KRÜ Esports, who went 0-9 in VCT Americas, are now undefeated in the LCQ after defeating Cloud9, the North American favorites of the event
KRÜ Esports have secured an upset against the North American favorites Cloud9 in the Upper Final of the VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifier. With this 2-1 victory, the Argentinians have guaranteed a spot in the Grand Final, where they will fight for a chance to compete in Champions 2023.
The best of 3 against Cloud9 started on Ascent, where the North Americans showed a dominant form, with Duelist Nathan “leaf” Orf taking control of the match with a 20-12 K-D performance. After the 13-4 win on the first map, it seemed like Cloud9 were about to plow through KRÜ on the following map, which was the most likely outcome expected from most.
VEEEEENI VENI CANTA CONMIGO QUE UN AMIGO VAS A ENCONTRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR QUE DE LA MANO DE LA ATOMNETA TODA LA VUELTA VAMOS A DAAAAR
A LA FINAL DEL LCQ… pic.twitter.com/0fhNFqRQBM
— KRÜ Esports (@KRUesports) July 18, 2023
KRÜ showed a completely different face on Pearl, the second map of the Bo3, not allowing a single round to go in Cloud9’s favor while dominating on the attacking side. The first half ended with a 12-0 lead for the Latin American squad, and C9 barely avoided a 13-0 humiliation, losing to KRÜ 13-4 domination. The 26-year-old KRÜ member Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda stood as the star on the map with an ACS of 279 on Viper with a 19-4 K-D.
Haven was the third map in the Bo3, Cloud9’s chance to go back to their glory while KRÜ were planning a massive upset. Even with the North Americans winning both pistol rounds, KRÜ had control of the map, with Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari having an incredible form continued from map 2. With a 13-6 score, KRÜ Esports defeated Cloud9 for the first time.
Credit: Riot Games
KRÜ VCT Americas vs LCQ
KRÜ had the worst performance out of any team in the Regular Season of VCT Americas, as they left winless with a 0-9 record. In a lot of their matches, Angelo “keznit” Mori’s squad were pretty close to winning some maps, showing they were a competent team who needed just a little bit more excellence to finally win against the best of the Americas.
After such a disappointing run in the Americas League, expectations were pretty low on KRÜ before the start of the LCQ. Luckily, they prepared for a massive surprise by winning against MIBR, FURIA and Leviatán back to back. Coming into the Upper Final, Cloud9 were looking like an immovable object coming from their 2-1 victory against Sentinels. With a shocking success facing the North Americans, KRÜ are now looking like the opposite of what we have seen in the Americas League, especially considering Cloud9’s performance in the same tournament.
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