VCT EMEA League: Team Liquid and Vitality win on day 4

Team Liquid and Vitality emerged victorious over their European rivals on the fourth day of the VCT EMEA League.

The excitement and intensity of the VCT EMEA League continued on the fourth day with two electrifying contests. The first match was between Team Liquid and FUT Esports, which went down to all three maps. The second match between KOI and Vitality Esports was also a close call as the second map went into overtime. Here is how the games unfolded:

Vitality VS KOI

The two unbeaten EMEA teams, Vitality and KOI, faced off in the second game of the day. While Vitality triumphed over Liquid in the first three-map series of the season, KOI defeated Natus Vincere to begin their campaign with a 2-0 win.

Split

It was Vitality who opened up the best-of-three series with a bang and captured the first two rounds. Although it took KOI some time to counterattack, when they did, they completely changed the tide in their favor. The team went on a six-round winning streak before Vitality managed to break it in round nine to stop the carnage. Even though Vitality was able to win three more rounds, KOI maintained its lead and went into the second half with a 7-5 advantage.

In the second half of the map, Vitality easily took control of the pistol round and kept KOI at a distance. Even though KOI tried their best to keep the score tied, Vitality kept the momentum going and eventually pulled ahead to an 11-8 advantage. KOI was able to win one round back, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Vitaliy’s tenacious counterattacks. Despite a sluggish start, Vitality mounted an incredible comeback to win 13-9 and gain the upper hand going into the next map.

Fracture

Fracture was picked by KOI to even up the score, and the plan worked perfectly—at least in the opening rounds—as they won three consecutive rounds after losing the pistol round.

However, the team collapsed in the subsequent rounds as Vitality mounted another amazing comeback to swiftly regain the lead. Vitality’s charge was led by Karel “Twisten” Ašenbrener, who continued to hammer KOI’s defense for the rest of the first half to help his team gain an 8-4 lead going into the second half.

When the game transitioned into the second half, Vitality appeared poised to quickly seal the map, but KOI rallied and neutralized their advantage. Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko and Berkant “Wolfen” Joshkun went above and above to support KOI’s comeback effort, holding the dangerous Twisten at bay for five straight rounds to give their team a 9-8 advantage.

Both sides engaged in a back-and-forth battle in the next rounds, which necessitated overtime as the score remained 12-12. Vitality eventually overcame KOI in overtime after winning three straight games to earn their second consecutive triumph in the EMEA League’s super week.

Liquid vs FUT 

The fourth day of the VCT EMEA League kicked off with an exciting matchup between FUT and Liquid. FUT defeated Team Heretics in their opening game, while Liquid suffered a defeat to Vitality in their first game. FUT Esports has fallen to Liquid twice in their previous encounters, which came at Red Bull Home Ground #3 in 2022 and Red Bull Home Ground #2 in 2021, respectively.

Lotus

Fut got off to a quick start on Louts, winning three rounds in a row to establish a lead early. The subsequent rounds were very close as both teams exhibited excellent team fighting abilities to hold the score at 5-5. However, after winning the final two rounds of the first half, FUT was able to break the tie and move to 7-5.

After putting up constant effort, Liquid was able to breach FUT’s defense in the second half and swiftly took the control of the map with a 10-9 lead. However, FUT ultimately squandered their lead as they regrouped and routed Liquid 13-10.

Split 

As FUT slammed them back and forth to take a four-round lead, Liquid found themselves on the backfoot on Split as well. Liquid, however, managed to find their momentum on Split, putting on a dominating performance that saw them closing out the first half 7-5.

Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel maintained the pressure on FUT’s defense throughout the second map, and it seemed like FUT had no answers for him. Sayf’s outstanding effort was enough for Liquid to win 13-6 and tie the series at one.

Ascent

Liquid dominated the early rounds as the series moved to the third and final map. The side immediately grabbed a 5-2 lead before FUT launched an apparent comeback attempt to equalize the score at 6-6 entering the second half.

Fans anticipated another intense battle in the second half, but it ended up being utterly one-sided thanks to Sayf’s excellent performance, which allowed Liquid to finish the map with a convincing victory without losing a single round.

Header: Young-Wolff/Riot Games