A DAY OF 2-0s: VCT LOCK//IN SAO PAULO 2023 DAY 3 RECAP

After a banger of a day 2, the Day 3 action of VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo 2023 had big shoes to fill. The day featured three Bo3s, with two Brazilian teams playing their first matches. The day started with Evil Geniuses taking on Team Heretics, followed by MIBR taking on Talon Esports. The day's final game followed the defending Valorant Champions LOUD taking on newly formed Gen G. 

VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo Day 3 Recap:

The day started with Evil Geniuses taking on Team Heretics, and their brawl started on Pearl.

Team Heretics 0-2 Evil Geniuses:

Coming into  LOCK//IN, both teams are somewhat unproven. With Ethan and BcJ on the roster, EG still needs to play a tournament. Heretics, on the other hand, lost to Paper Rex on thier last Valorant expedition.

EG started their map-pick on the attack. With two duelists, EG seemed prepared to take over Pearl. EG started strong with their two-pronged attack leading the scoreboard 3-1. But on the back of a strong performance from Keloqz, Heretics answered back to equalize the half.

In the second half, EG's defense held strong. They secured the first three rounds. Heretics won an eco round and followed it up with a round win. The anti-eco loss dazed EG, but they reset their mental and won the first map 13-8.

Heretics started their map pick with a four-round streak on offense. EG adjusted to the Heroic attack and answered back to win seven of the eight rounds to close the half 7-5. EG used thier momentum to extend their lead to six, Heretics answered back with two, but EG secured the two rounds needed to win the series 2-0.

With EG's victory, North American teams have yet to drop a single map in the tournament. With C9, NRG, and EG all winning 2-0.

MIBR 0-2 Talon Esports: 

Talon came into the tournament, missing a key piece in Patiphan. With the winning coach in Bzka and the Vivo Keyd core, MIBR was an excellent counter to Talon. MIBR also played with the home crowd advantage.

The game started on Haven. Talon won the pistol round convincingly, but a murizzz clutch helped MIBR to secure the eco-round. Despite the early shake-up, Talon held strong and closed the first half of Haven with a four-round lead. Talon secured another pistol round in the second half, extending their lead to six. Post the second round, both teams exchanged blows. The four-round lead from Talon helped them secure the MIBR's map pick 13-8.

Talon started their map pick with a map lead. They won four out of the starting five rounds and completely controlled the game. MIBR finally found an opening in the Talon defense. They won five rounds despite the early deficit. MIBR on defense equalized the scoreline and secured a lead for the first time in the game. But Talon answered back, stringing together five rounds in a row and converting it to a map win.

With the map win, Talon eliminated MIBR and will face EG in the second round of the Alpha group.

Gen.G 0-2 LOUD: 

The final and the biggest card of day 3 of VCT LOCK//IN featured the TigerNation taking on Valorant Champions. Both LOUD and GenG still needed to show the roster's ability. GenG previously played the GES Asia LAN but did not win anything.

The brawl started on LOUD's pick of Pearl. Starting on defense, LOUD with Aspas as the front man dominated for the first four rounds. Gen.G answered with seven rounds in a row to close the half 7-5.

With the momentum, GenG extended their lead to four. With four rounds down, LOUD won the first gun round of the half. After the win, they never looked back, picking apart the GenG defense to string together eight rounds to win the first map.

GenG's fracture started strong for them, but LOUD immediately took over. On attack, LOUD, with Aspas and Saadhak on duelist, successfully found answers to the GenG defense. They won eight out of the next nine rounds to close the half 8-4.

Now in deficit, GenG started their attack half obliterating the LOUD defense. They came back winning multiple rounds and secured map point before LOUD. LOUD on the backs of Aspas and Saadhak won the last two rounds to force overtime.

In OT, GenG's plan to rush down B long did not work as intended, but they found themselves in a 2v2. LOUD planted the spike, and Aspas held off both K1ng and Secret to win the first round of OT. GenG planted the spike in their attacking round, but the flanks from LOUD caught GenG off-guard, and GenG lost the game 12-14 and the series 0-2.

The battle between the two teams was worthy enough to be the primetime show. Both teams exchanged blows, and it seemed the brawl would see a third map. Despite the one-sided scoreline, the series was back and forth, but unfortunately, GenG lost and will be sent back home. LOUD will now face Karmine in the Quarterfinals.

VCT LOCK//IN DAY São Paulo Day 4 Preview: 

VCT will have a break today, and the action will resume on 17th February. Starting the day after, We will see the remaining eight teams taking on each other for the quarterfinals. The first set of Quarterfinals will be NRG Esports taking on Giants Gaming, followed by LOUD taking on Karmine Corps.

Image Source: Valorant Champions Tour Twitter

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