VALORANT – Team Liquid takes last EMEA slot for VALORANT Champions 2021

Team Liquid are your last representative from EMEA for the VALORANT Champions Tour, after defeating Guild Esports in the grand finals of the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier.

The European squad steamrolled over its early upper bracket opponents, and never looked back. They have secured a tournament slot for the Valorant Champions 2021 which will be held in December.

Liquid’s Upper Bracket Run

Liquid started their upper bracket run with an emphatic 2-0 win over the relatively newer squad of One Breath Gaming. Nivera proved to be a worthwhile addition right away as he started his pro Valorant career with an ace.

They then went off to face their would-be rivals in the grand finals, Guild Esports, in the second round. Liquid’s eventual dominance was already evident in this match— they comfortably sent Guild into the lower bracket with a 2-0 lead.

The upper bracket finals versus G2 Esports could very well be the unofficial finals, as this was Liquid’s hardest and closest victory. G2 took Liquid all the way to the third map, where they duked it out in nail-biter rounds. Liquid, however, stood on top of Haven in the end 13-9, securing their grand final appearance. ScreaM was named MVP of the match. 

Adding ScreaM’s brother Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom to replace Kryptix (who was away for personal reasons) seemed to be the right move. Due to some in-game adjustments and role reallocation, Liquid’s journey to the grand finals was almost flawless.

Grand Finals Recap

GLD appear to have found their stride with a hard-fought 2-0 win over G2 Esports in the lower bracket finals (who will miss out on Champions despite having 325 circuit points). GLD looked poised to complete their Cinderella run by successfully booking their high-stakes rematch with Liquid who originally kicked them out of the upper bracket. 

And perhaps the lower bracket victories did do good to GLD’s composure, as they gave the first hard hit in the grand finals. The GLD squad secured Haven 13 rounds to 5 over the more favored Liquid. They showed no signs of stopping as they carried their momentum into the second map on Ascent.

Liquid, however, bounced back and proved why they are one of the favorites to take it all. With ScreaM once again at the helm, the squad charged in the latter half of the second map, winning 13-10. The second map win was either the rallying point for Liquid, or the tilting point for GLD— the last two maps swung in favor of Liquid winning them both 13-7 (Haven 5-13, Ascent 13-10, Split 13-7, Breeze 13-7) 

What’s next for Team Liquid?

Starting off as the region’s 5th seed, Liquid joins co-EMEA teams Gambit, Acend, and Fnatic to compete in the VALORANT Champions on December 1. They will have months to prepare strategies and make adjustments for the culminating event of the Champion’s tour.

Unfortunately, teams that have failed to gather enough VCT 2021 circuit points can no longer qualify. They will have to try again next season. 

 

(Header image via Twitter/Team Liquid)