VALORANT EU Challengers 2 – The Cinderella story of Alliance & Ninjas in Pyjamas in great form

Last weekend saw the first four teams qualify for the Masters Stage 1 tournament in March, where they will be fighting over a total prize pool of $150,000.

Another four teams will have the chance to qualify in the third and last Challengers tournament on March 6th & 7th.

The Cinderella story of Alliance

Alliance is a bit of a Cinderella story. The lineup was officially unveiled on January 30th, and not even a week later they fell just one best-of-three short of qualifying for the Challengers 1 playoffs, losing to Funplus Phoenix. Second time definitely was the charm for the team managed and analyzed by James Banks and Mitch McBride, the flamboyant casting duo covering VALORANT. After battling through the open qualifier, only WAVE esports stood between them and a qualification for the finals.

After a relatively close first map on Icebox (13-9), Alliance needed four overtimes on Haven (17-15) to secure the 2-0 win, and punch their ticket to the Masters. Thomas “kAdavra” Johner led the way for Alliance with 48 kills and 12 opening kills. James “BanKs” Banks tweeted an emotional video where he praised his team for their commitment to improving as a unit.

Ninjas In Pyjamas in good form

Unlike G2 Esports, Ninjas In Pyjamas didn’t have to grind through the open qualifier, as they finished top 4 in the Challengers 1 tournament. After being eliminated by G2 in the First Strike playoffs in November, and losing 1-3 in the Red Bull Home Ground just three weeks ago, the Swedish organisation turned things around in their challengers 1 RO8 match up earlier this month by defeating G2 2-1.

NIP continued their good form into Challengers 2 and sent the European powerhouse packing 2-0. G2 now has one more shot of qualifying for the Masters in two weeks when they’ll play the playoffs of the third Challengers tournament. Emir “rhyme” Muminovic dominated on the opening map Ascent, posting impressive 193.4 ADR and 318 ACS averages. Yaroslav “Jady” Nikolaev joined the fun Haven after a quiet first map. He helped secure the map 13-10 with a +11 +/- and 24 kills.

Also read: VALORANT Patch 2.03: Stinger nerfs, Yoru balance changes

Funplus Phoenix awakens

Fnatic and FPX kicked off the final day of the playoffs. Since signing with fnatic, the former SUMN FC side has been looking for their best form. The team survived a RO32 scare in the open qualifier against Polish side Pit Stop, where they lost the first map after four overtimes. Ultimately they won 2-1 and that win helped paved the way for their Challengers 2 playoff appearance.

FunPlus Phoenix on the other hand cruised through Challengers 1, defeating Alliance and Team Liquid on their way to the Challengers 2 playoffs, eagerly awaiting a chance on redeeming themselves after losing to fnatic (SUMN FC at the time) in the First Strike semifinals. Despite winning their map pick Bind pretty comfortably 13-6, fnatic was only delaying the inevitable awakening of the CIS juggernaught. Dmitriy “dimasick” Matvienko quite literally carried his team to victory, with staggering statistics throughout the series. The Cypher player ended the series with 58 kills, a +24 rating, and an average combat score of 286.

Team Heretics doesn’t monkey around

The last game of the weekend saw the First Strike champions taking on the newly signed OG Esports. The former Monkey Business squad consisting of former Overwatch players were looking to get a statement victory over a European top team. Heretics, playing without Dustyn “nieSoW” Durnas” this time rapidly took care of business, and with their authoritative win, quickly took away any hopes the French squad had.

Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas was unstoppable throughout the series, flirting with a 30-bomb on Bind. He posted a 397 ACS through 39 rounds, a 2.0+ K/D and a ridiculous 254.7 average damage per round. Every player on Team Heretics did their job and played their role in the composition splendidly.

Also read: VALORANT: Riot discuss 3v3 matches, shorter game modes and Escalation

VALORANT keeps evolving

The viewer was treated to four games of high level VALORANT this weekend. Some interesting team compositions were played, such as the three duelist lineup of WAVE Esports on their first map against Alliance, and it shows the constant evolution of the meta of VALORANT esports.

It also showed G2 Esports, widely considered to be the top European team at the moment, can lose games too. Not a lot of people would have thought that it would take until Challengers 3 to see G2 qualify. They still might not make it if they lose their BO3 in a couple of weeks.

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Image Credit: Alliance
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