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The LOCK//IN rematch: Fnatic to face LOUD in the opening Valorant Champions 2023 playoff game
Coming into the Valorant Champions 2023, Fnatic is the team to beat. After winning back to back titles with Tokyo and Sao Paulo, they set their eyes on the biggest title of the year, Valorant Champions 2023. With the two titles, they also have the biggest target on their backs. Not a single team has achieved what Fnatic has in a single year.
The team was drawn with NRG, ZETA and Bilibili Gaming. They won comfortably against ZETA division to meet Bilibili Gaming in the Winner’s matchup. Bilibili Gaming was coming into the game after a strong 2-0 upset over NRG. The Winner’s final started on Haven. In multiple rounds, Fnatic lost an early advantage but came back to win a lot of clutch rounds. Strafe asked LEO about the situation.
In the entirety of Master’s Tokyo, you had a total of two first deaths, today against BLG gaming, you had three in the first half itself. How did that happen?
FNC Leo: “Guys not covering, Nah. But, they were doing plays that were catching us off guard. They were getting the entries but after the kill, they were really unstructured so we were still winning the round. We were making mistakes but the plays I am dying to shouldn’t be happening”
Despite the multiple disadvantages, Fnatic won the map 13-2. Without breaking much of a sweat. In the next map, Bilibili Gaming displayed much more resilience and we saw them winning, pushing Fnatic to the limit in the second half. Mini was quick to take a timeout in the first half after Bilibili Gaming won three rounds. But in the second half, he was reluctant to take another timeout. Strafe asked Mini about the rounds.
We saw you taking a timeout in the first half almost immediately after Bilibili Gaming strung together three rounds. But during the second half, even while BLG were sort of coming back you did not. Was there a particular reason for doing that?
FNC Mini: “I was like coin-flipping about whether I should take a timeout on defense. But I always take timeout slightly later than usual because I trust the boys to come up with the solution. If I think that something is drastically wrong in there, kinda problem solving then I take a timeout. Yup that was fine”
Despite the comeback attempt from Bilibili Gaming, Fnatic won the map 13-8. There were few hiccups the team said they’d need to straighten out before playoffs. But they look convincingly strong and will be facing LOUD in a while in the first game of the Valorant Champions 2023 playoffs.
For more updates on Valorant Champions 2023, follow Valorant Champions tour Twitter.
Credits: Riot Games // Valorant Champions Tour.