Posts

,

OpTic and XSET move onto the Upper Bracket Semifinals

We’re done and over with the upper bracket quarterfinals of Valorant Champions 2022. To the demise of Team Liquid of Fnatic, OpTic Gaming and XSET have qualified for the upper bracket semifinals. However, good news is there’s still hope left as they’ve conceded to the lower bracket.

Day 2 of Upper Bracket Quarterfinals

On day 2 of the upper bracket quarterfinals, it was NA vs EMEA in both the matches. The representatives of NA, OpTic and XSET faced the sides from EMEA, Team Liquid and Fnatic respectively. Let’s find out how the action went!

OpTic vs Team Liquid

OpTic Gaming vs Team Liquid was our first NA vs EMEA matchup of the night. This was the first time the two sides have met each other in competitive Valorant.

Rosters

OpTic Gaming
  • Pujan “FNS” Mehta (IGL)
  • Victor “Victor” Wong
  • Austin “crashies” Roberts
  • Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
  • Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen
Team Liquid
  • Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom (IGL)
  • Dom “soulcas” Sulcas
  • Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen
  • Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom
  • Dmitriy “dimasick”  Matvienko

Map Picks

  • TL ban Fracture
  • OpTic ban Haven
  • TL pick Breeze
  • OpTic pick Bind
  • TL ban Pearl
  • OpTic ban Icebox
  • Ascent remains

The Series

Map 1 (Breeze)

Team Liquid’s first map pick, Breeze started off the way they wanted. They picked up the two pistol rounds but conceded the bonus as expected. TL pretty much bulldozed the rest of the first half under the leadership of ScreaM. The half ended 9-3 in their favor. OpTic started the second half with new vigor winning the first three rounds. But Team Liquid responded soon picking up three straight rounds for themselves, soon ending the first map 13-7.

Map 2 (Bind)

Picked by OpTic, they needed to make a statement on Bind if they wanted to stay in the upper bracket. They surely did by picking up the first five rounds straight thanks to brilliant team efforts. But TL responded right after by winning the next five rounds and leveling the score. But the half ended 9-5 in favor of OpTic. The second half saw yay go wild picking up five first kills on Chamber. OpTic continued to dominate on Bind as they easily picked up the map 13-8.

Map 3 (Ascent)

Ascent was what was left to decide who makes it to the upper bracket semifinals. From the start of the third map, it was yay who was at the top of his game on Chamber yet again. He picked up 19 kills in the first half and spearheaded the team to be up by 10-2. The second half started with OpTic winning the first round but TL showed some strong determination after. They won six straight rounds giving their rivals something to worry about. But the boys from NA recollected themselves and picked up two rounds to seal the deal.

Check out reviews on the best betting sites that are 100% reliable for you to put your deposits in!

XSET vs Fnatic

XSET vs Fnatic was the second NA vs EMEA encounter of the day. These two teams have never faced each other before competitively.

Rosters

XSET
  • Rory “dephh” Jackson (IGL)
  • Zachary “zekken” Patrone
  • Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban
  • Jordan “AYRIN” He
  • Brendan “BcJ” Jensen
Fnatic
  • Jake “Boaster” Howlett (IGL)
  • James “Mistic” Orfila
  • Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev
  • Enzo “Enzo” Mestari
  • Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder

Map Picks

  • XSET ban Bind
  • FNC ban Haven
  • XSET pick Pearl
  • FNC pick Fracture
  • XSET ban Icebox
  • FNC ban Breeze
  • Ascent remains

The Series

Map 1 (Pearl)

The series began with XSET’s pick of Pearl. Fnatic did well to put the plant down on several occasions in the first half but XSET’s retaking capability proved to be superior. They won four rounds just by retaking the site and defusing right in time. The first half finished 9-3 in favor of the American team. Fnatic started the second half of the map winning the pistols as well as the bonus round. But it seemed to be a matter of time before XSET got back into the game. AYRIN stepped up big time with Astra and XSET wrapped up the first map 13-8.

Map 2 (Fracture)

Fnatic needed a response and they were hoping they could pull it off with their pick of Fracture. They started the map accordingly picking up the pistol rounds but XSET won the bonus. Fnatic kept on putting the plants down but XSET had quite a few successful attempts at defuses. The first half ended 8-5 in favor of Fnatic. Derke put up an amazing show in the second half but fell short to XSET’s strategic outplays. The two teams were neck and neck but XSET walked out the arena as victors.

Who is OpTic and XSET facing next?

Unfortunate news for NA Valorant fans because OpTic and XSET are facing each other in the upper bracket semifinals. The match is set for tomorrow after DRX face LOUD. The losers of those two matches will be sent to the lower brackets.

/by