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LOUD Eliminate Tournament Favorites Fnatic from Champions 2023

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LOUD Eliminate Tournament Favorites Fnatic from Champions 2023

LOUD have defeated Fnatic for the second time at Champions 2023, eliminating them from the biggest Valorant tournament of the year

After winning LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo, Fnatic looked excellent this year and were the favorites to win the Champions as well. On the other hand, doubts were still in the air around LOUD, as even after winning the Americas League, they faced an early 0-2 exit from the Masters this year. As a result, in their second-ever matchup in the Champions’ Upper Quarterfinals, the Brazilians were expected to face another defeat against the kings of the EMEA region. However, it panned out quite differently, as, in a massive upset, LOUD beat Fnatic in a 2-0 domination, kicking them down to the Lower Bracket.

This lower bracket game was their second encounter at Champions 2023, and losing would mean the end of the journey for one of these squads. While the match went to map three with LOUD winning, it looked very one-sided on the maps Fnatic lost when you notice the round differentials. 

Dominating 13-4 Start for LOUD on Split

Fnatic appeared far from their excellent form on Split, their own map pick, as LOUD didn’t allow them to have more than four rounds. The Brazilian squad’s IGL Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro secured the highest kills with a 17-11 K-D. At the same time, Felipe “Less” Basso was the MVP with 272 ACS, and he is on his way to becoming the best player of the tournament through his consistent scores and excellent clutches.

On the other hand, Fnatic suffered to take map control against the Breach and Astra comp, and even though Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev had the most first kills, he ended the map with a negative K-D, which was a bad start for the star Duelist for the European squad.

Fnatic’s Comeback on Ascent

Ascent started looking like a 2-0 victory for LOUD as they ended the first half 7-5 with the help of great entries and multi-frags on attack by their star Duelist Erick “aspas” Santos. The Jett player ended the half with 15 kills and 8 deaths but couldn’t manage to keep up this dominating form on the defense. 

Fnatic’s IGL Jake “Boaster” Howlett had an incredible performance on the winning map, which is a rare sight as we usually see players like Derke and Emir “Alfajer” Beder secure the leading spots. Leo “Leo” Jannesson from the European side became the MVP of the map with 251 ACS, and on the other hand, Less had a significant dip in his performance with the lowest ACS and a K-D of 6-17.

LOUD’s Harbor-Viper Comp Destroyed Fnatic on Haven

Fnatic were failing to get space with the Harbor and Viper wall and smokes from the Brazilians blocking their path on the attack, and LOUD ended the first half with an 8-4 lead. Derke failed to get kills on most of his entries, ending the attacking half with a disappointing 4-12 K-D. On the other hand, aspas managed to get a 14-5 K-D on defense.

LOUD took advantage of such a massive lead and went with full confidence in their attacking half. Unlike Derke, aspas secured great entries for his team with a 12-5 K-D, and he ended the map with 26 kills in only 10 deaths, securing the highest number of frags in the server throughout the entire series. 

In the Bo3, aspas was the clear MVP, with 258 ACS and 59 kills, and having their star Jett player on his best form helped LOUD secure the top 3 spot at this Champions, and they will be hoping for their second trophy in two years in a row in Los Angeles.

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LOUD Eliminate Tournament Favorites Fnatic from Champions 2023

Credit: LOUD via X

With this victory, LOUD have made it to the Lower Final Best of 5, where they will be facing Evil Geniuses, who are coming from a loss against Paper Rex in the Upper Final. This will be their fourth matchup against the North Americans, and looking at their previous encounter at Masters Tokyo, Evil Geniuses will be the favorites of the series. The winner of this Bo5 will secure the Grand Final against Paper Rex to compete for the biggest trophy of Valorant in 2023 and a prize of $1M. Stay tuned for our predictions on this exciting matchup.