Cover-Credits:
Day 4 of Valorant Champions 2022 started with the opening matches of Group C and for the first time, we saw the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen champion FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) play in Istanbul, Turkey. The EMEA squad was tasked with taking on the Latin American powerhouse KRÜ Esports in the second best-of-three (BO3) series of the day. It looked like FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) were the heavy favorites coming into the match but was put to the test by KRÜ. However, FPX closed out the series with a 2-0 scoreline.
Map 1 Icebox, which was KRÜ’s pick, quickly turned into a nightmare situation for FPX. But the EMEA squad turned things around and won it in overtime. Bind was also close but FPX won the map and subsequently the series with a 13-10 record.
After the conclusion of the series, AFK Gaming spoke with FPX’s in-game leader (FPX) Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov who reflected on the team’s mammoth comeback on Icebox and what went wrong for the squad on the defending side. We also caught up with KRÜ Esports’ IGL Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari and discussed the potential reasons for teams shying away from Pearl at Valorant Champions 2022.
ANGE1 says FPX had a slow start on Icebox
ANGE1 acknowledged that KRÜ Esports’ members were shooting well and that they won a lot of duels. “We were warming up and we had to take our time. We had a slow start but we warmed up, our communication got better in the second half.”
After going 9-3 in the first half of the map on defense, FPX won the pistol round on attack and gained momentum. The score crept up to 7-9 and FPX managed to equal the score eventually on Round 22. The very next round KRÜ struck back but again FPX pushed the map onto overtime where it won comfortably.
Talking about the team’s comeback ANGE1 said, “Attacking halves usually are a bit easier for us.”
KRÜ Klaus shares his thoughts on the low pick rate for Pearl
At Valorant Champions 2022, we have only seen Pearl get picked a few times and the teams that picked the map went on to lose it. Teams including Team Liquid, Boom Esports, Loud Esports, KRÜ Esports, XERXIA, and FURIA have banned it. Klaus talked about some of the reasons why teams are shying away from the new map Pearl to AFK Gaming.
He said, “It’s more a matter of it being a new map, teams just trying to figure it out and also trying to play something else, play the maps they feel comfortable in.” Klaus also opined that most teams right now do not know how to play on Pearl and that they have to experiment with their strategies.
Following this series, FPX will take on XSET in the Winners’ match and KRÜ Esports has been pushed to the Losers’ match against XERXIA.
Click here to read more about Valorant Champions 2022 and to follow the scores and updates from the tournament.
