Fury of Yellow and Orange: VCT EMEA Week 1 Recap
The EMEA VCT League has begun with Week 1 of the competition. As previously mentioned in the preview, Week 1 was run as a ‘super week’, with double the number of games that would normally be run. Two series were played per team, for a total of ten games in Week 1.
VCT EMEA Week 1 Match Results
KOI vs Natus Vincere [2-0]
Shock loss for NA’VI as KOI claimed their first victory of the season. Despite being their own map pick, Ascent look shaky for NA’VI, who were experimenting with new initiator Gekko on Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky.
Innovative Gekko plays was all NA’VI were able to offer as they looked outpaced against the onslaught of KOI. An 8-4 half for KOI translated into a 10-4 lead on the second half. Despite NA’VI’s best efforts to recoup, they were only able to post a further 3 rounds before losing Ascent 13-7.
Lotus looked far better for NA’VI initially, with a 9-3 half to start. Despite their deficit, however, KOI showed solid fundamentals and forced overtime with a 9-3 second half of their own. In overtime, the scoreline was a back-and-forth affair until KOI finally managed to close it out 20-18.
Strafe Player of the Series: KOI sheydos
Fnatic vs Giants Gaming [2-0]
The kings of EMEA continue their reign with win over rising upstarts Giants Gaming in 2-0 fashion. In classic form, Fnatic took their home map of Icebox 13-3, leaving little room for Giants to manoeuvre. The first half went their way 10-2, before they took the pistol and conversion. A small victory for Giants in claiming the bonus was short-lived as Fnatic closed out the next round and the map with it.
Giants bit back with their choice of Split, looking far more effective and cohesive against Fnatic on it. The first half went 6-6, with both sides stringing together multiple rounds in a massive see-saw. Fnatic then won the pistol, conversion, and bonus, along with 2 more rounds before Giants were able to answer back with nearly 5 straight rounds. Despite that, Fnatic narrowly managed to close out the map 13-11.
Strafe Player of the Series: FNC Chronicle
Team Heretics vs FUT Esports [0-2]
Stunning loss for the Spanish side as FUT are off to a stellar start to their season with a 2-0 against Heretics. The latter’s map pick of Pearl failed to bear fruit, with FUT ending up displaying their mastery of the map over Team Heretics with a dominant 13-4 beatdown. FUT began with a strong 5-0 start with Heretics managed to answer back with a round. However, from there, they only managed another to close out the half 2-10. Once swapping over, the scoreline became a back-and-forth of points that Heretics simply could not overcome with the scoreline deficit.
Lotus was surprisingly a far closer affair, with Heretics taking 8 straight rounds after losing the pistol and conversion. The half ended 8-4 in favor of Heretics. However, FUT showed why they picked the map by stringing together 8 of their own to overtake Heretics. The final scoreline of 13-9 belied the utter dominance of FUT on the attack side.
Strafe Player of the Series: FUT qw1
Team Liquid vs Team Vitality [1-2]
A closely contested series between the two saw Vitality emerge victorious after an exhausting bout. Haven went the way of Vitality as their map pick. They began the first half with 8 straight rounds before Liquid managed to answer back with 3 of the last 4 rounds to end the half 3-9. Despite taking the pistol and conversion, Vitality showed supreme dominance took the last 4 out of 5 rounds, closing out Haven in 13-6 style.
Liquid then took the series to Fracture. With their signature double controller composition, Liquid looked supremely comfortable on defense, going 10-2 on the first half. The halftime swap did not nothing to slow their roll as Liquid closed out the game 13-2.
Lotus came in as the decider map and was fiercely contested by both sides. The first half initially looked dicey for Liquid, with the intriguing solo controller of Harbor coming in well for Vitality. Liquid had a great start of 7-5, however, faltered on the halftime swap as Vitality overtook them to post 10-8. From there, it was fairly smooth sailing for them to close out the game 13-10.
Strafe Player of the Series: VIT Twisten
Natus Vincere vs Giants Gaming [2-1]
NA’VI dismissed their earlier Gekko favor for more comfort picks on “Shao” as they posted their first win of the season against the powerful Giants. Icebox proved to be a gauntlet for both teams as the half ended 6-6 with neither team giving ground.
The second half was equally as hard contested, with another 6-6 half pushing the map into overtime. Even there, both teams failed their attack sides numerous times. Finally, a crucial clutch from Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas finally broke the stalemate, with Giants finally taking back-to-back rounds to close out the game 17-15.
Giants then took the series to Split, hoping to close it out in two. Instead, NA’VI took the first half 7-5 with 6 straight rounds. The Gekko pick from Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov proved intriguing paired with “Shao’s” Astra. Despite dragging the game into a second overtime, Giants looked like they ran out of steam as NA’VI sailed to take the map 15-13.
On the decider map of Pearl, Giants initially put a strong counter, posting a 5-7 half against NA’VI. However, when the side swap came in, NA’VI were swift and decisive in their victory, taking 6 of the last 7 rounds in dominant fashion. Pearl ended 13-7 in favor of NA’VI.
Strafe Player of the Series: NAVI cNed
Karmine Corp vs BBL Esports [2-0]
Victory for the French side as they took down the Turkish opposition in two. Regulation time for Icebox (which was BBL’s map pick) was hotly contested with both halves going 6-6, pushing it into overtime. In overtime, it was a back-and-forth affair until Karmine finally managed to string together two. Icebox ended 19-17 in favor of Karmine.
Heading into Karmine’s own map pick of Split, they looked even more dominant. Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom’s pick of Raze was instrumental in securing Karmine the 9-3 attack side. Despite BBL’s count of 8 rounds on their own attack side, it was not enough to surmount Karmine’s lead as they narrowly closed out the game 13-11.
Strafe Player of the Series: KC ScreaM
Team Liquid vs FUT Esports [2-1]
Liquid managed their first win of the season against a faltering FUT. Lotus went FUT’s way with a 7-5 to start. Despite Liquid’s attempts to close the gap, they slipped up and FUT was able to convert their early lead into a 13-10 win.
Moving on to Split, Liquid had a resurgence of form, especially Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel, who led the team on Jett. The first half’s scoreline of 7-5 for Liquid was successfully converted into a 13-6 victory.
On Ascent, FUT looked bite back, posting a close 6-6 half. Despite that, Liquid quickly rectified that in the second half by putting up 7 straight rounds to close out the game. FUT were never given an opportunity to recover, and the series slipped from their grasp 13-6.
Strafe Player of the Series: TL Sayf
KOI vs Team Vitality [0-2]
Vitality went 2-0 in their opening week as they closed out KOI in convincing 2-0 fashion. Vitality’s map pick of Split was off to a slow start with a 5-7 half. But, once they swapped over to attack, Vitality showed their worth, posting a 10-2 follow-up half that closed out Split 13-9.
On KOI’s own map pick of Fracture, they showed signs of faltering against Vitality’s stalwart defense as they only managed to post a 4-8 half on attack. Once the swap came though, they showed better mettle, bringing the game back into overtime. From there sadly, Vitality struck down their chances of a third map with three straight round wins for a 15-13 map end.
Strafe Player of the Series: VIT Wolfen
Fnatic vs BBL Esports [2-1]
Fnatic completed the 2-0 weekend as well with a 2-1 finish over BBL. Ascent was a close affair, with BBL dominating the first half 9-2 before Fnatic was able to retaliate with one more round. The second half proved slightly more competitive, but ultimately the gap was too large for Fnatic and BBL took Ascent 13-6.
Haven proved far more comfortable for Fnatic, with a quick 8-4 half for Fnatic on defense proving enough to close out the game despite the 5-5 follow-up half that saw BBL attempt to close the score gap. Maks “kamyk” Rychlewski proved to be a valuable asset as he provided Fnatic with the much needed stability on defense for Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev to go wild. Haven ended 13-9 for the Fnatic side.
The decider map of Split was the closest contest for both sides. The 6-6 half did not let up as both sides traded evenly to 11-11. Despite their best efforts sadly, BBL faltered in the final hurdle, ending the series 11-13.
Strafe Player of the Series: FNC Derke
Team Heretics vs Karmine Corp [2-0]
In the final match, Heretics claimed their first victory of the week, taking down the French side of Karmine, who looked fairly lost in their second bout. Icebox was a confusing affair, with Karmine unable to close out multiple rounds despite early picks from “ScreaM”. The first half ended 9-3, with the second half not much better for Karmine. A pistol and conversion were all they got, as Heretics closed out the map with 4 straight for the 13-5 win.
Split was even more tragic, with Karmine’s map pick falling by the wayside after the 2-10 half at the end of the first half. The halftime swap lent no favors, with Heretics taking three straight to close it out 13-2.
Strafe Player of the Series: TH keloqz
VCT EMEA Week 1 Standings
VCT EMEA Week 1. Screencapture Strafe Esports.
The second week of VCT EMEA kicks off on 5th April, with Team Vitality taking on FUT Esports
Follow VCT EMEA's Twitter for all the updates regarding VCT Pacific.
Credits: Riot Games // VCT EMEA - Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVP / lag