The Valorant Champions Tour APAC Challengers Play-In started on 9th June, with South Asia’s Enigma Gaming taking on the might of the rest of Asia. Unfortunately for South Asian/Indian fans, though, in an Elimination game against Cerberus Esports, Enigma Gaming couldn’t close out the game losing 1-2 against them.
Enigma Gaming was the second seed from South Asia and had a dominant run throughout the whole series of South Asia qualifiers, i.e., Skyesports Champions Series. They were undefeated throughout the tournament and only lost one game at the finals against Global Esports.
The loss against Global Esports forced them to play the Play-In stage, where Enigma Gaming had to battle three contemporaries from South Asia to qualify for the Group Stage of Valorant Champions Tour APAC qualifiers. You can read more about the format and the teams here.
In Enigma Gaming’s inaugural game, they played Made in Thailand, the third seed from Thailand. The game went on to three maps. With the first map Haven, Made in Thailand’s pick, was a close affair, but Enigma failed to capitalize on their momentum, losing the game 11-13.
In the second game of Ascent, Enigma Gaming’s Map pick, Despite a back and forth 6-6 half, managed to comfortably close out the game 13-9, making the map score 1-1. Onto the third map, Bind, Both halves in regulation ended with both teams with six rounds. In overtime, Made in Thailand surprised Enigma and won the first OT 2-0, Winning the map 14-12 and the game 2-1.
This loss put Enigma Gaming in the lower bracket against Cerberus Esports, Vietnam’s second seed. The game was very intense and back and forth. With the first map of Haven, Cerberus’s map pick went in favor of Enigma Gaming, with Enigma gaming winning the map comfortably with a scoreline of 13-7.
Enigma Gaming’s Ascent had a close first half, with both teams getting six rounds, But in the second half, Cerberus managed to run away with the game closing the map 9-13 in their favor.
On Split, Enigma Gaming seemed dominant on attack and kept finding holes in Cerberus’s defense. They managed to amass eight such rounds.
In the second half, though, Enigma Gaming dwindled and had a hard time containing Cerberus’s attack losing the game 11-13 despite a dominant first half.
With the map loss, Enigma Gaming lost their elimination game 1-2 to Cerberus gaming. Their performance was solid despite this being the first time they were representing South Asia and facing International competition. The loss does mean Enigma Gaming is eliminated from the Valorant Champions Tour APAC qualifiers.
Enigma gaming had an excellent showing, where they never seemed to be any less than their contemporaries. All their matches were hard-fought battles, and they had a strong chance of winning. With more exposure and practice with International Teams, Enigma Gaming would surely come out on top again.
Now the hope of South Asia rests on Global Esports’ shoulders, unlike Enigma Gaming, which had limited exposure to International Competition. This would be Global Esports’ Third time facing other Asian Teams and Let’s hope they make a deep run and hopefully represent APAC in Masters Copenhagen.
