VCT EMEA Kickoff has finally begun in all its glory. VCT EMEA is one of the four leagues in the Valorant Partnership League. With fans worldwide speculating which teams would make it to the playoffs. 11 teams at the VCT EMEA Kickoff will face each other in a GSL tournament format. The teams that win both their matches in their group stages will qualify for the playoff phase. The first day consisted of 2 thrilling matches which kept fans on their toes. Here's a recap of Day 1 of the VCT EMEA Kick Group Stage.
Also Read: Recap Of Valorant Challengers League 2024 DACH Evolution: Split 1
VCT EMEA Begins With Team Heretics Proving Their Dominance Against FUT Esports
The last time fans saw Team Heretics perform in a Valorant lan environment was during the HereticsXP show match against Karmine Corp. They went on to lose that game putting doubts into the minds of certain analysts regarding their playstyle. In this matchup, FUT Esports had quite a lot of momentum on their side. In December 2023, they won the VCT Convergence Off//Season event that took place in India. During the grand finals, they defeated their fellow EMEA team in Team Vitality.
This B03 series between Team Heretics & FUT Esports was all about which team had the stronger mentality. The first map was none other than Lotus which was the pick for Team Heretics. In an incredible turn of events, FUT Esports won the first 4 rounds, turning the tide in their favor.
The highlight from the first half of the map was none other than an ACE by AtaKaptan. On the map of Lotus, he was playing Breach and got the ace with a stinger on an eco-buy. The first half of the map ended with a score of 7-5 to FUT Esports. FUT Esports took the pistol round in their favor but couldn’t capitalize on the momentum. When the game reached the 21st round the score was 10-10 and finally ended with a score of 13-11 to Team Heretics.
On the Map of Bind, it was clear to all that Team Heretics wanted to finish the series on this map. The first half ended with a score of 7-5 to Team Heretics. From FUT Esports, MrFailiN was incredible on the Gekko. As the momentum slowly shifted away from his team in round 9, he came up clutch getting the first kill in the round and finishing the round with a 3K. In the second half of Bind, Team Heretics went all guns blazing, securing the map with a score of 13-10 and taking them one step closer to the playoffs phase of the VCT EMEA Kickoff.
If there are two players who fans should keep an eye on it's none other than Boo and MiniBoo. Boo was the primary controller for their team and ended both maps with a KDA of 52/29/17. Miniboo was their primary duelist who ended the game with a KDA of 43/34/11, securing the highest number of first kills in the entire series.
Karmine Corp Makes It Through In A Close Affair Against GIANTX
The next game of VCT EMEA Kickoff was between Karmine Corp and GIANTX. This game was quite a wild ride to watch due to all the twists and turns. Map 1 was on Split, which was the map pick of Karmine Corp. The first half of the map ended with a scoreline of 6-6. Instead of using the common pick of Skye, Karmine Corp opted to select Fade as their initiator. The map of Split ended with a scoreline of 13-11 to Karmine Corp. The winning team brought back the double duelist step up in Raze and Yoru for this game. They primarily used Yoru, who was played by Marteen as another initiator to gather as much information before they could attack a site.
Map 2 was GIANTX's pick and they selected Sunset. On this map, they played a unique team composition including Sage. This map ended with a scoreline of 13-10 to GIANTX taking the game to Map 3. Karmine Corp did lose the map but there was one player who was a ray of hope and it was tomaszy. Previously, he was the primary duelist for his team but on Karmine Corp he was playing Viper. On this map, he ended with a KDA of 19/16/7 with 3 first bloods.
Map 3 was Lotus and this was simply a one-sided affair that no one expected. Karmine Corp won the first 7 rounds on this map and ended the first half with a score of 9-3. Tomaszy was on top form as they were on defense and secured 3 first bloods. Magnum on Killjoy knew how to anchor his site and did so with an incredible KDA of 15/5/3 on the 12 rounds of defense.
During the second half of the map, it did feel like GIANTX had lost its momentum completely and could only secure one round. The map of Lotus ended with a scoreline of 13-4. The core of N4RRATE, MAGNUM & Tomaszy is easily a site to watch due to their understanding of each other positions and roles as well as the sheer firepower that they have in them.
Team Heretics will face off against Karmine Corp in the Upper Bracket Finals of this group with the winner qualifying for the playoffs phase. FUT Esports will be facing off against GIANTX with the loser being eliminated from the event and the winner facing off against the loser of the upper bracket finals to secure a spot in the play-ins phase.
