Masters 1 Reykjavik – LOUD and OpTic Gaming in Upper Bracket Finals
The Masters 1 Reykjavik has been in full swing for a few days and is already reaching the final stages. During the Easter weekend, the lower bracket matches started and the semi-finals took place. At the end of these matches, it is finally LOUD and OpTic Gaming who qualified for the final of the Upper Bracket.
The semi-finals of the Masters 1 took place on Saturday 17th April. The first one opposed LOUD to G2 Esports and the second one OpTic Gaming to DRX. We give you a recap of these two matches.
OpTic Gaming VS DRX
The first semi-final was between OpTic Gaming and DRX. Hostilities began on Ascent and DRX quickly established themselves with a very aggressive game. Out of the first six rounds, the team won five and led the score 9-3 at half time. However, the Americans had not yet said the last word and stood out once they went on attack. Marved did an exemplary job with his Omen, but DRX still managed to secure four rounds which ensured them a win 13-8 on this first map.
On Icebox, the two teams fought it out and the first phase of play was very close. Victor and Zest each made sparks fly in their respective rosters. However, at side change, it was DRX who were leading very slightly 7-5. Once again, the OpTic Gaming players showed their full potential by taking on the role of strikers. Although the Koreans won the first two rounds of the second phase of play, the Americans secured the next six thanks to an excellent performance by crashies on Sova. This second map therefore ended in 13-11 in favour of OpTic.
Split was the last map and certainly the most contested, leading the teams to play overtime. The score was 6-6 at half-time, after a lot of hard work by yay and Marved on the OpTic side, and MaKo DRX side. At the beginning of the second half, the Americans took the lead thanks to a very nice ace of crashies. However, the Koreans did not give up and both teams won successive rounds, bringing the score to 12-11 in favour of OpTic. Extra time then began and Zest was once again exemplary. Nevertheless, it was not enough and the American roster finally won in 15-13, qualifying for the Upper Bracket final.
DRX then switched to the lower bracket but lost 2-1 to ZETA DIVISION, thus ending its participation in the Masters 1.
G2 Esports VS LOUD
G2 Esports was the last European hope, as Fnatic did not make it past the group stage and Team Liquid was eliminated in the lower bracket by ZETA DIVISION. Unfortunately, the team lost 2-0 to LOUD, the Brazilian seed 1.
The meeting once again started with Ascent, this was a map chosen by LOUD and on which the team was still unbeaten since the beginning of the season. The team had a big advantage from the start. Led by Less , the Brazilians won the first six rounds. The G2 players still managed to win the next three rounds, but the score was 9-3 in favour of LOUD at half time. Once the Europeans went on the offensive, they secured the first two rounds, including a magnificent 1v3 fromAvovA. However, the Brazilians quickly regained the lead and sealed the score 13-5.
On Breeze, G2 Esports took the lead straight away, bringing the score to 3-1, but LOUD responded by winning four rounds. The Europeans then called a timeout but this did not have the desired results as the Brazilians continued their momentum to secure three more rounds. They led 8-4 at the end of the first phase of play. The match became tighter once the roles were reversed. The two teams fought it out and G2 even managed to win four rounds in a row. They ended the second phase of play at 7-5, but this was not enough to stop the Brazilians, who won 13-11.
LOUD thus qualified for the Upper Bracket final. G2 Esports, on the other hand, fell into the lower bracket and was beaten 2-0 by Paper Rex, thus being eliminated from the Masters.
The next Masters meeting will take place on 22nd April at 7pm and will therefore oppose LOUD and OpTic Gaming for the Upper Bracket Final.
In the lower bracket, ZETA DIVISION and Paper Rex have defeated all their opponents so far. The two teams will face each other on 22nd April at 10 pm to see which of them will go to the lower final and then try to participate in the Grand Final.
To follow these matches, go to the official Twitch channel of Valorant.
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