The second week of the EMEA VCT Challengers One main event was an exciting one, with an opening day that featured both teams in last year’s Champions grand finals losing their respective matches. The action-packed week saw the VALORANT teams at the top and the bottom begin to separate. Those on top now are eyeing playoffs and those at the bottom are trying to avoid relegation.
Both Fnatic and G2 Esports put together impressive victories in week two, spearheaded by spectacular performances by players from each team. And despite Gambit’s surprising loss, the play from one of their stars was so marvelous that he still carved out a spot in this week’s 2022 EMEA VCT Challenges One Team of the Week.
Duelist: G2’s nukkye
Nukkye’s explosive showing on Raze propelled G2 Esports into the win column and himself into the top-rated spot of this week’s Team of the Week. His 353 ACS was the highest individual score during a single map, as was his 2.00 K/D and 244.5 Average Damage per Round (ADR).
Surprisingly, his attack side with the offensively oriented Raze was somewhat lackluster. It was on the defensive side where he shined the brightest, notching a kill in every second-half round, including four kills in the pistol round to get him going. He posted an unreal 528 ACS in just the second half, which was boosted by a perfect three-for-three performance on opening duels.
Sentinel: Fnatic’s Boaster
Fnatic have been thriving since Boaster moved toward splitting his time between both KAY/O and Sage. But just like in week one, his performance on Sage stood higher against BBL Esports.
Fittingly for a Sage, Boaster’s play improved on the defensive side, using Sage’s wall and slow orbs on Icebox to create opportune plays for himself and his teammates. He notched the most kills and assists on his team in the first half, supplemented by five multi-kill rounds, which included two triples.
Flex: G2’s hoody
Hoody’s all-around performance on both Sage and Breach during G2’s match against SMB was not outdone by his teammate nukkye’s play. Across both maps and both agents, he went a perfect five-for-five in opening duels, gifting his team an early advantage at several pivotal moments.
On Sage, his healing ability aided the entry plays made by his teammates in nukkye and keloqz, as hoody ended up with 10 assists to go along with 18 kills of his own. With Breach he was the primary playmaker on Haven, facilitating attack rounds with opening kills, flash assists, and a server-high 12 kills in the second half to seal a G2 series win.
Initiator: Fnatic’s braveaf
Braveaf is looking like one of the best Sova mains in the EMEA region, as Fnatic’s newest addition already appears comfortable playing alongside his new teammates. He secured 40 kills in the series and finished with server-highs in Average Combat Score (ACS), ADR, K/D, Headshot percentage (HS%), and First Blood percentage (FB%).
He had a decent showing on Icebox with just 12 kills against only seven deaths, but he wasn’t asked to do much with Derke, Boaster, and Mistic all putting forth excellent performances. On Ascent though, he shined with 23 kills and seven assists via six multi-kill rounds.
Controller: Gambit’s Chronicle
Despite the loss, Chronicle put on an outstanding performance against FPX in a series that could have easily gone Gambit’s way in two or three maps, if not for just a couple of rounds. Gambit ended up winning more rounds during the series than FPX did, stemming from a nice 69 kills from Chronicle.Â
The Viper/Brimstone player led the server in all major statistical categories as well, except for total multi-kill rounds and headshot percentage. He led his team in kills across all three maps, including a 30-kill performance in the opening overtime loss on Fracture.
