Cloud9 Blue Wins VCT NA LCQ

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The North American VCT LCQ tournament was full of surprises until the very end. Finally, after a lot of delays and issues that were plaguing the event, the grand final match was played yesterday on October 31st.

The two teams that made it to the grand final were Rise and Cloud9 Blue – underdogs that managed to climb to the top against all odds. Both squads first faced off in the semifinals where Rise was victorious, but in the rematch, Cloud9 had the upper hand and took a clean 3-0 sweep.

In the end, despite having a rough season in Valorant Champions Tour, Cloud9 Blue managed to pull through and secured a spot at the final VCT event – Valorant Champions.

Image Credits | Cloud9

Cleaning Up The Lower Bracket

Cloud9’s run in VCT NA LCQ was nothing short of miraculous. They started strong by beating Version1, a team that was once seen as one of the best in NA, and headed into the semifinals where Rise was waiting. Cloud9 ended up losing and dropping into the lower bracket, but the experience they gained in this match would end up being crucial in the rematch.

Round 2 of the lower bracket began and Cloud9 were determined to get out alive. Gen.G was the first team to fall to their onslaught, and XSET soon followed.

With two obstacles down, there was only one more to go – 100 Thieves. On paper, 100 Thieves were heavily favoured in this matchup and the Valorant betting odds were tilting in their direction.

Cloud9 remained unfazed and completely obliterated 100 Thieves in the lower bracket finals. It wasn’t even close. 100 Thieves did manage to take the first map on Icebox, but Cloud9 dominated the other two. In the end, the final result was 2-1 for Cloud9.

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Image Credits | Riot Games

The Grand Final

The first match between Rise and Cloud9 was pretty close. Back in the semifinals, the two teams went into overtime on the first two maps, but Rise ended up closing the match on Haven.

This time, however, was a different story. Cloud9 came out of the lower bracket fully motivated. They just took down the biggest threat in the tournament and were confident they had this win in the bag.

The first map was played on Breeze, and at this point, Rise was putting up a good fight. The first half finished with 7-5 for C9, so Rise remained optimistic. However, their hopes and dreams were soon crushed as C9 pressed forward and closed the first match.

Split is where things completely fell apart for Rise. Cloud9 was not taking any chances and went full aggression mode, finishing the second map with a perfect 13-0 score.

After such devastating defeat, one would expect Rise to completely give up. They held on and tried to retake control on Bind, and to their credit, they were close. However, Cloud9 saw an opportunity to put a wrap on the series and that’s exactly what they did. The final score was 3-0 for Cloud9 Blue and they won the tournament.

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Image Credits | Riot Games

The Pinnacle of Valorant Esports

Cloud9 Blue will be fighting alongside 15 other best Valorant teams in the apex of the Valorant Champions Tour. Valorant Champions will be the toughest challenge these teams have encountered so far, and the stakes will be higher than ever before.

Riot are yet to reveal the prize pool for this final tournament, but if we look at the past Masters events, we can assume it’s going to surpass the $1 million mark.

Cloud9 are in great shape and can definitely go a long way in Valorant Champions. With some luck, they might even go all the way and win the tournament. It is possible.

In any case, they have a full month to prepare for the challenges ahead. The NA region is strong, but Valorant Champions is a whole different beast. They must bring their A game if they wish to succeed.