Fnatic has won the final of EU Stage 2 Challengers 2 Main Event against Team Liquid, and a €15,000 top prize. Both teams already qualified for the EMEA Challenger Finals.
Those Challengers Finals are made up of four EU teams, three Turkish teams, and one CIS team. The top two will qualify for the offline finals of Stage 2 Masters in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The Swedish organization made some line-up changes before the competition, bringing in Nikita “Derke” Sirtmitev and Martin “MAGNUM” Peňkov.
Fnatic outlasted Team Liquid 3-1, with only the two first maps (Icebox and Ascent) being relatively close. Once TL tied the series 1-1, Fnatic took over with 13-6 and 13-4 score lines on Bind and Split, respectively.
The revamped line-up had two players with 70+ kills. Everyone in the Fnatic lineup did their part, with only Jake “Boaster” Howlett recording a negative K/D.
Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom was the only Team Liquid player to post a positive K/D. Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen had an impressive 18 first kills throughout the series on Jett, but also died first 22 times, severely limiting his impact.
Stage 2 Challengers 2 was once again a tournament where G2 Esports disappointed, and one where reigning Stage 1 champions Acend were already eliminated in the quarter finals.
Team Vitality needed overtime on both maps to overcome Acend before falling to Fnatic in the semi-finals.
Team Liquid had to overcome newcomers CE Calling in the quarter finals. The German rookies didn’t stand a chance on Bind, losing 13-1. They made Ascent competitive with a 13-8 score line.
Liquid’s opponents in the semi-finals, Team BDS, gave ScreaM’s team a scare by winning TL’s map pick Haven 13-11. Liquid responded in kind by winning Bind, but they needed two overtimes to tie the series.
Fnatic and Team Liquid join the EU Challengers 1 finalists FunPlus Phoenix and Guild Esports. The EU teams make up half the qualified teams for the Challengers Finals.
They join Turkish teams Futbolist, Oxygen Esports, and BBL Esports. CIS Challengers 2 champions Gambit Esports fill out the participants.
The EU Challengers Finals start next Friday, April 23rd, and run until May 2nd.
Also read:
- Fnatic sign Derke and Magnum, complete VALORANT roster again
- Looking ahead to VALORANT EU Stage 2 Challengers 1
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Image credit: VALORANT Champions Tour (via Twitter)