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LOUD to face Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket final of VCT Champions 2023

The KIA Forum was exceptionally LOUD.

In the second thrilling series of the day, LOUD ensured that they are on the road to being back-to-back world champions after doing the double over Fnatic at VCT Champions 2023. That win saw LOUD move on to the lower bracket final where they will face Evil Geniuses, who lost to Paper Rex earlier in the day.

As for Fnatic, their unbeaten run at global VCT events has come to an end as the LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo champions failed to get past LOUD yet again. This is the first time that Fnatic has failed to make it into the top three this year with its fourth-placed exit.

Game one started on Split, a map that Fnatic chose and had a 2-0 record during their lower bracket run at LAN. However, LOUD's record was 2-1 and they showed just why Split was their map. LOUD took the first three rounds in convincing fashion before Fnatic could even get one on the board. In the end, the EMEA titans could only secure four rounds in the first half to LOUD's eight.

And that lead would soon be built on in the second half as LOUD piled on the pressure by taking five rounds in a row to secure game one. While this was the shortest game of the series, it was also the longest due to a lengthy technical pause.

LOUD chose the second map of Ascent, another that they were highly proficient in at LAN with a 3-1 score. Ascent was also the first map that LOUD picked to defeat Fnatic last week. But this time, Fnatic managed to fight back with five rounds of their own in the first half while LOUD took seven. And it was the second half where Fnatic really came online with the team's IGL, Jake "Boaster" Howlett coming up clutch in a two-versus-one while also getting two 3Ks.

Fnatic would win eight of the next 10 rounds, leaving LOUD with just two to their name to force a third and final game on Haven. And while Fnatic did have the better record for Haven after going 4-0 at LAN, LOUD would step up to the plate and take control of their own destiny. The VCT Americas League champions would once again take the pistol round to kickstart the map and then went on to win eight of the 12 rounds before the half.

The second half looked even bleaker for Fnatic, who could only muster three rounds to add to the four they had in the first. It was all LOUD in the second half, especially in the last three rounds. Arthur "tuyz" Vieira managed to clutch up in a three-versus-one situation to give LOUD a commanding lead and to be two points away from a top three finish.

Erick "aspas" Santos added another nail to the coffin with a 4K in the next round to send LOUD to match point. And by then, there was no way for Fnatic to counter whatever LOUD threw at them. LOUD would end up taking five of the eight rounds to secure their revenge against Fnatic after what happened at VCT LOCK//IN.

With that win, LOUD are now just one more best-of-five series away from making it to the grand finals to stand a chance of being the first back-to-back VCT Champions. However, in their way will be Evil Geniuses, another Americas League squad that is all too familiar with LOUD's game. As for Fnatic, they will bid farewell to Los Angeles in fourth place, a far cry from where many expected them to be after their performances this season.

Author
Teh "GravityWillFall" Wi-LiamA failed pro-am gamer turned into a filthy casual with an unhealthy obsession for keyboards and sneakers.
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