VALORANT Masters Copenhagen: OpTic sweep KRÜ to qualify for playoffs

As the fourth day of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark wrapped up, we now move on from the Group Stage and have completed the lineup of playoff teams.

With their backs against the wall, North American powerhouse and Masters Reykjavik champions OpTic Gaming swept Argentina's KRÜ Esports 2-0 in the Decider Match for Group A to reach the playoffs.

In case you missed it, here’s how OpTic punched their ticket past the group stage.

OpTic Gaming 2 – 0 KRU Esports

Game one: Split

With OpTic picking Split as the map for game one, the Decider Match for a playoffs spot started.

Unfortunately for them, KRÜ managed to draw first blood, taking the first pistol round thanks to Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari winning a 1v1 and completing a defuse with just 0.2 seconds left on the ticker.

Then, in one fell swoop, KRÜ converted the eco-round as well.

Unfazed but with their economy in shambles, OpTic managed to get their first win by round 3, bouncing back with a full utility to secure round 4 as well.

KRÜ would hit OpTic back hard, snatching four consecutive rounds with Klaus at the helm, supported by quick plays from Roberto “Mazino” Rivas and Angelo “keznit” Mori, who was racking up points by the end of round 8.

However, that streak would be stopped by Austin “crashies” Roberts, who swung into action with a 2K to stop a defuse and take a round for OpTic.

Despite this, the team would still go into halftime 7-5, in favor of KRÜ.

By the second half, however, things would turn completely around for the North American squad.

Starting with an easy win on the second pistol round, OpTic would continue winning rounds despite plenty of pushback from their LATAM challengers.

By round 15, Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker would bag a 4K, one of the only two in the whole round (the other by his squad mate Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen).

Come round 19, OpTic still wouldn’t let KRÜ take another round, and Marved would put the team at match point with a smooth 3K.

Shortly, OpTic closed the match at 13-7 to win Split, stringing together eight consecutive rounds after a rocky start.

Game two: Haven

Haven started the same way, with the pistol round going in KRÜ's favor via a showdown and defuse in A site, eager to get a headstart.

Unfortunately for them, OpTic were able to easily carry the momentum from earlier, winning the five succeeding rounds off the backs of yay, Marved, and Victor “Victor” Wong.

In retaliation, KRÜ would take round seven for themselves, but OpTic responded in a similar manner by winning another five consecutive rounds, complete with a 3K clutch from Marved by round 12.

With a 10-2 lead by OpTic, KRÜ managed to still win four rounds during the second half, but it wasn’t enough for the North American squad to falter, as they only needed a few good rounds on defense to win.

And win they did, as OpTic closed out the series at Haven with a 13-6 victory.

With Wednesday's results, OpTic finally secured the last slot at the playoffs, extending their stay at Masters Copenhagen, where we’re hoping that they’ll gun for a repeat of their Masters Reykjavik performance.

Thanks to an early tournament loss to Guild Esports, OpTic had to take the long way to get to the playoffs. They first had to boot LOUD in a nail-biting series that almost eliminated them from the tournament before their Decider Match against KRÜ.

Meanwhile, KRÜ exit the tournament alongside Japan's Northeption. Both teams bow out in 9th-10th place and with US$15,000 and 200 VCT circuit points in consolation.

OpTic now joins Guild Esports, DRX, and FunPlus Phoenix as the four Group Stage teams to qualify for the Masters Copenhagen Playoffs.

Those four qualified teams will face off against EMEA's Fnatic, North America's XSET, APAC's Paper Rex, and LATAM's Leviatán, who all earned direct Playoff seeds as the champions of their respective regional Challengers events.

The Playoffs will be a double-elimination bracket, with all of the matches being a best-of-three save for the lower bracket finals and grand finals, which will follow a best-of-five format.

All Playoff teams will start in the upper bracket, with the seeded teams facing off against the qualified teams. Here are the matchups for the upper bracket quarterfinals:

• Paper Rex vs Guild Esports

• Fnatic vs FunPlus Phoenix

• Leviatán vs DRX

• XSET vs OpTic Gaming

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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