Straight out of one of the most difficult groups at VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Champions 2021, Fnatic (FNC) has become the first team to qualify for the playoffs, securing the victory over Vision Strikers in 2-1 fashion. The EMEA representatives have thus booked their spot in the quarterfinal round of the knockout stage, while their Korean opponents drop to the lower bracket.
Fnatic's run through the group stage did not prove easy. They first faced off against Cloud9 Blue in a thrilling three-map opening round, where the first two maps in Icebox and Split both ended with 13-11 scorelines to keep the series dead even. Then on the third map, Fracture, the sides went to overtime. It ended 14-12 in FNC's favor, advancing to the upper bracket or Winner's round against Vision Strikers.
Both teams went into the matchup with confidence, having bantered with one another in their respective post-match interviews from the first round. In the end, it was FNC who had the final say.
Just like their earlier matchup against C9, Fnatic's series against Vision Strikers went very close for the first two maps. Fnatic came out ahead 13-10 on Icebox, while Haven went in the Korean squad's favor, also 13-10. And then map 3 was set on Fracture yet again. Now Fnatic sealed the series in their grasp, crushing the opponents 13-6 on VALORANT‘s new map.
The squad's duelist, Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev, in particular showed just how menacing he can be. Over the series, he racked up 61 kills with a 275 Average Combat Score.
With the playoff berth secured, FNC will await their quarterfinal draw, with the next stage of VCT Champions taking place on December 8. Meanwhile, the rest of the group stage will play out in the coming days. Vision Strikers will face the winners of the Elimination round of Cloud9 versus FULL SENSE and hope to take the second slot out of Group D.
For the rest of our coverage of VCT Champions, check out the full group stage results and updates here.
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