundborg was there to help mixwell with a 12-kill Viper performance in the first half. Unlike his first match performance, QutionerX failed to impress BBL fans with Raze in his hands, getting only 3 kills and holding a 0.28 rating. G2 didn’t give any chance to its opponent in the second half and ended the game after winning four rounds in a row. m1xwell’s Chamber performance came in handy for the European team as G2 won the series after a 13-3 Split win.
SuperMassive Blaze vs Guild Esports
As SuperMassive Blaze was already eliminated, it was a formality game for the Turkish side but Guild Esports is still in the race for the leadership or the second seed. In the first map of the series, Haven, which was SMB’s pick, the first half went head-to-head. SMB won seven rounds and Guild answered with five in return. Despite being on the attacking side, Baran "Izzy" Yılmaz had a disappointing performance but his teammate Burak "Glovee" Yildirim was there to make it up for the team with a 10-kill Astra performance. Surprisingly, Izzy showed his Jett capabilities on the defending side and carried his team to the victory by grabbing 10 kills in the second half. Guild Esports’ setups were insufficient, in terms of usefulness. Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel’s 23-kill Jett performance was not enough without a similar help and SMB won the first map with a score of 13-10.
Guild Esports looked like a totally different team on Breeze. The European organisation dominated the map from the start to the very end. The first half indicated the result in a way as Guild grabbed eleven rounds and gave away only one round before the second half. What made the game so one-sided was the fact that Guild’s teamwork and setups were all well trained and applied. SuperMassive Blaze failed to answer back its opponent in any of the lost rounds. After winning the first two rounds of the second half, Guild Esports tied the series and forced another game to remain undefeated in the group stage. Almost all of the players had similar stats in the end.
Lastly, one of the greatest maps of the tournament has been played between SuperMassive Blaze and Guild Esports on Icebox. SMB had a great first half and picked up eight rounds to have a huge advantage before the second half. Guild Esports, on the other hand, gathered four rounds to stay in the game before the second half. The Turkish Jett, Izzy, had a monstrous 20-kill performance in the first twelve rounds of the competition, and Eren "Brave" Kasırga followed him with 18 kills on Sage. Jose Luis "koldamenta" Aranguren’s Viper was pretty effective in the first half but SMB was the superior side. The same scenario happened during the second half and we saw the teams collide in overtime. After a great competition, Guild Esports closed out the third map with a score of 19-17 and kept its undefeated title. It was SMB’s last game of the tournament as the Turkish team will continue its way in the VCT Promotion.
Fnatic vs Acend
In the opening map of the most important Group B game this week, Fnatic picked Haven and dominated Acend almost in every round. With Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek performing under his calibre, Fnatic had one of the easiest defending performances on Haven. The European team managed to pick up ten rounds before the second half and held a huge advantage to win the first map of the series. Acend won two rounds in the first half, thanks to Patryk "starxo" Kopczynski’s efforts. cNed and his friends won the opening round of the second half and signaled a possible comeback but it only lasted two rounds. Fnatic sat behind the wheel once again to close out the game in 17 rounds. James "Mistic" Orfila and Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev stepped up for their team, getting 17 and 18 kills respectively. On the other side of the map, Acend’s top fragger was starxo, who secured 12 kills and held a 1.0 rating. Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi had a disappointing performance with Killjoy in his hands, securing 3 kills and holding a 0.25 rating.
Acend performed a lot better in the second map of the series, Ascent. The first half ended in a draw with both teams picking up six rounds each. Acend’s star Jett player cNed secured 16 kills in the first half and held a 1.68 rating to keep his team in the series and force another game. However, it is very hard to carry a team for only one player especially if the opposing team’s chemistry and teamwork is better. That was the scenario of the game as Fnatic’s teamwork came in handy for them. On the attacking side, Fnatic grabbed seven rounds to close out the series with a 13-10 win on Ascent. Fnatic remained undefeated in the group and Acend got its second loss.
Guild Esports vs G2 Esports
Guild Esports held a three-game winning streak before facing G2 Esports on the third day of week 5. Both teams grabbed six rounds in the first half of Guild’s pick, Bind. G2 Esports did a great job by winning six rounds on the defending side and held an important advantage before coming into the second half. Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas confirmed 17 kills in the first half with Raze in his hands, holding a 1.77 rating and 375 ACS to make the difference on the side of G2. Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel’s Jett was the main factor of the rounds that were won by Guild Esports as the Swedish duelist held a 1.88 K/D with 341 ACS. G2 Esports ripped off Guild Esports in the second half. The European team won seven rounds while on the attacking side which led to their victory with a score of 13-9. Apart from nukkye’s first-half efforts, Johan "Meddo" Lundborg, Mikhail "Duno" Fokin, and Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas’s second-half performances came in handy for the team. Despite having mediocre stats distributed to the whole lineup, Guild failed to prevent G2’s dominance which was spread all over the map, from the start to the end.
G2 Esports picked Icebox as the second map of the series and demolished Guild in the first half of action. While on the attacking side, G2 grabbed nine rounds and gave three which put them ahead of both on aggregate and also mentally. They didn’t even need m1xwell’s frag contribution as all the players were on fire. On the other side of the competition, GLD players lacked confidence during clutch moments and aim fights. Despite losing the first round of the second half, G2 still found a way to bounce back and closed out the competition after 20 rounds. The Lithuanian star, nukkye, stepped up with 12 kills, 503 ACS, and a 2.44 rating in the second half. He ended the game with 23 kills. As a result, Guild Esports faced its first-ever loss in the group stage and G2 Esports grabbed an important win before the playoffs.
Acend vs BBL Esports
This week, Seymon "purp0" Borchev was on the battlefield instead of Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt for Acend. BBL Esports picked Haven as the first map of the series and showed an unexpectedly great performance in both halves. On the attacking side, Doğukan "QutionerX" Dural and Hüseyin "aimDLL" Kabişteke played their hearts out and BBL picked up eight rounds in the first half. We normally don’t see aimDLL securing twelve rounds in one half but the Turkish Breach stepped up for his team. On the other side, Acend’s Vladyslav "kiles" Shvets tried his best to keep his team in the competition and the European representative grabbed four rounds in the first half. BBL’s dominant gameplay continued in the second half as the Turkish team grabbed five rounds to win the opening map. QutionerX’s Jett was the man of the game for the Turkish team and we all know that Melih "pAura" Karaduran is the mastermind behind most of their tactics and in-game calls. BBL won the first map with a score of 13-6.
Acend picked Split as the second map of the series. As expected, the European representative made the difference on the attacking side. Acend grabbed nine rounds and lost three, going into the second half with an advantage. Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek’s Jett was the most important aspect as the Turkish player secured 14 kills with 4 first bloods. The Polish player, Patryk "starxo" Kopczynski, also had an important contribution with 11 kills on Sage. On the Turkish side, Melih "pAura" Karaduran had a great Cypher performance in the first half as he grabbed 10 kills with 260 ACS. BBL fought until the very end but Acend was the winner in the end, after a head-to-head 13-11 game on Split. Despite a close performance by both teams, Acend players showed a great team effort even though their newest player. The European team forced another game in the series to qualify for the playoffs.
After losing the first round, BBL stacked B to catch Acend red-handed. Even though they estimated the move rightly, Acend still won the one but at what cost? BBL managed to take down three opponents and caused financial damage which is very important in the early stages. After winning seven rounds in the first half, the Turkish team was unstoppable in the second half. BBL got to map-point fairly easily, even after some small mistakes that cost them some rounds. The Turkish side won the series after 19 rounds and added another win to their name. Ali Osman "AsLanM4shadoW" Balta had a wonderful 20-kill Astra performance, holding a 1.52 rating. cNed’s performance was also another factor of Acend’s unexpected loss. The Turkish star ended the game with 9 kills and 17 deaths, holding a 0.61 rating and 149 ACS.
The remaining games’ dates will be announced. You can check the events page to find more information.
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