EDward Gaming took down Xi Lai Gaming in a closely contested series to become the VCT CN Stage 1 champion. With the conclusion of the tournament, we know that Dragon Ranger Gaming will join the two finalists at VALORANT Masters London.
Coincidentally, during the group stage, Dragon Ranger Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming, and EDward Gaming were all part of Group Omega. These teams placed in the top three there too.
The playoff stage of the tournament was crucial as three spots at VALORANT Masters London were up for grabs. As All Gamers and Xi Lai Gaming were the table toppers in their respective groups, they were given a bye to the upper bracket semifinal. One win and they would qualify for VALORANT Masters London.
In their first match in the playoffs, Dragon Ranger Gaming faced off against EDward Gaming and lost 2-1, pushing them into the lower bracket and on the brink of elimination.
Xi Lai Gaming and EDG won their respective upper bracket semifinal matches 2-0 and qualified for VALORANT Masters London.
In the lower bracket, Dragon Ranger Gaming went on a flawless run, winning three matches in a row. This helped them secure their spot in the lower bracket final and punch their ticket to London.
The upper bracket final, on the other hand, was a one-sided affair as EDG defeated Xi Lai Gaming 2-0.
In the grand final, Xi Lai Gaming won the first map but couldn’t make the most of the lead, losing the next two maps. By map five, we could see the exhaustion start to set in for Xi Lai Gaming’s players.
EDward Gaming took advantage of this and trashed them 13-4 to become the champions of VCT CN Stage 1.
Image credit: Riot Games
Prior to VCT CN Stage 1, a huge part of the VALORANT community had simply brushed off the Chinese region. The reason for this was due to the run of form all three teams had during VALORANT Masters Santiago. The two teams that played in the Swiss Stage, namely Xi Lai Gaming and EDward Gaming, didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
All Gamers had received a bye to the playoffs, but got eliminated by Paper Rex in the lower bracket.
Furthermore, we have seen Chinese players pick Neon a lot. The agent could be getting big nerfs in the upcoming patch.
We have already seen teams in all regions start pivoting away from Neon, Yoru, and Waylay as their primary duelist. In the grand final, we saw Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang from EDG and Arthur “Rarga” Churyumov playing Neon.
If they are able to pivot to other duelist agents, then it would be quite beneficial for those teams. In the case that they can’t, we might see history repeating itself with all VCT CN teams being eliminated early at VALORANT Masters London.
Read also: Global Esports and Full Sense make history by qualifying for VALORANT Masters London
Featured image credit: Riot Games
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