XSET Upsets FPX to Qualify for Valorant Champions Playoffs

On the sixth day of Valorant Champions Istanbul 2022, the group C elimination match-up between KRU esports and XERXIA was followed by the first elimination from Group D between Fnatic and Furia. The day’s final game had the first playoff qualification from Group C. 

Day 6 (5th September) Valorant Champions 2022 Group Stage Results:

Match 1 KRU esports vs XERXIA esports (Group C):

The first elimination of Group C had KRU esports from LATAM taking on the APAC’s XERXIA. The winner of the match will have to take on the losers of XSET/FPX. 

The match started on Icebox, picked by KRU esports, and they ensured to send a message on why they chose Icebox. On attack, they completely decimated XERXIA’s defence to win the half 9-3.  

The second half started with KRU continuing that winning momentum to win the first two rounds. XERXIA did answer back with one, but the KRU defence stayed strong to close the first map 13-4. 

The second map of Haven started with XERXIA destroying KRU’s defence, winning six rounds in a row. KRU recovered a bit towards the end to scrape eight rounds, but the half ended with a four-round advantage for XERXIA. 

XERXIA started the second half with three rounds. KRU replied with a thrifty, but the seven-round deficit was hard to overcome, and XERXIA closed their map pick 13-7.

The final map of Ascent started with a back-and-forth with both teams trying to play for control, but the opponents always answered back, ending the first half in KRU’s favour with a two-round lead. 

But the second half was a different story altogether, with KRU in the driver’s seat and winning the required six rounds to win, dropping only one round and winning the map 13-6 to eliminate XERXIA.

KRU esports will now play the loser of XSET vs FPX in a qualification match-up, while XERXIA becomes the third Asian team to get eliminated from Valorant Champions. 

Match 2 Fnatic vs Furia (Group D): 

The first elimination game of Group D has one of the tournament contenders in Fnatic taking in the dark horses of Furia. Only one team out of the two makes out of this match to play another elimination game against 100 Thieves. 

The brawl between the teams started on Icebox, chosen by Fnatic. Furia on defence completely shut down Fnatic’s attack to win 6 out of the starting seven rounds, but Fnatic showed resilience, closing the half 5-7. 

Furia’s attack failed to achieve much in the first two rounds, but as the gun rounds started, Furia went on a roll to win attack rounds back to back to win Fnatic’s map pick 13-9. 

Fnatic played Furia’s pick of Breeze on the backfoot with a map disadvantage. They completely overwhelmed Furia with their Neon-Breach combo, Breaching the Furia defence to win the half 10-2.

The second half started with Furia winning four rounds in a row, but the overwhelming lead for Fnatic helped them to close the game 13-7, forcing the third map.

The third map started with Furia winning six out of the starting eight rounds, but Fnatic’s deep playbook helped Fnatic to fight back, winning the final four rounds of the half to equalise the scoreline before going into the second half. 

The second half started with both teams going at each other with all their might, trading blows and rounds to reach a point where Fnatic on map point had to scrape their credits to put together a buy for the last round. It seemed overtime was imminent, but a miraculous clutch from Enzo helped them secure the final round.

With the last round, Fnatic secured the final map 13-11, winning the relatively close series 2-1. Fnatic will now play 100 thieves to qualify for the playoffs. While the amazing run of Furia ends here, and they become the fourth team to be eliminated from the Valorant Champions 

Match 3 FunPlus Phoenix vs. XSET (Group C): 

The Defending champions and arguably the best team of the tournament, FunPlus Phoenix, will take on the NA #2 team XSET to qualify for their second international playoff. 

The series started with Pearl choosing XSET. Both teams had difficulty taking control of the map, with no team winning more than two rounds in a row, with the half splitting precisely in the middle. 

The second half thought seemed as if XSET thoroughly read whatever FPX was cooking to dominate FPX to close out map 13-7 to go to FPX’s map pick. 

FPX’s fracture had FPX in complete control, winning eight rounds and XSET only managing to scrape through a few defense rounds. The second half was FPX all over again, and FPX completely shut down all the XSET attempts to take a site, closing the game 13-4 and forcing a third. 

XSET completely took over Breeze, pushing FPX to the edge and reading out all the attacks from FPX to close the first half 11-1. FPX seemed to be gaining momentum in the second half, but XSET closed the game 13-5 to win the series 2-1.  

XSET, with the win, became the second NA team to qualify for the Valorant Champions playoffs, and they did it amazingly by defeating the defending champions FPX. FPX now plays KRU in an elimination game. 

Day 7 (7th September) Valorant Champions 2022 Group Stage Schedule:

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