After one of the most chaotic bo5, Fnatic managed to get the better of crowd favorites LOUD.
Their trophy drought has finally come to an end, and after almost two years without any silverware, they did it big time on the Sao Paulo stage.
Historical Grand Final Win For Fnatic
There's no doubt this grand final will go down as one of the greatest 'best-of-fives' ever played in Valorant history. What did it have? A bit of everything: the obvious hype with a home crowd cheering on arguably the world's best team, several jaw-dropping reversals, and a fairytale end that needed to be seen to be believed.
any fnatic fans having a heart attack rn let me know I got u pic.twitter.com/oY8gc1vQgx
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) March 4, 2023
Fnatic started hot and rushed to a 2-0 lead in a dominating fashion. That didn't stop the fan favorites from getting back in the game. In a similar fashion, the series was tied, and an Icebox decider map was next to go.
This is the point in the series where those with a nervous disposition should have turned it off as a point of caution.
With the crowd cheering the home team, LOUD felt emboldened and managed to take an 11-3 lead. Next up is what everyone called a Hollywood-scripted photo finish. Fnatic fought back to tie the game and beat LOUD in a super-tense overtime. It was a result that silenced the home crowd, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
I thought we were going to lose another final there My teammates didn't let that happen though. Loud are a great team!So happy to finally lift a trophy and flex my big muscles!Thank you for all the support and sorry for the stress levels increase#GetYourBoastees pic.twitter.com/DNVRwTPrSR
— FNATIC Boaster (@OfficialBoaster) March 5, 2023
Match Summary:
| Fnatic | LOUD | |
| Ascent | 13 | 8 |
| First Half | 8 | 4 |
| Second Half | 5 | 4 |
| Fracture | 13 | 7 |
| First Half | 6 | 6 |
| Second Half | 7 | 1 |
| Split | 9 | 13 |
| First Half | 5 | 7 |
| Second Half | 4 | 6 |
| Lotus | 8 | 13 |
| First Half | 5 | 7 |
| Second Half | 3 | 6 |
| Icebox | 14 | 12 |
| First Half | 3 | 9 |
| Second Half | 9 | 3 |
| Overtime | 2 | 0 |
The following tweet sums up the decider map.
THE 9-3 CURSE
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) March 4, 2023
How The Prize Pool Was Split
This grand final completes the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo and crowns Fnatic as the cham
pions.
More than a game. pic.twitter.com/ak2s1SK5Yj
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 5, 2023
The prize pool was split among the teams, and this is what everyone got:
- 1st place ($100.000) - Fnatic
- 2nd place ($60.000) - LOUD
- 3rd & 4th place ($40.000) - DRX & Natus Vincere
- 5th to 8th place ($25.000) - NRG, Talon Esports, Leviatan, 100 Thieves
- 9th to 16th place ($10.000) - Giants, Karmine Crop, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Team Vitality, FUT Esports, Furia Esports
- 17th to 32nd place ($5.000) - KOI, DetonatioN FocusMe, Gen.G Esports, FunPlus Phoenix, BBL Esports, Paper Rex, Team Heretics, MIBR, Team Liquid, KRU Esports, ZETA DIVISION, Global Esports, Rex Regum Qeon, EDward Gaming, Sentinels, T1
It's important to note that the VCT partner teams get paid 50% of the net proceeds of VCT LOCK//IN Capsule Collection sales. And also, the winner of the tournament, in this case, Fnatic, will grant EU an extra slot for the Masters 2023.
That's all for the tournament and this article; if you're looking for similar content, hop on the Valorfeed esports section to find more.