Acend, Gentle Mates, and Apeks start with a bang at VCT Ascension 2023 EMEA

The most important tournament in the VALORANT Challengers scene, the VCT Ascension is in full swing in all three VCT regions, and the teams are fighting and busting their butts in every match to get that coveted ticket to the VALORANT Champions Tour in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

In the EMEA region, we have Acend, Gentle Mates, and Apeks, who started with a bang by winning their first two matches played, and now they are much more confident going into the rest of the group stage.

Let’s see what has happened in the VCT Ascension 2023 EMEA.

Gentle Mates sweep Team Falcons and Case Esports

The French squad started participating in the VCT Ascension 2023 EMEA on the right foot. Gentle Mates scored convincing 2-0 victories over Team Falcons and Case Esports to climb to first place in Group B.

In the first match against Team Falcons, Gentle Mates had Jonathan “TakaS” Paupard with a spectacular level of play and managed to take the victory by 13-7 on Haven and 13-9 on Ascent. Then, in the second match, the French squad again had TakaS as the main scorer to beat Case Esports in Lotus by 13-5 and Split by 13-11.

🥇STILL UNDEFEATED!!

Second 2-0 for @gentlemates in their #VCTAscensionEMEA Group B Day 2! pic.twitter.com/qS1WwuhADV

— VALORANT Challengers EMEA (@valleague_emea) July 1, 2023

Apeks crush Case Esports and apply a reverse sweep against FOKUS

The debut match for Apeks in this VCT Ascension 2023 EMEA was against Case Esports, and there is no doubt that they proved that they are a step above their opponents in terms of the level of play. With a spectacular James “Mistic” Orfila (178 ADR, 277 ACS, and 1.50 Rating), Apeks won convincingly by 13-9 in Haven and 13-3 in Fracture.

Then, they had to come from behind in their second contested match to complete a reverse sweep against FOKUS. As in the first match, Mistic was the hero to lead Apeks to victory.

It all started with a 13-7 win for FOKUS in Split. Then, Apeks reacted to even the series 1-1 after an excellent 13-10 win in Lotus. Finally, Apeks completed the reverse sweep by crushing FOKUS in Pearl by 13-6.

With the victory of @apeksgg over @FOKUSCLANGG, Group B closes its Day 2 of the #VCTAscensionEMEA

See you tomorrow with two more series in this group!!! pic.twitter.com/Uvr5k1YlFl

— VALORANT Challengers EMEA (@valleague_emea) July 1, 2023

Acend led Group A after beating Digital Athletics and CGN Esports

Finally, we have Acend as the best team in Group A so far after two wins in two games played. In the first match against Digital Athletics, Apeks relied on their star player, Israeli Gilad “ALIVE” Hakim, to take a solid win in Split by 13-6 and in Ascent by 13-11.

Then, in the tournament’s second match, Acend had to suffer a bit against CGN Esports, but they managed to take the 2-1 victory to add their second win. In the first map, Acend took a tight victory in Overtime by 14-12 against CGN. Then, the German squad reacted in Bind and crushed Acend with a resounding 13-2. However, Acend reacted immediately and took the victory in Split by 13-8.

They might have lost a map…. but they haven’t still lost a match!!! 👏@AcendClub takes the third game and the second victory in the #VCTAscensionEMEA Group Stage! pic.twitter.com/499qRsi0n4

— VALORANT Challengers EMEA (@valleague_emea) July 1, 2023

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