Fnatic showcases their dominance over Bilibili Gaming to book a spot in the playoffs.
The LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo champions Fnatic ensured that they stay on course for a third VCT major title after they defeated Bilibili Gaming 2-0 in the winners match and booked their spot in the playoffs. With that victory, BLG would drop down to the final deciding match-up where they will face the winner between ZETA Divison and NRG.
BLG had the first pick of the series with Haven as map one. However, nobody could have expected Fnatic to come out swinging like they did. Fnatic started the map with a flawless pistol round and from there, it already looked to be that sort of match. They would go on to win the first 10 of 12 rounds before halftime and then proceeded to take the next three rounds to secure a quick and easy map one victory.
The team's IGL Jake "Boaster" Howlett led by example by being the top fragger with 19 kills, the most of any player in the first map. Boaster also had an average combat score (ACS) of 305, which also included a clinical one-versus-three situation during the first-half. That one round perfectly encapsulated both teams' performances on Haven.
BLG would come back in game two, putting up a much better performance on Lotus, but it still wasn't enough to get the team over the line. With the second map being Fnatic's choice, they showcased just why they're the best team in the world. Fnatic would get a five- and four-round win streaks in the first-half alone, which gave them a 9-3 lead heading into the second-half.
This was when BLG turned up the afterburners, giving it their all to try and force a game three. However, the second-half showcased Fnatic's experience, especially when on the defensive as they managed to apply damage mitagation against BLG to a great degree. This included four defuses in-between BLG's five-round wins to disrupt the momentum and flow of the Chinese squad.
In the end, BLG could not find an answer against Fnatic, who were clinical when necessary without overextending. All four round wins that Fnatic secured in the second-half were also semi-buy rounds as opposed to BLG, who lost all four rounds with full-buy weapons.
The VCT Champions 2023 continues later today with two elimination matches featuring Team Liquid against LOUD as well as FunPlus Phoenix versus T1. Paper Rex and EDward Gaming will close out day four to determine the fourth team that will head to the playoffs. Be sure to catch all the action on the official VALORANT Esports Twitch channel.
