VALORANT Masters Copenhagen: FunPlus Phoenix knock out Guild Esports to stay alive

Day seven of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday (16 July) saw the first teams get eliminated from the event's playoffs stage.

In a do-or-die match between two EMEA representatives, FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) emerged victorious after they beat Guild Esports with a nail-biting 2-1 victory to stay alive in Masters Copenhagen.

In case you missed it, here’s how the elimination match between FPX and Guild went down:

FunPlus Phoenix 2 – 1 Guild Esports

Game one: Ascent

As the match started in Ascent, Guild quickly took the first two rounds, thanks to some quick kills from Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko.

However, during the first full-buy round for both teams, Andrey “Shao” Kirpsky managed to pull off a couple of quick frags inside the bombsite to bring FPX their first point.

That was quickly followed with smooth executions and teamwork, as FPX also secured the next three rounds to put themselves on the lead.

Unfazed, Guild struck back, with Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel putting on one of his best Operator performances as he picked off enemies one-by-one. Despite that, Guild finished the first half down 5-7 to FPX.

FPX further widened the gap by claiming the second pistol round and two succeeding rounds, but Guild managed to stop the bleeding thanks to trexx. With only 1 hp left and no other teammates alive, trexx’s Raze managed to execute a 3K.

Eventually, Guild closed the distance by tying the score at 10-10, but FPX wouldn’t budge and took the lead again at 12-10.

Guild took another round to put the match at 12-11, but was stopped in their tracks by Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilusyhin.

Arriving late to the tournament because of his visa, the Russian player pulled off an aggressive 4K in mid to close the match at 13-11.

Game two: Breeze

Rearing from their loss in game one, Guild started aggressive on Breeze, and it wasn’t long before it paid off.

With excellent performances from Russel “Russ” Mendes, Jose Luis “koldamenta” Aranguren Herrero and Sayf, Guild flawlessly won five rounds in a row.

To that end, FPX provided some pushback but failed to make any mark, leading into a half-time score of 12-0, in favor of Guild.

FPX finally made a dent in Guild’s perfect scoreboard by the second half, winning the first three rounds.

Unfortunately for them, it would be their last on Breeze.

Guild took control once more and seamlessly rode their way to victory at 13-3 in one of the quickest matches of the series and force the match to a deciding game three.

Game three: Bind

For the decider, both teams took to Bind, where FPX quickly won the first five rounds to take vengeance and put a large dent in Guild’s economy early in the game.

Guild finally scored by round 6, only to be followed by a back-and-forth between the two.

Fortunately, koldamenta was able to clutch a 1v2 to give Guild another point, but the first half still ended at 9-3 in FPX’s favor.

Come the second half, FPX’s unrelenting aggression continued, winning them three rounds back-to-back to further widen the gap and leave Guild gasping for air.

With their backs against the wall, Guild made one final pushback to score another point at round 16.

Unfortunately, their defense would be shattered by Pontus “Zyppan” Eek, who danced right in the middle of a showdown with his Spectre to clutch a 3K and close the series at 13-4.

With Saturday’s results, FPX stay alive at Masters Copenhagen while also securing their participation in the upcoming VALORANT Champions 2022 Istanbul in September.

Alongside Leviatán, who defeated XSET in the other elimination match of round one of the lower bracket, FPX advance to the lower bracket quarterfinals and will face the losers of the upper bracket semifinal matches.

Meanwhile, Guild and XSET are eliminated from the tournament in 7th-8th place and will go home with US$25,000 and 250 VCT circuit points in consolation.

Masters Copenhagen will see 12 of the top VALORANT teams from all over the world clashing with each other from 10 to 24 July, all for the chance to reign victorious as the Copenhagen champions and claim a spot in VALORANT Champions 2022 in Istanbul come September.

For everything you need to know about Masters Copenhagen, check here.

Feb has been trying to speedrun Super Mario 64 ever since he started playing video games at 11 years old. He has never succeeded, but has completed other video games in the time since. When not playing, he's usually playing music or building Gunpla.

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