Image credit: VALORANT Esports (Photo by David Lee/Riot Games)
Gen.G Esports is the first VCT Masters Shanghai grand finalist.
The first grand finalist for VCT Masters Shanghai is Gen.G Esports after they defeated G2 Esports in the upper bracket final. The first series of the day at the Mercedes-Benz Arena saw the last hope of the Pacific region take down G2 with great conviction, sending them to the lower bracket. This is Gen.G's second international grand final in a row and its fourth overall during this VCT season.
As for G2, they will have to play an additional best-of-five in the lower bracket final as they await the victor between their fellow VCT Americas competitor, 100 Thieves as they get set to go up against Team Heretics later today. It could be an all-Americas or the classic ‘NA vs EU’ match-up for the lower bracket final.
The first map was G2's pick of Lotus, a map they have had decent success in during the tournament with a 3-1 record. The same can't be said for Gen.G as they were 1-2 heading into the series. But that didn't look to be the case as Gen.G got off to a flying start while being on the defensive side. They won seven rounds in a row during the first half, which also saw Kim “Meteor” Tae-o pick up a 4K that further cemented Gen.G's dominance.
However, G2 would finally get themselves going as they managed to get the last five rounds of the first half to make it 7-5 in favour of Gen.G. They would go on to win the first two rounds of the second half as well to tie it up at 7-7. Gen.G took the next two to give themselves a 9-7 lead before G2 pulled one back to keep things interesting at 9-8. Unfortunately, that was all she wrote as Gen.G ended up taking the next four rounds in a row to seal the first game.
Ascent was the second map choice picked by Gen.G and they would go on to prove just why that was the case. Their attack side on Ascent was an entertaining first half as Gen.G won eight of the 12 rounds. This also saw Sang-beom “Munchkin” Byeon pick up a 4K of his own. With an 8-4 lead going into the second half, it was do-or-die for G2 as they managed to win the first three rounds after Trent “trent” Cairns kicked things off with a 4K in the pistol round.
With a slim 8-7 lead, Gen.G still piled on the pressure and took the following three rounds to go up 11-7. However, G2 weren't to be deterred as they managed to steal back three more rounds in a row. This also included a cold ace from Jacob "icy" Lange to keep the score tight at 11-10 in favour of Gen.G. But much like the first map, Gen.G somehow managed to find it within them to not crumble under the pressure and went on to win the last two rounds in a row to take the series 2-0.
G2 will be back in action tomorrow once the winner between 100 Thieves and Team Heretics is confirmed. As for Gen.G, they will play their only best-of-five on Sunday in the grand finals.
