ICYMI: DRX Qualifies For Playoffs in 4th Day of VALORANT Champions 2022
DRX qualified for the VALORANT Champions 2022 Playoffs while XSET and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) both won their first matches in the group stage.
.@DRX_VS has qualified for the #VALORANTChampions Playoffs! Check out the DAY 4 results. pic.twitter.com/GJ4JZnPpMZ
— VALORANT Champions Tour KR (@valesports_kr) September 3, 2022
DRX Secures Playoffs After Defeating 100 Thieves
DRX takes the victory and advances to the Playoffs! #VALORANTChampions #DRXWIN pic.twitter.com/EGWOzXGSMn
— VALORANT Champions Tour 🇹🇷 (@ValorantEsports) September 3, 2022
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DRX managed to secure the second playoff spot at Champions after they defeated North America’s 100 Thieves via a 2-0 sweep at Group D’s Winners Match.
The South Korean team brought their A-game at their first game at Breeze where it ended 18-16 in favor of them. DRX had a fantastic start as the attackers where they secured 7 rounds for themselves prior to halftime, with five of those from a 5-round win streak. However, a second-half comeback by 100 Thieves saw DRX in danger as their opponents reached matchpoint first by Round 21. Fortunately, they managed to stave it off to proceed into overtime where they battled it out in what turned out to be ten more excruciating overtime rounds that saw DRX the victor by the end of it.
Fresh from their epic Game 1 win, DRX then closed the series out in Game 2 at Fracture. They dominated the first half yet again as they saw themselves with 9 won rounds by halftime, with the majority of it from a domineering 7-round win streak. Now just like in the first game, DRX gave 100 Thieves a chance to mount for a comeback but was, fortunately, able to close it before it went to overtime by Round 22 as they only ever needed three rounds to win the game.
DRX’s two primary duelists Goo “Rb” Sang-Min and Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul led the team with their impressive entries as Rb finished with a series record of 47/38/11 KDA on an average of 243 ACS while BuZz had a series record of 45/42/12 on an average of 242 ACS. Meanwhile, Kim “MaKo” Myeong-gwan and Kim “stax” Gu-taek weren’t too far off as they themselves recorded 41/36/31 and 40/35/14 series KDAs respectively.
XSET Wins Battle Of The Xs
.@XSET wins their first series at #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/9jIfpa4X2k
— VALORANT Champions Tour 🇹🇷 (@ValorantEsports) September 3, 2022
Unlike 100 Thieves, North America’s XSET won their match of the day against XERXIA in a clean 2-0 sweep in Group C’s opener.
XSET’s first game at Fracture went astonishingly well for the NA representatives as it ended in a 13-11. Their excellent defense was put on a show almost instantaneously when they closed the first half 7-5. However, they mildly had trouble in cracking XERXIA’s defense as the game swung both ways for both teams. Fortunately, XSET ended the game at exactly the last round of the second half and prevented XERXIA’s efforts for overtime.
XSET then closed out the series on Icebox 13-10 to complete the series sweep. Just like the previous game, XSET led the game by half-time 7-5 score as a result of a first half that featured XSET winning through three wipeout rounds, three defused rounds, and one via time expiration. They then had a bit of a scare when they lost Round 14 which led to a 3-round win streak by XERXIA. Not taking this down lightly, XSET answered back with a 4-round win streak which was enough to keep them in the lead for the rest of the game, take matchpoint, and eventually close the game at Round 23.
The Filipino-American and self-proclaimed Filipino Jett Zachary “zekken” Patrone led the team with a monstrous series record of 56/36/9 KDA, 341 ACS, and a +20 Kill-Death rate. Meanwhile, Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban trailed in second as he himself recorded a series with 42/32/7 KDA, 254 ACS, and a +10 rate Kill-Death rate on Chamber.
The Phoenix Overpowers
EMEA ON TOP 🤘@FPX_Esports claim the series win at #VALORANTChampions İstanbul! pic.twitter.com/p6jwVInFj6
— VALORANT Champions Tour 🇹🇷 (@ValorantEsports) September 3, 2022
EMEA representatives FunPlus Phoenix also swept their first game at Champions 2022 as they went 2-0 against KRÜ Esports.
FPX’s first game against KRÜ at Icebox ended in a close score of 14-12. FPX fell victim to KRÜ’s signature dominance as the attackers as they only managed to secure just three rounds for themselves in the first half. Fortunately, FPX turned the tables around by the second half as they themselves dominated this time around to force overtime. In the end, FPX wrecked KRÜ in overtime as they swiftly won the rounds to end the first game in their favor.
Meanwhile, their second bout at Bind ended 13-10. Despite having the starting roles switched out this time, FPX stumbled as KRÜ dominated the first half yet again which ended 4-8 against the EMEA representatives. FPX then recomposed themselves coming into the second half and mounted a gritty comeback. FPX’s efforts limited KRÜ to just three rounds secured in the second half and immediately closed the series by Round 23 before KRÜ can force another overtime.
Pontus “Zyppan” Eek led the team on Raze as he secured a series record of 50/37/7 KDA, an impressive 302 ACS, and a +13 Kill-Death rate. Meanwhile, Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky’s versatility in the flex role saw him net a series record of 42/26/26 KDA, 243 ACS, and a +16 Kill-Death rate.
With Day 4’s results, DRX became the second team behind Leviatán to qualify into the playoffs of Champions 2022. Meanwhile, XSET and FPX will be facing each other up the bracket of Group D while their opponents, XERXIA and KRÜ, fall down to the elimination match.
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