The beginning of the Fnatic dynasty in VALORANT.
The VCT LOCK//IN winners are now also the VCT Masters Tokyo champions after Fnatic swept aside Evil Geniuses 3-0 in the grand finals. The EMEA squad is now the first-ever team to win back-to-back VCT titles on the international stage.
And while EG will have to contend with being second-best for now, they can hold their heads up high given the performances they've put in during the VCT Masters Tokyo. While Fnatic are a different breed having dropped only one map during the entire tournament, EG came through from the group stage without any losses until they met Fnatic in the upper bracket final.
The grand final was seen as a rematch for EG, who overcame the dark horses of the tournament, Paper Rex in the lower bracket finals. Unfortunately, despite being able to rally back against PRX in games' four and five, EG was just no match for Fnatic in the grand finals.
The first match of the best-of-five series took place on Lotus, a map that EG has not had a good track record with at the VCT Masters Tokyo. Fnatic, on the other hand, were 2-0 on Lotus heading into the first map and they showed just why. Both teams would go back and forth in the first half with EG and Fnatic getting four-round streaks of their own. It was 6-6 by half-time before Fnatic decided to turn on the afterburners.
Being on the defensive, it was Fnatic who came out swinging with six straight wins to start the second half. With only one more round win to go, EG would go on to secure the next two rounds to keep themselves alive, but alas, it wasn't enough. Fnatic eventually took the game in the 21st round with some great map and spatial awareness from Emir "Alfajer" Beder and Jake "Boaster" Howlett.
The second map was Split, which was chosen by EG, who didn't have the best record at the VCT Masters Tokyo. And it would come back to haunt them once more as it was Fnatic who once again came out guns blazing. With EG being on the attack, they could only muster four round wins out of 12 with Fnatic being able to neutralise them on multiple occasions.
However, EG would bounce back in the second half, claiming the first five rounds in a row to give them a slender lead. But when it mattered most, it was Fnatic who made the most of the last seven rounds, winning five in audacious fashion. And with just one map to go, it was do or die for EG.
With this being EG's first time on Bind in the tournament while it was Fnatic's third, you couldn't tell given that it was EG who would lead going into the break. Fnatic won the first two rounds before EG would go on to take the next eight of 10, giving them an 8-4 lead. But in the second half, Fnatic would claw back while on the offensive, winning eight of the 12 rounds, which includes the last seven rounds in a row plus overtime to take their second LAN trophy.
