VCT NA LCQ Day 4 Recap

Another day of the VCT NA LCQ is over, and another team has gone home. 


Match 1: FaZe Clan vs. 100 Thieves

The day starts with a showdown between FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves in the Upper Semifinals. 100 Thieves start the series with a Haven map pick.

100 Thieves has been a team consistently good in the pistol rounds and take the first round without much trouble. FaZe would respond by taking the next four. 100 Thieves got off to a sluggish start and wouldn’t recover. FaZe Clan is up 8-4 at the half. 

After dropping the second-half pistol round, 100T suffered from low eco that hampered their ability to mount an effective offense. Asuna was playing pretty well, but the rest of the 100T team were not, with the other four members all posting negative K/D ratios on map 1. Will and stellar, in particular, had horrible performances starting the series. The supamen delivers a brutal 4K in round 19 to give FaZe Clan the map. FaZe takes Haven 13-6. Things aren’t looking good for 100 Thieves. 

But don’t count them out yet. 100 Thieves came out the gate strong on Breeze with a five-round rally. Will switched from Chamber to Neon, and it paid off big time. Will lead the charge, posting an incredible 10-0 K/D ratio in the first five rounds. Will posted an 18-4 stat line in the first half in one of the best performance turnarounds so far in the tournament. 

BABYBAY would take point on countering this reinvigorated 100 Thieves, netting a nice double and defuse in round 9 to keep FaZe Clan from getting blown out in the first half. But with an 8-4 deficit to overcome, FaZe Clan had an uphill battle. 

FaZe would pick up a couple of rounds in the second half, but 100 Thieves had the momentum and wouldn’t let up. Derrek’s Sova decided to join Will in on the fun, with Derrek posting a similarly incredible stat line. A 3K by Derrek in round 19 would set up match point. While flyuh managed to stave off match point in round 20 with a 3K of his own, 100T got the next round to take Breeze. The tables turned in this round, with everyone on FaZe Clan except BABYBAY posting negative K/D ratios. We’re going to a third map. 

Derrek continued his hot streak on Ascent, giving 100 Thieves the early advantage. Once again, 100T’s strength in pistol rounds was paying off.

A clutch 1v2 by Derrek in the eco round 3 and cleanup in the fifth round gave 100 Thieves the early lead. FaZe Clan would take round 6, but a clean retake in round 7 would set up a five-round rally by 100 Thieves. Joining Derrek in map dominance were Asuna and his Kayo with a 3K flawless in round 8. The first half ended with 100 Thieves up 9-3. It seemed like a guarantee that FaZe Clan would drop to the lower bracket. 

The 9-3 Curse Is Real

But this is the VCT NA LCQ, and the 9-3 curse is real, so FaZe Clan had something to say about their current predicament. 

The second half started with a ridiculous 4K flawless pistol round by BABYBAY. What happened next is probably the most shocking turnaround in the tournament. 

Eleven rounds. 

You heard right; eleven rounds of FaZe Clan domination. It’s hard to explain, but we witnessed a complete collapse by 100 Thieves. Asuna was doing his best, but the rest of 100 Thieves wasn’t keeping up. Will switched back to Chamber, and while he didn’t perform as poorly as his Chamber on Haven, he didn’t do well either.

FaZe Clan was on fire, and there was nothing 100 Thieves could do about it. Rounds 17-21 were especially brutal. POISED came alive on the third map and had a nice 4K in round 17. 

BABYBAY was definitely the star of FaZe Clan in this series. He had a sweet 3K with a supamen double cleanup for the flawless in round 19. BABYBAY immediately followed up with a 4K flawless in round 20 and another 3K in round 21 to set up match point. It almost felt like bullying by that point.

Flyuh clutched it out in round 22 to give FaZe Clan the map and series win. 100 Thieves is going to the Lower Bracket. 

Match 2: NRG vs. Evil Geniuses

Next up were NRG and Evil Geniuses. EG decided to take us to Bind for the first map.

EG would pick up the first two rounds before hazed got it going for NRG with a 4K in the third round, followed by a clean retake in round 4.

The first half was a pretty exciting back-and-forth affair, with the rare Thrifty by jawgemo in the fifth round and an NRG flawless in round 6. Halftime saw the score deadlocked at 6-6. We’ve got ourselves a game.

Or at least, that’s what it looked like heading into the second half. Unfortunately for EG, they performed terribly on defense. Ethan kicked off the rally immediately with a 3K and spike plant in round 13, and tex pulled off a clutch 3K in round 14. NRG would go on a seven-round streak to crush Evil Geniuses and take the first map.

The usually stellar Boostio was quiet in the second half, and Reformed posted a terrible 3-16 and 88 ACS on Bind. Every member of NRG, on the other hand, posted a positive K/D ratio. They were off to a great start. How would they do on their map choice Icebox?

NRG takes the pistol round and round 2 to kick off Icebox. EG takes the third round, but a 3K by hazed in round 4 kicks off a four-round rally by NRG. EG struggled with their retakes in this matchup, but they managed four of the last five rounds of the first half. Jawgemo had near back-to-back 3Ks in rounds 10 and 12, respectively. NRG is up 7-5 at the half.

EG takes the first two rounds of the second half, but NRG went on a five-round rally to set up match point in round 19. Reformed was off his game all night and was pretty quiet in Icebox. Boostio kept EG alive in round 20, and EG would go on a run of their own.

EG would take five straight rounds. NRG’s play was getting a little sloppy, and they took unnecessary risks lategame. They got it together at the end of OT. With tex coming in clutch, NRG won the final two rounds and booting Evil Geniuses out of the tournament.

The final stat lines for NRG looks impressive. Both s0M and hazed racked up 40+ kills, and a -3 K/D ratio is the “worst” stat line posted. They will have to work on closing out leads in the future, but an overall good performance.

Who’s Up Next

Week 1 of the VCT NA LCQ is over. The fun will kick back off after a 1-week break on August 11. 

The Sentinels will try to keep their season alive by taking on 100 Thieves, and Cloud9 will face off against NRG.

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