After two action-packed weeks, we’re halfway through the VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers. The upcoming week of the event is crucial for the participants as some teams are at the edge of losing their playoff hopes. Featuring six total matchups, the tournament will bring the highest competition to our screens. Let’s take a look into the best series of the week
Fnatic – Acend
Two giants of Europe will clash on the opening day of week 3. Being one of the undefeated teams in the event, Fnatic wants to strengthen its spot at the top, while Acend looks for a recovery following the loss against Guild Esports last week.
Starting VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers with a victory against SuperMassive Blaze, Acend got its first upset in the second week in an undesired way. In the series versus Guild, the last world champion struggled to fight back its opponent. Acend’s players couldn’t stop Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel and they were inadequate individually. Thus, they had to face a tough loss.
Things aren’t as bad as seen for Acend. The roster dealt with some COVID-19 situations last week and the team’s performance is expected to improve once the players regain their health. Turkish superstar Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek was the key player for Acend with his 1.19 Rating and 256 ACS in the first two weeks.
Fnatic, on the other hand, is in better form than its opponent. The European powerhouse is coming into this series after two flawless weeks in the league. The consecutive victories against G2 Esports and BBL Esports increased the confidence of Fnatic and this will be one of the driving forces for the team versus Acend.
That being said, Fnatic has some weaknesses as well. Despite putting enormous performances on its own maps, the European giant stumbled on other maps. In the series that will likely extend to the third map, this point will be vital.
Fnatic’s smoker James “Mistic” Orfila had a brilliant start to the VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers. He generated 1.24 Rating and 235 ACS so far and he needs to continue his performance to help Fnatic take Acend down this week.
G2 Esports – BBL Esports
The next matchup of the week is G2 Esports versus BBL Esports, the teams which made some changes in their rosters. Regardless of the triumph against SuperMassive Blaze last week, G2 revealed the return of Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas as the replacement of Cista “keloqz” Wassim. In January, the organization made the opposite alteration following the upsetting result in the EMEA Stage 1 Closed Qualifier.
Mixwell returning to the active roster will likely change the dynamics of the roster. We can see no-Jett compositions from G2 Esports in the series versus BBL.
Negative results led BBL Esports to take actions on the organizational side of the team. This week, the Turkish team promoted Sezgin “Fabre” Kalaycı, who was a mental coach, as the head coach of the roster. The team’s previous head coach Berke “Vlad” Kantürk will continue his duty as the assistant coach.
With the leadership of Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas, who is leading his team with 1.22 Rating, G2 Esports is the favorite of the series. However, BBL Esports will give everything it has not to lose its dreams of qualifying for the playoffs.
Update: VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers Week 3 matches have been postponed due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The altered schedule is not yet known.
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