942 Days: Fnatic claims victory over LOUD in VCT LOCK//IN Grand Finals, Series Recap

A series of Homeric proportions.

 

It has been 942 days since Jake “Boaster” Howlett began competing in Valorant. 942 days since he began his Valorant journey and quest for the elusive international trophy. On the 4th of Mar 2023, he and his squad finally did it, conquering the Kings of Brazil in São Paulo, Brazil in one of the best Bo5 series seen in Valorant competitive to date. The Grand Finals of the VCT LOCK//IN delivered on all fronts, from a monstrous Brazilian majority crowd that placed immense pressure on the last bastion of EMEA, to the near reverse sweep they endured, and the most majestic of comebacks on Map 5. This, is the recap of the greatest Valorant Grand Finals we have ever seen.

 

Map One: Ascent [Fnatic Wins]

Fnatic began with a clean first game, winning this 13-8 over LOUD. The first half favored Fnatic at 8-4, and when swapping to the Attack side, Fnatic carried their momentum to take the bonus round after losing the pistol and conversion. From there, it was a swift win for them.

Ascent continues to be a stronghold for Fnatic this event, despite only boasting a 61% winrate on it compared to LOUD, who have it as their best map with a winrate of 91%. Moreover, “Boaster” has shown immense comfort on this map as both a shotcaller and player, having some of his best and most impressive performances on the controller role on this map in particular. LOUD picked this map, however, two important factors should come into consideration that favored Fnatic in hindsight.

The majority of the wins on Ascent for both teams came in 2022, when Chamber was still the dominant agent in the meta. Fnatic’s star carry “Derke” has always historically been stronger on Jett rather than Chamber and it meant Fnatic struggled on Ascent in 2022 where Chamber shone on one of his strongest maps. The second point, was that despite their insanely high winrate on Ascent, LOUD has favored one specific team composition over any other, having run it 15 times straight. This meant coming onto Ascent, Fnatic had a very clear idea what LOUD had to offer against them.

 

Map Two: Fracture [Fnatic Wins]

This was far more closely contest of a game, with the first half ending 6-6. However, from there, Fnatic took the second half with 7 of the 8 rounds played in dominant fashion, swiftly bringing themselves to series point. The map ended 13-7.

As displayed by Fnatic this event, Fracture continues to be a very strong pocket pick map for them, having beaten two titanic teams on this map leading up to the Grand Finals. NA’VI and 100 Thieves both faced meticulous destruction against Fnatic on Fracture, where Fnatic boasts a 73% winrate. By contrast, LOUD have a 60% winrate on the map, and favor two specific compositions on the map, with minimal variations. Fnatic have run 8 different comp iterations on Fracture across their 15 games played, with no comp used more than 3 times.

 

Map Three: Split [LOUD Wins]

Just as it looked done and dusted, LOUD roared back to life on Split, with a 13-9 win over Fnatic finally. The first half was close, with both teams jostling for the lead. Neither were able to build a substantial lead of more than two rounds in a row. However, LOUD were able to post 7 on their Attack side. The historically defensive-sided map has seen subtle shifts that bring it more in line with a balanced-sided map, however, it was undeniably an advantage as LOUD forged ahead with a pistol win to a 10-5 scoreline.

At VCT LOCK//IN, LOUD boasts a 66% winrate on the map prior to the matchup, having beaten both NRG and Karmine on the map, and losing to DRX. Overall, they have a 75% winrate on the map with a relatively small play sample size for Fnatic to dissect. Meanwhile, Split for Fnatic was a far shakier affair, with a 52% winrate across 27 games played.

“Less” especially had a magnificent late entrance to the series as he posted a 24/14/5 on the Viper against Fnatic. If LOUD wanted a chance at the reverse sweep, Split was a good map to do it on.

 

Map Four: Lotus [LOUD Wins]

The series began looking like it was slipping away as LOUD thundered to a 7-5 scoreline in the first half of Lotus. The reason for that was because after gaining the pistol round and successfully managing to win the bonus, Fnatic would see LOUD take 6 straight rounds to pull ahead. With the momentum looking firmly on the side of LOUD, Fnatic had to truly shake themselves as LOUD began believing. In the second half, Fnatic again took the pistol, however, this time lost the bonus. They would then lose 6 of the 7 last rounds played, with 4 straight to close out the series from LOUD.

The fairly new map has already seen plenty of innovations from the teams at VCT LOCK//IN, however, Fnatic and LOUD particularly have never played the map in an international setting. As a fourth map, it could be considered a wildcard pick by Fnatic, and a potential gambit to attempt to close out the series. This was because their home map of Haven was take away and Pearl had to be banned away from LOUD due to the strength of the Brazilian team on the map, and Fnatic’s own discomfort on the map. Fnatic had a 33% winrate on the map, having played it thrice. Their sole win was against Detonation in a showmatch series. Had they not picked Lotus as the fourth, it would have been even riskier as the decider map should it go to a fifth, as it did.

“Less” again had an incredible map, posting a 22/11/4 scoreline against Fnatic on the Killjoy this time. Fnatic had a gambit, and it did not pay off.

 

Map Five: Icebox [Fnatic Wins]  

At 2 to 2, it looked dire for Fnatic as slowly but surely, the series was slipping away from them. Furthermore, the São Paulo crowd did not help one bit, with one of the most stifling atmospheres poised against Fnatic and their efforts. Every kill against Fnatic was a thunderous applause that shook the Ginásio do Ibirapuera stadium. To make matters worse, “aspas”, who had been quiet for most of the series, began waking up.

In one of the most incredible moments in Valorant’s short esports history, Fnatic found themselves, at 3-9 at the first half, on the decider map of their Grand Finals series, their second ever Finals appearance. Everything that could have gone wrong for them, went wrong, as “aspas” tore through Fnatic in one of the most disgusting carry performances in a single half, going 21/7/0. If there was ever a time for Fnatic to believe in the curse, it was now. But, LOUD had no such qualms. They took the pistol. And then they took the conversion. The score was now 11-3 in their favor. And the silence was deafening for Fnatic.

It was possibly the worst feeling, and the worst way one could lose a Grand Finals Bo5 series. To be up 2-0 and on series point. Only to see it all fade slowly away as one could only helplessly grasp at it all.

And then there was a shift. One point. Two points. Three points. Slowly but surely, Fnatic began battling back. LOUD took a step back. Then another. Before they knew it, the score was 12-11, in favor of Fnatic. The knife was now going for LOUD’s jugular. Somehow, Fnatic’s mental fortitude and the strength of their players and teamplay, it had all come together. It went 12-12 as LOUD finally claimed another point. Then Fnatic snapped their jaws, and they won VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo 14-12 on their final map.

Image credit: Fnatic Valorant/ VCT LOCK//IN Valorant Esports