Valorant Champions – European Teams Taking Over

This past weekend we witnessed multiple upsets in the Valorant Champions, some of which were more shocking than others. The first bombshell happened in the match between Sentinels and Team Liquid, two squads from rival regions who met here for the first time. Team Liquid, against Valorant betting predictions, were the winners and secured the first spot in group B.

Then we had Fnatic fight against Vision Strikers, a team who seemed almost unstoppable, at least from a statistical standpoint. Fnatic, just like Team Liquid, secured the match and finished group D with two clean victories.

Gambit Esports had some shaky moments and didn’t show that confidence we saw in the last VCT Masters event, but nonetheless, they won both matches and can breathe a sigh of relief as they wait for the Valorant Champions playoff seeds.

Sentinels vs. Team Liquid

We’ll just say it – what an amazing performance from both teams! It’s rare to see matches these days where the Valorant action isn’t completely one sided. Both squads brought their A game to this esports tournament and didn’t hold back at all in this match.

We know that Team Liquid won in the end, but it wasn’t an easy task. It was truly a battle of giants and we’re excited to see more of these in Valorant Champions.

The match began on Breeze where the two teams went back-and-forth and ultimately took the match into overtime. Team Liquid was the team to secure the final 14-12 score. After that, Sentinels crushed Liquid on Split, giving them only 2 rounds and finishing with 13-2. However, that loss just fueled Liquid further instead of crushing their spirit, and it really showed in the final map on Split.

This was arguably the best map of the entire match, and one that could have honestly gone in either way. Team Liquid ended up finishing with 13-10 and scoring a huge win against one of the best Valorant teams in the world.

Both squads brought their big guns – TenZ on Sentinels and ScreaM on Liquid’s side. In terms of performance, both players were absolute beasts. TenZ had a slight edge on Jett, but ScreaM’s Reyna was far better.

Fnatic vs. Vision Strikers

This was also one of the more memorable matches in Valorant Champions so far. When some of the best Valorant teams clash, you know you can expect a great show. Fnatic won with 2-1 and secured an early spot in the playoffs. They proved all those who doubted them wrong, and showed that them qualifying for Valorant Champions was no fluke.

Vision Strikers showed an overall great performance, with the exception of map 3 on Fracture, where they didn’t really do much and lost 13-3. But had Fnatic made one slip on Icebox, Vision Strikers could have possibly finished early with a 2-0 score.

But regardless, the match ended with Fnatic as the winners and now it’s time for Vision Strikers to fight against Cloud9 Blue in the decider match. There have been too many upsets in this tournament that we can possibly say with certainty that Vision Strikers will win here. Cloud9 is hungry and they could pull off a win. Vision Strikers should not underestimate them.

Gambit’s Shaky Performance

We all remember that Gambit from VCT Masters in Berlin where they finished their group stage almost effortlessly. This time it was a bit of a struggle, despite them still managing to finish first.

In their first match against Team Secret, they actually lost the first map with 13-6. It was a crazy surprise that nobody expected to see. As a matter of fact, after the match on Icebox ended, many believed Team Secret would secure the victory and write the first chapter of their perfect underdog story.

Even though Gambit quickly recovered and punished Secret with a swift 13-0 victory on Breeze, it was still impressive how well the guys from Team Secret played here.

In the second match, Gambit faced Team Vikings, and barely survived. This was not something you’d expect from a team that dominated the final Masters event just a few months ago. Whether they got lucky or not in the final map, the fact is that they won and secured the first place in their group once again.

We Might See Multiple Underdog Wins

The group stage is not over yet, and we still have several matchups ahead of us.

In group B, Sentinels will face KRÜ Esports. While unlikely, Sentinels could potentially lose here and allow KRÜ Esports to finish second in their group.

In group C, Vikings will fight against Team Secret, who swiftly eliminated Crazy Racoon in their elimination match. Team Secret is currently one of most interesting teams in the tournament, and we’re excited to see if they’ll manage to pull through.

Finally, in group D we have Vision Strikers facing Cloud9 Blue. Despite Valorant esports betting odds pointing towards Vision Strikers, we can’t confidently discard the possibility of Cloud9 winning here. If Cloud9 wins, they might end up being the only NA team to proceed into the playoffs and carry the entire region on their backs. That would be one hell of a twist.

Also, keep an eye on group A, where Acend and Envy will meet later today. This match will decide the winner of group A. Acend could be the third European team to finish first in their group.