Fury of the Favorites: VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo 2023 Day 12 Recap

In dominant fashion…

The VCT LOCK//IN Valorant tournament in São Paulo, Brazil approaches its apex, as the top four have been determined. The conclusion of the Omega side of the bracket has resulted in 100 Thieves and Leviatán being eliminated. Both Fnatic and NA’VI dismiss their opponents in clean sweeps as they forge ahead to the semifinals. The remaining four team at VCT LOCK//IN are:

• DRX
• LOUD
• Fnatic
• Natus Vincere (NA’VI)

Here is everything you may have missed from Day 12 of the VCT LOCK//IN tournament:

VCT LOCK//IN Day 12 Match Results

NA’VI vs Leviatán [2-0]

NA’VI have qualified for semifinals.

A tough first map on Ascent for both teams as they battled back and forth last night. The map ended in NA’VI’s favor 13-10, however, it did not come without heavy costs. Leviatán put up a strong Attack side, going even with the heavily favored NA’VI to end the half 6-6. On Defense, NA’VI started out strong, stringing together four rounds before Leviatán began responding. However, the latter was unable to string together more than two rounds and it went into a seesaw of points.

Once more, “ANGE1” is one of the strongest performers for NA’VI surprisingly, with “Shao” this time joining him with a 23/11/12 (+12) scoreline.  “Suygetsu’s” Cypher was also instrumental during the Defense half, with deadly setups that garnered plenty of information for NA’VI before their retakes. For Leviatán’s side, “kiNgg” continues to be a deadly force and a menace on the A site.

The shocking win came on the second map, where Leviatán was only allowed two points, as NA’VI decimated them 13-2. There were no real standout performers on NA’VI’s side despite their one-sided victory, and this is thanks in large part, to their near flawless execution pathing, that allowed them an 11-1 half, before losing the pistol but stealing back the conversion. That said, “Suygetsu” deserves some true praise for some of the clutch kills he was able to gain for his side. The 20-year-old continues to impress with his consistency and high performances.

Fnatic vs 100 Thieves [2-0]

Fnatic have qualified for semifinals.

There might be something in the Fracture water for EMEA teams, because Fnatic deliver a whooping to 100 Thieves on the map, the same day NA’VI do the same. Ending the first map 13-1, it was a storming performance from all the Fnatic players, with especial note to “Boaster” and “Leo”, both of whom had massively impactful and clutch rounds. 100 Thieves were very close in a lot of the rounds to closing it out, however, Fnatic were just more clutch in the 1v1s. Moreover, “Derke” and “Alfajer” continued their good form as 100 Thieves looked outmatches and out-utilitied.

Icebox was far better for 100 Thieves, with an end scoreline that unfortunately still went the way of Fnatic, 13-10. This was off the back of a miraculous comeback that saw a Fnatic half of 10-2, come back with 8 out of the 10 first rounds in the second half, going the way of the Thieves. Stellar performances across the board from both teams in this map, however, the gap from the first half proved too hard to surmount for the 100 Thieves side.

VCT LOCK//IN Schedule Going Forward

VCT LOCK//IN will now go on break with the conclusion of both the Alpha and Omega brackets. The two semifinal matchups have been scheduled thusly:

LOUD vs DRX [2nd Mar | 1700 GMT]

NA’VI vs Fnatic [3rd Mar | 17000 GMT]

Image credit: 100 Thieves/ Valorant Esports