Valorant Champions: Group stage recap

With the group stage in the books, we are headed for the playoffs at Valorant Champions 2022.

The 16 best Valorant teams in the world matched up against each other, in a double elimination bracket consisting of four groups. With only the top two teams from each group advancing and all matches being Bo3 series, the competition was fierce.

Group A

Group A kicked off with APAC champions PaperRex beating the first Chinese team at international Valorant events, EDG, 2-1. LATAM champions Leviathan made quick work of EMEA LCQ winner Team Liquid, sweeping them 2-0 and sending them to the lower bracket. Leviathan continued their strong showing, sweeping PRX with a 2-0 scoreline in the upper bracket and qualifying for the playoffs without dropping a map. Team Liquid sent EDG packing with a 2-0 win in the first lower bracket matchup before facing PRX for the last spot in the playoffs. The Masters Copenhagen finalists came out slow on Haven, took Pearl convincingly but couldn’t match up against Liquid on their favorite map Ascent. This might be the last time we saw fan-favorite PRX in this iteration, with franchising rumors swirling and the possibility of their brightest stars leaving for the Western teams. 

Group B

OpTic Gaming started their Valorant Champions quest with a 2-1 win over Boom Esports, following it up with another 2-1 win in their Masters Reykjavik finals rematch against Brazilian representatives LOUD. Despite this, LOUD managed to qualify for the playoffs by beating Japanese representatives Zeta Division twice, once in the upper and once in the lower bracket.

Group C

FunPlus Phoenix and XSET opened Group C of the competition by sweeping KRU Esports and Xerxia Esports in the first round. XSET emerged victorious from their upcoming matchup, beating FPX 2-1 and qualifying for the playoffs. KRU managed to beat Xerxia 2-1 in the lower bracket before getting swept again by FPX in the decider match.

Group D

The last group was also highlighted by the NA and EU rivalry. The Korean representatives DRX swept the Brazilian LCQ runner-ups FURIA to start the first round.  The first of two matchups between Fnatic and 100 Thieves, ended with a 2-1 win for the NA LCQ winners. Asuna turned up on map three and Fnatic just weren’t ready for the onslaught. But then 100 Thieves got swept by DRX in the second round, setting themselves up for a rematch against Fantic who beat FURIA 2-1 in the lower bracket. This time around the Masters Copenhagen winners came to play, beating 100 Thieves by double the rounds throughout two maps.

Valorant Champions playoffs preview

The playoffs kick off less than 24 hours after the group stage concludes, with the South American rivalry showdown between LOUD and Leviathan. DRX and FPX close out the first day in a battle of two regional goliaths, which should result in an intense match. The second day is filled with NA and EU matches, which should have millions tuning in. Optic takes on Team Liquid while Fnatic faces off against XSET.

Header: Riot Games