With the win, C9 eliminates V1 from Valorant Masters 1 Reykjavík contention. But they still need to win two more series to make it themselves.
The C9 vs. V1 matchup was a highly anticipated one after both teams went 5-0 in group play. However, many expected the two teams to meet in tomorrow’s winner’s final. But, after LG’s surprising upset win over V1 in round one and OpTic’s narrow victory against C9, the two intertwined teams ended up here in the second round of the lower bracket.
Let’s dive into this hype match and analyze the game!
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Valorant Lower Bracket: Cloud9 Blue vs Version1
C9 used their map pick for Breeze which was surprising as C9 had lost on Breeze against Knights and Evil Geniuses. Version1 used their map pick for Ascent and the decider map remained as Fracture.
Map 1: Breeze
V1 started on the attack and put six straight rounds on the board before C9 called a timeout and answered with nine straight. V1 responded on defense with stellar retakes and consistent opening duel wins to retake the lead, and a tremendous 3K hold by wippie off the corner of B punctuated a V1 13-10 win on C9’s pick of Breeze.
Oh my @wippiecs pic.twitter.com/bUuIkDMkGV
— Version1 (@version1gg) March 24, 2022
Map 2: Ascent
C9 started out in control of Ascent on their defensive side, with their biggest weapons vanity’s Judge and Xeta’s shock arrows. But V1 rallied on the attack, winning early duels in B main to take back rounds before half-time, going into the defensive side of their pick only trailing 7-5. A back-and-forth half saw V1 unable to completely close the distance, and a Xeta clutch with his Sova ult secured a 13-10 win on Ascent for C9.
What a banger 1v3 clutch by @OfficialXETA to close out Ascent. On to map 3! 😈@Cloud9 | #VCTChallengersNA pic.twitter.com/4aUyPThtBF
— Nerd Street (@nerdstreet) March 25, 2022
Map 3: Fracture
The series turned to Fracture, a popular choice for C9 that V1 rarely plays. C9 capitalized on their expertise with a 7-5 attack half, despite some heroic playmaking from Zander and Zellsis. C9 took their pistol round after switching to defense and didn’t look back as they crushed V1’s attack en route to a 13-7 win to clinch the series.
V1-2
We move on #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/3JZ3EN57EA
— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) March 25, 2022
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Future for Cloud9 Blue
C9 advances to the next round and will face XSET tomorrow. This will be an interesting matchup as Cloud 9 is one of the top teams in NA. In hindsight, XSET shouldn’t be a problem for them. But, XSET is looking crisp lately, and end the end it comes down to who can performant on the game day.
