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The first two teams have punched their tickets onto the VALORANT Champions 2024 Playoffs in Team Heretics and DRX following their wins over tough competition on Day 5 of the Group Stage in Seoul, South Korea.
The match between Team Heretics and Gen G was a high-stakes one, as the winner of this bout would secure the first playoff spot in the VALORANT Champions 2024 tournament. Team Heretics came into the match as the 3rd seed in the EMEA region, while Gen G was the 1st seed in the Pacific region. There were no favorites between the two teams, but that didn’t mean that their matchup wasn’t competitive.
Game 1 saw both teams duke it out on the Abyss map. Gen G went into the match using a unique team composition of Astra, Sova, Jett, Viper, and Yoru. Meanwhile, Team Heretics ran a team consisting of Astra, Gekko, Sova, Cypher, and Jett.
With their lineup, Gen G delayed Team Heretics’ attempts to diffuse the spike through most of the round, culminating with Gen G capitalizing on the Cosmic Divide to block Team Heretics’ spam. This was enough for Gen G to secure the win, ending the game with a 13-11 score.
Game 2 pitted the two teams on Lotus, Gen G approached the match with a similar strategy, with their lineup consisting of Killjoy, Raze, Fade, Viper, and Omen. Team Heretics went for the mirror match, opting to go with the same team composition. While Gen G had the early lead at 10-5, with t3xture grabbing the first 8 kills, the end of the match saw Team Heretics mount a comeback on their way to a 11-13 victory.
The deciding Game 3 was held in Bind, where Team Heretics were looking for the reverse sweep against Gen G. Team Heretics ran a composition of Viper, Gekko, Astra, Skye, and Yoru, while Gen G’s team consisted of Brimstone, Cypher, Viper, Raze, and Skye. The lineup of Team Heretics proved to be the crucial factor in this deciding game, as the Gekko plays from RieNs were instrumental in their map control strategy. With a decisive 13-10 score, Team Heretics beat Gen G and became the first team to get a playoff spot in VALORANT Champions 2024.
The second match up for the coveted playoff spot was between VALORANT Esports stalwarts DRX and Fnatic. These two teams have a long-standing history when it comes to playing professional VALORANT, and both clubs have clashed against each other numerous times, most notably during the previous VALORANT Champions tournaments.
Game 1 was set in Abyss, where DRX proved their mettle against the EMEA-based squad. DRX ran a team composed of Jett, Omen, Kayo, Cypher and Sova. Meanwhile, Fnatic ran a Killjoy, Sova, Viper, Yoru, and Astra lineup. DRX started the match strong, getting the first 5 wins in a row. DRX led the way by utilizing great map control against Fnatic which ultimately gave them the win, 13-11.
Game 2, set in Lotus, saw DRX take the game by overwhelming Fnatic. DRX ran a lineup of Raze, Omen, Fade, Viper, and Chamber, while Fnatic’s lineup consisted of Killjoy, Raze, Omen, Fade, and Viper. DRX came out strong on the first map, leading against Fnatic 7-5.
During the second half of Round 17, BuZz and his Raze secured an impressive Ace against Fnatic. This, along with Flashback’s choice of using Viper instead of Chamber, proved to be the catalyst for dominant win for DRX as they coasted Game 2 with the final score of 6-13.
With the win, DRX is the second team to secure their playoff spot in the VALORANT Champions 2024 tournament.