VCT EMEA League Playoffs: Team Liquid and FÜT Esports move on in Upper Bracket

The VCT EMEA League playoffs are underway, and we are much closer to defining the four teams that will qualify for the Masters Tokyo. After the first day of competition, we observed how Team Liquid and FÜT Esports fulfilled their status as favorites to win and continue in the Upper Bracket.

On the other hand, Team Vitality and Giants fell to the Lower Bracket and are now waiting for the losing team in the Upper Bracket semifinals.

There is no doubt that each of the matches was intense and exciting. However, the team’s labeled favorites prevailed and took the respective victories. In addition, it is also worth noting that the Turkish team, FÜT Esports, continues to demonstrate an extreme level of play and will now have to face Fnatic for a place in the Upper Bracket final.

Let’s see what happened on the first day of the VCT EMEA League playoffs.

FÜT Esports crush Giants with an excellent 2-0 victory

The Turkish FÜT Esports started the VCT EMEA playoffs in style with a crushing victory over Giants with a score of 2-0. It was a somewhat eventful series on the part of both teams, which lacked a decisive player. However, FÜT’s teamwork was able to lead them to victory.

The series was played in Haven (FÜT) and Split (Giants).

Haven

It all started in Haven, the map pick of FÜT Esports, where the Turks proved why they selected this map to start the series. Starting from their defensive side, the Turks managed to win the first seven rounds of the first half to ensure they were ahead on the scoreboard at the end of the first half. Then, Giants tried to wake up, but they could only win three rounds in the first half to finish with a partial score of 9-3.

FÜT started again confidently at the change of sides, winning the first three rounds on their attacking side. Finally, with the score 12-3, Giants tried to wake up by winning two consecutive rounds, but this was not enough to prevent the Turks from taking the 13-5 victory.

Split

On the second map, Split, we observed a completely different match than anything we saw in Haven, of which there is no doubt. FÜT Esports again started showing spectacular defensive power by winning the first half with a score of 9-3.

However, this time the Giants boys did manage to wake up in the match and put the score at 11-12 after winning eight of the first nine rounds played. Finally, after two rounds in Overtime, FÜT Esports managed to take the victory by 14-12 and thus continue in the Upper Bracket of the playoffs.

Team Liquid apply a reverse sweep to beat Team Vitality

The guys from Team Vitality applied a reverse sweep against Team Vitality to take the 2-1 victory and continue in the Upper Bracket of the VCT EMEA playoffs.

The series was played at Lotus (VIT), Bind (Liquid), and Ascent (decider).

Lotus

It all started at Team Vitality’s map pick, Lotus, where we could observe a virtually impenetrable defensive fence by the Vitality boys. After the first 12 rounds, we saw how Team Vitality took a partial victory by 9-3, which undoubtedly gave them the push to move forward in this match.

In the second half, Team Liquid started by winning the first two rounds on their defensive side. However, Team Vitality responded and took a resounding 13-6 victory.

Bind

Next, we move to Bind, Team Liquid’s map pick, a map where both teams showed all their defensive potential. However, this time it was Team Liquid who took the victory with an excellent 13-11.

It all started with Team Liquid being extremely effective on the defensive side, repelling each of Team Vitality’s attacks. As a result, Liquid took a partial victory by 8-4 in the first half. Then, at the change of sides, Team Vitality again showed a great defensive level, just as they did in Lotus. But, this time, Liquid got around the defense in the last two rounds to win 13-11.

Ascent

Finally, the series was decided on Ascent, a map that, without a doubt, could have been a win for either team.

Team Liquid started very strong on their attacking side, winning six of the first seven rounds played, but Team Vitality woke up immediately to even the score at 6-6 and played for their lives in the second half.

At the change of sides, Team Liquid again showed great offensive power, especially in the last four rounds of the map, to take the victory by 13-11 and advance to the semifinals of the Upper Bracket, where they will face NaVi in the coming hours.

Header: VCT EMEA