Image credit: VALORANT Esports (David Lee/Riot Games)
Americas overcome EMEA in the opening series of VCT Masters Madrid.
The first playoff series of VCT Masters Shanghai saw 100 Thieves cruise past FUT Esports in a comfortable 2-0 victory. In the tournament's third ‘NA vs EU’ match-up, VCT Americas pulled ahead after 100T sent FUT to the lower bracket, putting them in contention to be eliminated early.
As for the number one seed of VCT Americas, they will now face the winner between Fnatic and Gen.G Esports, which is also the next series of the day. Given how it's just them and G2 Esports left in the tournament, it couldn't have gotten off to a better start as they are now one step closer to a spot in the grand finals.
Game one was on FUT's map pick of Icebox, which they had already lost once during the Swiss Stage. While that was mostly due to a poor second-half showing, it was the other way around this time. 100T was able to get themselves to a perfect start as they went 8-0 in the first half that was encapsulated with a 4K from Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk in just the second round.
It was a near-perfect first half from 100T as FUT would take only one round in the first half, followed by the pistol round to kickstart the second. However, that didn't even faze 100T in the slightest as they went on to win the next two rounds in a row to claim game one. And with the second match being on 100T's map pick of Bind, one would think FUT would stand a better chance seeing as they were 2-0 in the tournament so far.
And unlike the first game, FUT was able to get somewhat of a foothold in the first half as they prevented 100T from steamrolling. But it still wasn't enough as it went 8-4 in favour of the Americas region by half-time. This could also be due to Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban getting the majority of the kills in the first half, coupled with plenty of well-timed ultimates. He also picked up a 4K in the first half to put 100T in the driving seat.
They would go on to win the next five out of six rounds to seal the deal and send FUT to the lower bracket. This series has also set the standard for the largest one-sided victory in the tournament as 100T dropped only seven rounds in total.
