Surprise Me: VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo 2023 Day 7 Recap

Well, we called for blood…

The VCT LOCK//IN event in São Paulo, Brazil continues with the Omega side of the bracket. Earlier, Strafe Esports posted a predictions for which teams would make it through, and already, there’s been an upset. Liquid has been eliminated, NA’VI look indomitable, and a new terror rises in Latin America.

VCT LOCK//IN Day 7 Match Results

Team Liquid vs Team Secret [0-2]

As the sleeper Match of the Day last night, Team Secret slaughtered Liquid in only two maps as they took down one of the self-proclaimed kings of Europe already. For their part, Secret outperformed all expectations people had of their roster coming in, having seen their recent performance at the Valorant India Invitational. However, the Secret that came to play at VCT LOCK//IN, was a completely different animal.

Secret began with a staggering 10-1 lead against Liquid, with especial shoutout to “JessieVash” in the early rounds, who had massive impact on the round outcomes. Liquid would attempt a comeback in the second half, managing to string together 6 rounds, but it would be too late as Secret took the first map at 13-8.

On Fracture, it was the solo “nAts” show it felt, with the man dropping a whopping 26/14/3 while his bottom three teammates combined dropped 19 kills. Liquid looked not like their usual selves, with their stars not hitting as many shots as they normally would, and losing more duels than they typically do. In short, Liquid looked rattled. Secret took the second map 13-7, with a 9-3 half for them.

Natus Vincere vs KRU Esports [2-0]

If there’s one thing we can count on being consistent, it’s the former-FPX core performing. Natus Vincere put on a masterclass performance against KRU, only allowing the latter a combined 15 rounds won. “cNed” was especially impactful alongside his IGL, “ANGE1”, the two able to find multiple multi-kill rounds that helped secure the win for NA’VI.

For their part, KRU looked largely lost for answers (a few notable clutches aside) against a powerful attack side from NA’VI that denied any opportunity for retakes. “cNed” embraced the spirit of chaos as he sowed destruction amongst KRU’s backlines before they could even reset.

On Lotus, KRU managed to be up 9-3 at the half against NA’VI, however, the curse, was too strong for the Latin American side as NA’VI closed it out 13-10. KRU’s attack side was immensely impressive, especially “dAveeys”, who had multiple highlight rounds where he clutched up for his team.

Despite all that, NA’VI’s very own “ANGE1” decided that he was done playing with his food, and began tearing KRU apart himself. He went on to drop a 27/15/13 game, alongside “Zyppan”, who dropped a similar 26/16/8.

ZETA DIVISION vs Leviatán [0-2]

The delight of fans, ZETA DIVISION were viscerally torn apart by Leviatán last night, and there was little remorse from the latter side. A devastatingly effective Ascent game saw ZETA barely able to make headway. Despite their best efforts to make proactive plays, Leviatán just looked unstoppable, with “kiNgg” especially putting on some highlight worthy holds. Lev marched to a clean 13-4 on Ascent.

On Pearl, fortunately, it went far better for ZETA as they were able to adjust against LEV early on, making it a far more competitive map score wise. A 6-6 half slowly began to slip away for ZETA, as Leviatán gained 5 straight rounds to bring it to 11-6. Then ZETA shot back with 4 of their own to make it 11-10, and from there, it was a seesaw that saw ZETA just fail to cross the finish line at 13-11.

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Image credit: Zeta Division/ Valorant Esports