We are headed to the final weekend of Masters Copenhagen with only four teams and four matches left. APAC champion Paper Rex, NA #2 and Masters Reykjavík champion OpTic Gaming, EMEA champion Fnatic and EMEA #2 FunPlus Phoenix have survived the competition so far and all will try to secure their grand final tickets.
The undefeated Paper Rex and OpTic Gaming will clash in the upper bracket final. In the lower bracket semi-finals, the two best teams from EMEA, Fnatic and FPX will fight and only one of them will move onto the lower bracket final. Before we move on to the weekend, let’s look at what has happened in the playoffs so far.
Leviatán, DRX and XSET are gone
The playoffs started with some incredible matches due to the format of Masters Copenhagen. For starters, Paper Rex faced the Group A winner Guild Esports in their very first match. While we were expecting for Guild to put up a better fight because of their performance in EMEA and the group stage, PRX quickly advanced with a 2-0 victory.
Following that, Fnatic faced FunPlus Phoenix without their star player SUYGETSU. Fnatic found a quick 2-0 win and advanced to the next round, but we all knew that if SUYGETSU could show up, FPX would have put up a better fight.
FPX proved that in the lower bracket. Their rival was Guild Esports, and just like they did in EMEA Challengers, they took down Guild Esports 2-1, with SUYGETSU taking the MVP award.
The upper bracket saw another disappointment from EMEA, though. EMEA champion Fnatic came to Copenhagen with big hopes and enormous hype, but Paper Rex showed that their victory against Guild wasn’t a fluke. After another 2-0 win with Jinggg taking the MVP, Paper Rex stands out as one of the favourites of VALORANT Masters Copenhagen.
On the other side of the bracket, Leviatán played their first international game against DRX. They were considered the weakest champion here in Masters Copenhagen, and although it wasn’t easy, DRX managed to secure the victory.
NA champion XSET became another disappointment for the VALORANT fans. After winning North America against OpTic, XSET failed to take them down in Masters Copenhagen playoffs and got eliminated in the lower bracket by Leviatán. This was their first international experience, but they were held in higher regard.
Finally, the lower quarter-finals were played. You can check out our comments before the matches were played below:
| Also Read | Two matches are left before the weekend at Masters Copenhagen |
Using the SUYGETSU buff, FunPlus Phoenix managed to take down the Korean champion DRX. DRX was eliminated in the same round in Masters Reykjavík, making this a bigger disappointment than it would be. Although FPX is one of the strongest teams in Copenhagen, DRX should’ve managed more this time.
On the other hand, Fnatic managed to defeat Leviatán as expected. The EMEA champion looked great in their region and has some superstars with immense firepower like Alfajer and Derke. Leviatán fought against FNC honourably but couldn’t outpower such a great team.
The weekend will start with Paper Rex vs OpTic Gaming and Fnatic vs FunPlus Phoenix. We will dive into details for both matchups. You can watch them live on Friday on Luckbox and place your bets on your favourites. Sign up now to claim your 100% bonus before doing that.
Paper Rex and OpTic will stand out as the favourites
Even though FPX and FNC are good teams, the teams that are in the winner bracket showed a better performance since the start of the tournament. Paper Rex took two confident wins against EMEA representatives, while OpTic Gaming first took their revenge against XSET and moved on to take down DRX as well.
Looking at the Masters Copenhagen stats, we can easily deduce that Jinggg is carrying Paper Rex during this incredible journey for them. Playing Raze and Sage, the player has 262.3 average combat score and 156.6 average damage per round. His 1.07 K/D tells a lot about his playstyle: he is there to do the unexpected and even die when his team needs him to.
On the other hand, OpTic continues to stay alive with teamwork. Obviously, yay and Marved still take the team ahead with around 240 ACS each, but they didn’t rely on a superstar to carry them to the upper bracket final. Although OpTic don’t look as confident as Paper Rex, their advantage of being experienced might take them to the grand final.
Can Fnatic manage the comeback?
The Fnatic vs FPX match’s question is straightforward: Can Fnatic come back? We will indeed find an answer on the VALORANT arena, but let’s look at the teams to take a guess. Fnatic fans were deservedly confident after their team’s performance in EMEA Challengers, but their form definitely dropped in Copenhagen. Fnatic even struggled to pull the plug against Leviatán, and FPX wants to take advantage of their weak form.
Looking at Fnatic, we know that they were able to take down EMEA teams with ease because of how well Alfajer and Derke performed. However, you must scroll A LOT to find Alfajer in combat statistics. Both stars of Fnatic have mediocre stats compared to their peers, which affects Fnatic’s chances of taking down FPX significantly.
On the other hand, since SUYGETSU joined, FunPlus Phoenix has only moved up. His stats aren’t too impressive either, but his presence was evident in-game. Thanks to this morale boost and ardiis’ incredible form, 263.5 ACS, 167.1 ADR and 1.36 K/D, FPX will actually face Fnatic as the favourites. They are the better “team”.
Don’t miss these incredible games, as you will see these teams in Champions Istanbul too, the endgame tournament of VALORANT esports. Visit Luckbox to find the live streams for these games and place your bets. Sign up now to grab your 100% bonus that you can use before betting on Luckbox.
