Team Heretics Send The Hometown Heroes To The Lower Bracket

Despite fielding a stand-in, Team Heretics defeated EDward Gaming in front of their home crowd. The Chinese representatives are one loss away from being eliminated from VCT Masters Shanghai. 

Team Heretics had played against both Chinese teams in the Swiss Stage, defeating Dragon Ranger Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix. As a result, EDward Gaming wanted to set a good example and chose them as their first round opponents. However, it proved to be a fatal decision.

Map 1 – Sunset

The first map was played on Sunset, picked by Team Heretics. The newest recruit, W0ot, had an explosive start to the map, getting four kills to secure the pistol round. After winning the anti-eco, Team Heretics also converted the bonus round and found themselves up 4-0. 

ZmjjKK did not want to be embarrassed in front of the home crowd, and began finding impact on his trusty Raze, helping his team to find a couple of rounds. Ultimately, Team Heretics still had a nasty defense, only allowing the Chinese squad to win four at the half. 

EDward Gaming was on a resurgence, winning the second pistol round and the anti-eco, finding themselves at a 6-8 deficit. However, once Team Heretics had their guns out, the EMEA squad won five rounds in a row to silence the Chinese crowd. 

Despite having to adjust to a different role, W0ot performed exceptionally well on Duelist, going 21/11/4 on Raze. ZmjjKK tried matching that performance but could only muster a KDA of 14/16/4. 

Map 2 – Split

Unfortunately, EDward Gaming had a disappointing performance on the second map, Split, even though it was their map pick. 

W0ot continued his star-level performance, finding massive impact in the first pistol round to build an early lead for Team Heretics. Again, the European squad won the anti-eco and the bonus round, building yet another 4-0 lead before EDward Gaming got their first round. 

The score was at 4-1, and Team Heretics put both bomb sites on lockdown. In the next two rounds, EDward Gaming was forced to save their guns. The offense continued to fail, and Team Heretics suddenly found themselves at a 10-2 lead at the end of the half. 

It didn’t take long for Team Heretics to provide the finishing blow. They won the second pistol and quickly ended EDward Gaming’s suffering with a swift 13-3 victory. W0ot displayed an even better performance from the first game, going 18/14/3 with 317 ACS. 

Hablemos del 2024 de estos locos:

– Todo el mundo los pone tier D.
– Empiezan el año con un jugador en remoto por problemas con el visado.
– Subcampeones de Europa y clasifican al Masters de Madrid.
– Entra Woot por Patitek.
– Finalistas de VCT por segunda vez y clasifican al… pic.twitter.com/rKTMt92Wsv

— Team Heretics (@TeamHeretics) May 31, 2024

With such a result, EDward Gaming has been sent to the Lower Bracket, where their next loss will result in elimination. Unfortunately, they will play against Paper Rex, the tournament favorite. ZmjjKK and the team must step up tremendously tomorrow, or there will be no Chinese teams remaining at the event. 

Meanwhile, Team Heretics will play against G2 Esports, who came fresh off an upset against the Southeast Asian giants. 

Header: Team Heretics