Fnatic Finally Lift Their First Valorant Trophy In A Nailbitting Final

Spread the love

Read Time:2 Minute, 34 Second

By: Hypron || Mar 5, 2023

Nobody anticipated the VCT LOCK/IN grand finals between Fnatic and LOUD to play out the way they did, but history was bound to be created at their conclusion.

The beginning of the series was practically an exact replica of Fnatic’s victory over NAVI the day before. With a spectacular performance from the teenage Leo on Sova and a tenacious defensive effort that limited legendary LOUD duelist aspas to only eight kills, Fnatic easily defeated LOUD on their choice of Ascent to open the series.

The best aspect of Fnatic’s map selection of Fracture was also defense. After a 6-6 first half, Fnatic almost totally shut down LOUD on the Brazilians’ offensive side, losing only the bonus round in the second half and repeatedly stifling LOUD’s executions.

Aspas woke up and made space for LOUD to plant safe plants on Split, LOUD began to gather momentum. Less stepped up with some outstanding plays, and LOUD was able to hand Fnatic their first map loss of the whole tournament despite Fnatic’s best efforts on the attack.

FLAWLESS round from @FNATIC to get 11! #VCTLOCKIN pic.twitter.com/94kfg3d376
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 4, 2023

To bring it all the way back, LOUD would have to win on a map they hadn’t played all tournament, Fnatic’s choice of Lotus. Despite trailing 0-3 at the start, LOUD produced an excellent attack side, winning numerous close post-plants and taking a 7-5 half-time lead. But their best work came on defense, where they used a utility to masterfully wind down the clock and force desperate plays from Fnatic, winning a second straight map 13-8.

LOUD waltzed onto another strong Fnatic map pick on Icebox with their best attack side of the series, exerting full control of the map and crushing the Fnatic defense with a 9-3 first half, with all the momentum in the world and the raucous home crowd behind them. Despite LOUD taking pistol and anti-eco, Fnatic began an incredible comeback, winning nine consecutive rounds to take a 12-11 lead before LOUD scraped a defensive round in the final round of regulation to force overtime.

.@Alfajervl IS A BEAST!!! #VCTLOCKIN pic.twitter.com/PLSRoKzYP9
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 4, 2023

Fnatic crunched the B site on the attack to complete the improbable Icebox comeback and avoid what would have been a historic grand finals collapse, silencing the Brazilian crowd.

After being a unanimous top international VALORANT team for two years, Fnatic has finally won the long-coveted trophy. Most of the roster is lifting their first trophy, but Chronicle made history by becoming the first VALORANT player to win two different international VCT trophies, having lifted a trophy with Gambit at Masters Berlin 2021. LOUD, for their part, came up just short of becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships.

For More Such Gaming/ Esports, Sci-fi, and Superheroes Movies News do check out our Social Media Handles. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.