After 2 weeks of tournament play, VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen has come to an end. In an event that featured fierce battles for VALORANT betting followers, the Grand Final was extended to the fifth game in front of packed stands. In the end, FunPlus Phoenix, the EMEA representative, took the trophy after all the difficulties. Here is a recap of the tournament and the playoff process:
Group Stage
The group stage of Masters Copenhagen has started with 8 teams participating. These 8 teams came from different parts of the world to represent their regions and countries. All teams successfully passed their regional qualifiers and qualified for the second international event of 2022. They came from EMEA, Korea, North America, APAC, Brazil, Japan and LATAM vs BR playoffs.
The 8 teams were divided into two groups of 4 teams each to start the first phase of the tournament. After the draws, Group A was considered the group of death. Because Guild Esports, OpTic Gaming, KRÜ Esports and LOUD took part here. In Group B, DRX, FunPlus Phoenix, Northeption and XERXIA competed against each other.
In the Group Stage, all matches were played as best-of-three. Unlike usual for esports betting fans, this was a double-elimination GSL format. This means that the teams with 2 wins advanced to the next round, while the teams with 2 losses were eliminated from the tournament. Especially in Group A, there were some surprising results. So much so that the finalist of the last Masters, Brazilian representative LOUD, surprised everyone and said goodbye to the tournament without a win. Guild Esports, OpTic Gaming, DRX and FunPlus Phoenix managed to beat their opponents and made it to the playoffs.
Playoffs
Some regional winners started the event directly from the playoffs. Paper Rex, Fnatic, XSET and Leviathan were these teams. After the teams that made it out of the group stage, the bracket here was also determined. After winning their first round matches, Paper Rex vs Fnatic, DRX vs OpTic Gaming were paired in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, XSET and Guild Esports, who also lost their lower-bracket matches, bid early farewell to the tournament in the first round. After the series, Paper Rex and FunPlus Phoenix became the last two teams.
Grand Final
Unlike the tournament as a whole, the final was played as a best-of-five and saw a lot of action. With two different styles, the teams did their best to outplay each other. FPX started the series in a great way. On Bind, their opponent’s first map of choice, they countered all of their plays and won the match 13-3.
Such a score was not expected in the final series. However, Paper Rex didn’t let this result dampen their spirits and immediately won Icebox 13-7 to even the series. Now it was FPX’s turn to win. Despite their opponent picking the map again, FPX won 13-7 with a great performance in the second half, bringing the series to 2-1.
The teams continued to get the same results. Because Paper Rex won the next map 13-7 and it all came down to the last map, Breeze. Here the match went head-to-head and individual plays and small mistakes decided the fate of the final. In the end, FPX won 13-9 and became the champion of the VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters Copehagen.
Shao made a big contribution to his team’s victory with 82 kills, while Jinggg could not prevent the defeat with 95 kills. After these results, both teams guaranteed their participation in the Champions to be held in Istanbul.
