VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen group stage recap

The group stage of Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters in Copenhagen is in the books, and it was a wild ride in anticipation of the playoffs.

In just three days, the storylines wrote themselves as the results of the group stage caused mixed emotions across the globe. The early exit of  VCT Masters Reykjavík finalists LOUD surely left the Brazilian audience disappointed. DRX and Guild Esports breezed through the upper bracket on their way to favorable matchups in the first playoffs round.

Meanwhile, EMEA representatives FunPlus Phoenix and Reykjavík champions OpTic Gaming had to battle through the lower bracket to reach the next stage. With over 475 000 peak viewers in the group stage, the playoffs are guaranteed to garner a larger audience to witness history being made.

Group Stage Results

Day one

The event kicked off with DRX dismantling the Japanese team NORTHEPTION in a quick 2-0 fashion. Japanese representatives were competitive on the first map Ascent, but they lost their composure and lost Bind with a score of 13-1. Guild also took care of OpTic, with a close and competitive 2-0 series. Jaccob ”yay” Whiteaker was especially cold on the first day while Guild Leo “Leo” Jannesson had an amazing performance in the Initiator role. LOUD got stunned by KRÜ Esports 2-1 with one round missing to every map ending 13-10 in this series. 

Day two

Day two saw FPX Ardis ”ardiis” Svarenieks carry his team on Chamber against Xerxia Esports, claiming the first map Bind in overtime, and winning the last three rounds to close out Haven for a 2-1 win.  In the other group, Guild Esports had their work cut out for them to secure the playoffs. Two maps went to overtime with the last one Icebox ending 16-14 in favor of Guild. Three Guild players finished with a rating higher than +15, however, thanks to the site and post-plant execution of KRÜ Esports, the series was much more competitive than what the stats would suggest.

Day three

Day three started with DRX securing their playoff spot by beating FunPlus Phoenix 2-1. The strong performance of FPX Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky and their execution won them the first map, but the combined team effort of DRX won them the next two maps convincingly with 13-6 scorelines. Xerxia and NORTHEPTION fought for survival and the chance to face FPX in the group B decider. Xerxia took the first map with a team effort but Kim “Meteor” Tae-O took matters into his own hands and lead NORTHEPTION to a 2-1 win. The last map, Bind, went to overtime and he secured a 13-15 win for his team with a 260 ACS performance.

The match of the tournament so far was the last one on day three, specifically the rematch between the Rejkyavik finalists. LOUD and OpTic took the stage in a pressure-packed elimination game, in which the herculean efforts of Erick “aspas” Santos were not enough to save his team. LOUD took the first map behind his 300 ACS, but Optic bounced back with flawless execution and the steady hand of Yay. The decider map Split went to overtime, with OpTic winning seven of the last ten rounds to force overtime and win. LOUD led 9-5 but the pressure might have been too much for them, considering how the last round ended with aspas using his Raze grenade on his teammate.

Day four

The last day of the group stage saw FPX Aspas and OpTic Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen put up amazing performances en route to easy 2-0 wins. Unfortunately, that meant the end of the tournament for KRÜ Esports and NORTHEPTION.

Playoffs preview

With no break in between, VCT Stage 2 Masters playoffs are kicking off today, July 14 with two games. Guild Esports and Paper Rex will be the first match of the day, with EMEA representatives FNATIC and FPX completing the first half of the upper quarterfinals. DRX will match up versus Leviatán the next day, with the rematch of the NA Challengers finals between OpTic and XSET following suit.

Losers of these matches will slide into the lower bracket and compete for another chance at advancing. This means that there is a big chance that at least one EMEA team will play in the semifinals, despite them being matched up against themselves. The winner of the NA showdown will face the better of the Asian teams, with the loser battling it out in the lower bracket against one of the European teams.

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