Day 5 of Champions has been concluded and since it's an elimination day we will have to say goodbye to two teams.
Boom Esports vs ZETA Division
This was the first game of the day and it was quite a hectic one. It was so hectic that the game had to start earlier due to FPX having health issues and the XSET vs FPX game being delayed for tomorrow, 21:00 Turkey Time (GMT +3). A lot of surprising things happened during this Bo3, such as game 1 having no Agents appearing on the opposite side, and the team lineups were completely different. But that was just Game 1, in the decider game they had same lineups, but we will talk about that later.
An update on #VALORANTChampions Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/UXTMRdxBuT
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 4, 2022
Map 1: Haven - BME 13 : 11 ZETA
It's safe to say that Game 1 had such an amazing comeback by Boom. Zeta picked Neon for Dep and he abused every aspect of this volatile Duelist by opening their defensive half with style. He had 16 frags, which is an amazing scoreline for the first half. What was more amazing is that Laz had 15 on Chamber and was just behind Dep on their amazing first half that ended 8-4 for Zeta.
Being on fire, and having such a good early lead would indicate that similar would happen in the second half? - Well no. The first 5 rounds were almost equal as Zeta won the pistol round and things were close until round 18. Zeta struggled big time to push into the sides and made a couple of critical misses which allowed for Boom to be back at the game at the point where the score was 11-11.
The 23rd round was probably the most chaotic one as Zeta actually managed to get a spike plant down, but Boom was so ready for it as they instantly used Killjoy's and Astra's ultimate to secure the retake in the round. In the last round, Zeta pushed too far and they lost the Map to Boom 13 to 11.
Solid start, solid mentality! We turn the tides and secure game 1! Just one more guys let's go! #HungryBeast pic.twitter.com/0QZRFjGWIZ
— BOOM Esports (@boomesportsid) September 4, 2022
Map 2: Pearl - BME 11 : 13 ZETA
Losing Game 1 didn't make Zeta lose hope in the game as they corrected their mistakes and had much more disciplined gameplay in Map 2. Boom won the pistol round, and Zeta unleashed 5 in a row round wins afterward which kickstarted their momentum and we could see them waking up from their winter sleep. Pearl as a map was much more comfortable for Zeta as they had more time to practice it as BOOM had to qualify to Champions via Last Change Qualifiers.
HE IS ON FIRE @lazvell | #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/KIK9YYxMAp
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 4, 2022
Despite Pearl being a headache for Boom and ZETA's early lead, they won the pistol round (again) and managed to tie the game to 8-8 later on. Boom really had a thing for A site as they continuously pushed it, and punished ZETA regardless of where they were standing.
The game got to the point where it was 11-11 and it was anyone's victory at this point. The last 3 rounds were Zeta's last hope at pushing for the decider Map, as they did an A retake which forced Boom to rotate late in the round right into Laz's Chamber, which did an Ace in their 13-11 victory against Boom.
{2022 #VALORANT Champions Tour - Champions} Group StageWORLD!! THIS IS LAZ!!!! Ace // @lazvell Streamhttps://t.co/dXQ4oUFJ4Nhttps://t.co/2Iuv2ip08Q| #ZETAWIN '//, | #VALORANTChampions | #VCT | pic.twitter.com/1XNVD8nB3p
— ZETA DIVISIONEsports (@AIMWITHPRIDE) September 4, 2022
Map 3: Fracture - BME 2 : 13 ZETA
Pushing the game to Map 3 gave Zeta a huge confidence boost. Dep got his Neon back after a sick performance on Map 1. Fracture was his time to shine as he put immense pressure on Boom's attack early on which made serious damage to the Indonesians and their ability to take on sites. The first half finished 10-2 for Zeta in what seemed to be a hopeless battle for the Indo team.
For the first time in the series, in the second half, ZETA managed to get their first pistol win of the day, which enabled them to close out the game early, with an aggressive anti-eco buy from them which eventually lead to them winning the game 13-2 against Boom Esports.
ZETA DIVSION wins the first elimination match of #VALORANTChampions Istanbul! #ZETAWIN pic.twitter.com/4Szpi0JH0b
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 4, 2022
EDward Gaming vs Team Liquid
With FPX having health issues and the game being delayed, this was the second and last Bo3 for the day on the Day 5 of Valorant Champions. Liquid had a fate similar to BOOM's as they had to qualify for this tournament via the Last Chance Qualifier. Both teams had huge stakes on their shoulders as Team Liquid holds the title of one of the world's biggest Esport Orgs, and EDward Gaming is China's first team to compete in an International Valorant tournament.
Map 1: Bind - EDG 5 : 13 TL
Bind is known to be one of Liquid's worst maps to play on, and that was not their only obstacle in Map 1, as Jammpi decided to pick Sage and not Chamber as intended. For those wondering why, this was Jammpi's first competitive Sage game ever, and in the previous 17 games, he only played Chamber.
DIMASICK WITH THAT KNIFE #LetsGoLiquid #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/tfWRupjyVg
— Team Liquid Valorant (@LiquidValorant) September 4, 2022
The Map started off quite aggressive for Team Liquid as they weren't staying still on their defensive pistol round. Nivera managed to get 3 kills in the round, but ZmjjKK was on fire making 4 kills and clutching the round at the end. In the first half, ZmjjKK had his one-man show being the star of his team which got him a tactical ace in the 7th Round.
Despite that Liquid showed their strength in retaking sites and a couple of flawless rounds made them end the first half 8-3 in their favor. The second half was a total disaster for EDG as they were out of sync, and TL knew how to abuse that well by winning 5 rounds and finishing the map 13 to 5.
THAT 3K BY @soulcas_ IS INSANE! pic.twitter.com/hn0N6UbHEo
— Team Liquid Valorant (@LiquidValorant) September 4, 2022
Map 2: Breeze - EDG 12 : 14 TL
Get ready, because Breeze was not easy to watch and was probably one of the most exciting games of the event. Liquid wanted to spice things out and picked Phoenix as a duelist, which was their first for Breeze. EDG had their elimination at stake, and pushing to a decider Map was putting the pressure on them and the expectations for Breeze were quite high. They started off slow, being unable to push A site as they continuously tried to, but failed. As the rounds kept going, B site was easily reachable for EDG, which later stabilized the score to 7-5 at half-time.
WE'RE GOING TO OVERTIME WATCH #VALORANTChampions LIVE: https://t.co/io2c23bRnD pic.twitter.com/XLdh0d3smm
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 4, 2022
In the second half, we could see that both teams were under immense pressure as several mistakes were made by them. TL didn't do much better than EDG on the attacker side which eventually made the game go into Overtime, where the excitement began. The First Overtime round was won by Liquid, and EDG felt their elimination was coming closer. After failing to clinch the game in the first round of overtime, Liquid "breezed" through EDG in the second round securing their spot in the Decider Match 2-0 against EDG.
It was great having you at #VALORANTChampions Istanbul. Thank you Edward Gaming! pic.twitter.com/8QAWVfaofb
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 4, 2022
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