VCT Stage 2 Masters: Fnatic advance to Grand Finals over NUTURN

fnatic vct stage 2

The Lower Bracket final of VCT’s Stage 2 Masters was played between Fnatic (Region : Europe) and NUTURN (Region : South Korea) in an attempt to book a spot at the event’s Grand Finale. The match-up was won by Fnatic by the scoreline of 2-1. 

Brief Summary

Valorant Champions Tour : Stage 2 masters.

Location : Reykjavík, Iceland. 

Round 5/6 : Fnatic vs NUTURN

Winner advances to the Grand Finale

Map Veto

  • NUTURN ban Icebox
  • Fnatic ban Split
  • Fnatic pick Bind, NUTURN to start on defense
  • NUTURN pick Ascent, Fnatic to start on defense
  • Haven was left over

Map 1: Bind (Fnatic 13-8 Nuturn)

Domagoj “Doma” Fancev and Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev were the main contributors in Fnatic’s comfortable win over NUTURN on Bind. Fnatic came out swinging on Bind, their own map pick as they established an early rhythm on the attacking side. After a brief period of respite early in the half, NUTURN’s defense was ripped apart time after time, eventually ending the first half with the score of 4-8. 

NUTURN after the break were indeed successful in squaring out the round deficit but were yet unable to defy the limits as Fnatic went on to deny the South Korean organization from entering the sites followed by some successful retake attempts. It was Jake “Boaster” Howlett again who came out with his guns blazing and steered Fnatic to a 1-0 lead, thanks to his brilliant 3-kill attempt including that of the spike carrier as well.

Map 2: Ascent (NUTURN 13-8 Fnatic)

The pistol round win on their attack got NUTURN to a flying 6-1 start on Ascent as the South Korean Organization looked prime to build on. A combined effort from Kang “solokr” Keun-chul and Park “allow” Sang-wook eventually put NUTURN in the driver’s seat as Boaster and co looked destitute and listless in the first half. 

A promising start to the second half was soon soured for Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev and his men as Seo “suggest” Jae-young’s 2K on the A-site defense marked the end of the European side with NUTURN winning their map pick, 13-8. 

Map 3: Haven (Fnatic 13-8 Nuturn)

Fnatic faced closed contention in their decider map against NUTURN with both teams remaining dead locked in the first half. Despite Kim “Lakia” Jong-min spearheading NUTURN’s efforts in a bid to maintain their hold over Fnatic, the latter were able to extend their dominance over the first half thanks to Martin “Magnum” Peňkov’s heroics as they closed the first half 8-4. 

Haven barely seemed to be a contest for NUTURN in the second half and led by the raw aim of Derke as well as Boaster, Fnatic went on to extend their lead as they were quite successful in locking down Kang “solo” Keun-chul and co from the triple site map. The European side simply out-aimed and out-gunned NUTURN as they were able to clinch the decider with the score of 13-8 and win the series 2-1. 

Fnatic would now face Sentinels in the Grand Finals of the Valorant Champions Tour : Stage 2 Masters. 

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