Rise and Cloud9 Blue Advance in NA LCQ

Rise and Cloud9 Blue secured crucial wins in the North American VCT Last Chance Qualifiers on Wednesday, October 27. Rise took down FaZe Clan, while C9 crushed Version 1 and took one step closer to qualifying for the VALORANT Champions 2021.

Cloud9 Blue Humiliate Version1

Cloud9 Blue were expected to defeat Version1 in the opening round of the NA VCT Last Chance Qualifiers. However, no one expected to witness such a one-sided affair.

The teams clashed on Wednesday when Anthony “vanity” Malaspina met with his former team for the first time since joining Cloud9 in August.

The series started on Breeze, where Cloud9 Blue surprised with a KAY/O pick, rarely seen in pro play. However, their unusual pick paid off, helping C9 to a map point.

The former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player turned Valorant esports pro, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach, got things rolling for his side. On his KAY/O pick, the 21-year-old picked up crucial kills in the first two rounds and kept his wheels spinning throughout the first half.

Although Version1 showed some resistance, they couldn’t stop C9 Blue, who entered the second half 8-4 up. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve for Version1 in the second half either, as C9 continued growing their lead.

In what proved to be an extremely one-sided affair, Cloud9 closed out the map with 13-5. They lost only one of the remaining five rounds as attackers.

Version1 got off to a better start on the second map (Icebox), taking a 3-0 lead. However, they fell apart in a crucial moment, allowing C9 to win a pistol round, which started a domino effect.

As soon as C9 Blue got enough credits in their pockets, they started mounting a comeback and went from 2-5 to 7-5. Version1 once again looked strong in early rounds and tied the series at 9-9 but were again outmatched when it mattered.

C9 Blue edged out a 13-9 victory with crisp entries and strong individual showings and sealed the series at 2-0.

Rise Push FaZe Clan Into The Lower Bracket

Rise secured a spot in the NA Last Chance qualifiers with a 2-1 win against FaZe Clan and took one step closer to the VALORANT Champions 2021. However, unlike the first match of the tournament, this one proved to be much closer.

The series kicked off on Breeze; FaZe’s map pick. To no one’s surprise, the map was very one-sided, with FaZe winning the opening six maps, dropping only three.

Rise woke up in the second half and reduced the margin to 6-9, but it was too late, too little.

FaZe won the first map 13-8 and made it very clear that they’re the better team. However, Rise were having none of it and came back strong on Ascent.

FaZe Clan ended the first half on Ascent 7-5 up but proved inefficient on the attack. Rise were in full control as the defenders – they quickly closed the gap and humiliated FaZe with 8-1, closing out the map with 13-8.

Tied at 1-1, FaZe and Rise entered Bind as the map, would will decide which Valorant esports team would advance into the semis. The first half was extremely close, with teams going back and forth until Rise edged out a marginal 7-5 lead before the switch.

Although FaZe looked solid in the first half, they completely fell apart as defenders and were unable to keep up with Rise’s advances. FaZe Clan eventually came out short, winning only two maps as defenders, and lost 7-13.

Having completed the reverse-sweep, Rise booked a semi-finals match with Cloud9 Blue.

Rise and Cloud9 Blue Clash For A Spot In the Finals

Rise and Cloud9 Blue will clash on Thursday, October 28, in the VCT NA Last Chance Qualifiers upper bracket semi-finals. The winner will advance into the upper bracket finals, where they’ll clash with 100 Thieves.

Rise and Cloud9 Blue have never met before, which should present us with an exciting Valorant esports affair. However, Cloud9 Blue will likely be considered as the favorite due to Rise’s lack of success facing top teams.

However, Rise have proven that they can be deadly underdogs, and if their comeback against FaZe Clan is any indication, Rise could be tough to beat.