VALORANT Masters Copenhagen: XERXIA bow out after losing to Northeption

After the third day of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, the first two teams have been eliminated.

One of the two eliminated teams was Thailand's XERXIA, who bowed out after losing to Japan’s Northeption in the Elimination Match for Group B.

In case you missed it, here’s how it all went down.

Northeption 2-1 XERXIA

Game one: Split

With Northeption picking Split and XERXIA choosing Haven, the match was on.

Here, Northeption wasted no time and drew first blood by winning the pistol round, with a particularly nice 1v2 from BlackWiz and Cho “JoXJo” Byung-yeon.

The Japanese squad would also convert the eco round shortly, putting a dent in XERXIA’s economy early in the match.

However, XERXIA responded by showing their skills in the gun rounds, taking 5 rounds in a row, 4 of which consisted of taking down all the attackers from the opposing team.

In particular, a corner 3K from Thanachart “Surf” Rungapajaratkul bailed the team out to secure another round win.

Northeption would respond with some retakes of their own, managing to win two more rounds before the first half ended on XERXIA’s side at 8-4.

Come the second half, Northeption won the pistol round, giving them the confidence to reclaim their lost rounds, which is exactly what they did.

Winning four rounds in a row, Northeption tied the game at 8-8 off the back of stellar performances from JoXJo and xnfri.

XERXIA weren't done, however, as the team were able to quickly adjust their strategy and win five of the last six rounds to close Split at 13-9.

Game two: Haven

As the second match started on XERXIA’s map pick, the Thai squad would easily win the pistol and eco rounds for an early lead in the series. Natchaphon “sScary” Matarat, in particular, would notch them the first round in a 1v1.

Unfortunately for XERXIA, it would be Northeption who were superior on the gun rounds this time.

With Kim “Meteor” Tae-O coming into full form at the helm, Northeption would take firm control of the map, using great utility and abusing easy entry kills to win eight consecutive rounds and leave XERXIA in shambles.

Still, XERXIA made a valiant effort in reducing that lead, ultimately going into halftime at 8-4 in Northeption’s favor.

Unfortunately for them, Daichi “Derialy” Doi easily won a 1v1 to give Northeption the second pistol round.

While XERXIA were able to still show some resistance, Haven would ultimately go Northeption’s way, finishing at 13-8 and setting the stage for Bind.

Game three: Bind

The series decider started like the previous map, with XERXIA quickly winning the pistol and eco round as sScary and Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut taking control.

But Northeption were having none of it, and the rest of the first half would see both teams trading round after round.

The Japanese squad continued to put up a strong defense against any retake attempts made by XERXIA. By halftime, the teams were tied at 6-6.

As the second half started, XERXIA managed to secure the pistol and eco round, before being quickly overtaken by a four-round streak from Northeption, putting them in the lead at 10-8 and ruining the former’s economy.

However, XERXIA had no intention of going down without a fight, winning a thrifty off the back of crws and Surf to keep themselves in the game for longer.

With neither team managing to reach 13 points by the last 3 rounds, the game went into OT.

Here, XERXIA quickly took the first round, putting the series at match point.

Unfortunately for them, Northeption pulled a B site execution to force double overtime, before finally closing the series at 15-13.

With Tuesday’s results, Northeption will be facing FunPlus Phoenix in the Group B Decider Match for the group's second playoff spot.

Meanwhile, XERXIA join Brazil's LOUD as the first two teams to be eliminated from Masters Copenhagen in 11th-12th place. Both teams will take home US$10,000 and 150 VCT circuit points.

Masters Copenhagen will see 12 of the top VALORANT teams from all over the world clashing with each other from 10 to 24 July, all for the chance to reign victorious as the Copenhagen champions and claim a spot in VALORANT Champions 2022 in Istanbul come September.

For everything you need to know about Masters Copenhagen, check here.

Feb has been trying to speedrun Super Mario 64 ever since he started playing video games at 11 years old. He has never succeeded, but has completed other video games in the time since. When not playing, he's usually playing music or building Gunpla.

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