Fnatic and G2 Esports dodge VALORANT Masters Toronto elimination

VCT Americas team G2 Esports and EMEA’s Fnatic have survived their first round of VALORANT Masters Toronto elimination matches to continue their lower-bracket Playoffs run.

Meanwhile, VCT China’s XLG Esports and Pacific’s Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) have to pack their bags after being defeated by their North American and EMEA rivals, respectively.

After a disappointing start at Masters Toronto, it was do or die for G2 Esports and XLG Esports. Just like on Thursday, VCT China Stage 1 champion RRQ struggled to enable its star duelist Arthur ‘Rarga’ Churyumov while playing with last-minute stand-in Zhang ‘Midi’ Jiajun.

On the other hand, Americas’ Stage 1 winner G2 redeemed itself with a dominant 2-0 victory in the lower bracket.

G2 had a blast on XLG’s map pick, Icebox. After losing its attack pistol round, the Chinese roster was utterly overwhelmed by G2’s old-school Icebox team composition, featuring Sage. G2 used its agent utility confidently, whereas XLG seemed to struggle adjusting to the new Tejo-less meta at Masters Toronto. Throughout the match, XLG could only claim three rounds in total, including the second pistol.

On Haven, G2 debuted an Omen-Viper team composition in combination with Vyse. The team’s creativity paid off as G2 converted several well-prepared strategies. Despite losing another pistol, the squad ended its defence half at 7-5. Impressive frags from XLG’s Rarga on Yoru were not enough to fight back against G2’s superior team coordination. G2 took the second pistol round and the second map 13-8.

Nathan ‘leaf’ Orf helped his team secure its first win of the tournament with consistent frags and clutches on Killjoy and Vyse. The sentinel player achieved a 42/17 kill-death ratio and 303 average combat score (ACS) throughout the series.

The second Playoffs elimination match had EMEA fans breathe a sigh of relief as the region’s last hope at Masters Toronto survived elimination. VCT EMEA Stage 1 champion Fnatic had to channel all its strategic ingenuity to send home the valiant Pacific Stage 1 winner, RRQ.

In the mirror-comp matchup on Lotus, Fnatic masterfully demonstrated how to play against its signature team composition. Leveraging the Odin, Operator and Killjoy utility, the EMEA squad locked down most of RRQ’s site executes. Despite winning the first pistol round, RRQ suffered a 3-9 half. Fnatic then kicked off its attack half with a pistol-round win to confidently secure its map pick 13-5.

On Haven, it was RRQ’s time to teach its opponent a lesson with a Neon-Yoru variation of Fnatic’s double-duelist team composition. The Pacific team had a dominant 10-2 attack half, displaying better game plans and map awareness than Fnatic. On top of that, Maksim ‘Jemkin’ Batarov on Yoru delivered 18 kills in the first half alone. Meanwhile, Emir ‘Alfajer’ Beder had another quiet Haven on Iso. On defence, RRQ stole two spike defuses right under Fnatic’s nose to claim Haven 13-6.

To ensure its survival in the tournament, Fnatic surprised RRQ with a curveball on Ascent in the form of a Chamber-Vyse combination. Capitalising on Vyse lurks for consistent map control and information, Fnatic won the first pistol round and secured a 9-3 attack half. Although RRQ stole the second pistol, Fnatic’s impressive map preparation was too much to overcome. The EMEA team won Ascent 13-5.

Having eliminated XLG and RRQ, G2 and Fnatic are heading towards their Lower Bracket Quarterfinals on June 17^th.

The Upper Bracket Semifinals between the four undefeated Playoffs contestants will take place tomorrow (June 16^th).

The winners will then advance to the Upper Bracket Final – only one win away from the Grand Final on June 22^nd. Fans can follow along via VALORANT’s official Twitch and YouTube broadcasts.