After so many close calls, the Pacific is finally bringing home a Masters trophy.
After coming up short in Madrid, Gen.G Esports have completed their run-back and have become the Masters Shanghai champions. The South Korean squad broke through Europe’s Team Heretics 3-2 and brought the Pacific league its first Masters trophy.
Gen.G were entering the tournament as VCT Pacific’s second seed, meaning that they had to fight through the swiss stage. Despite their 2-0 match score, the team had to fight tooth-and-nail for their playoffs spot. They encountered stiff resistance from South America’s Leviatan and China’s FPX, with FPX getting a home turf boost and putting up the biggest fight.
Things got uncomfortably close for Gen.G but you could say their struggles in the swiss stage were actually a boon for them. Their playoffs run was an absolute battle of attrition with many matches coming down to the wire. Fortunately, they were already warmed up and ready for what the world’s best Valorant teams had in store for them.
Persevering Through the Toughest Challenges
Their first opponents in the upper bracket were Europe’s first seed, Fnatic. This match was truly one for the history books as neither squad was willing to give up an inch. With a combined total of 70 rounds played, both Gen.G and Fnatic fought like one of them was going to become the champion. Eventually Gen.G were able to take it 2-1 but they still had bigger challenges waiting for them.
They faced North America’s 100 Thieves at the upper bracket finals and then G2 Esports at the upper bracket finals. Don’t let the 2-0 match score fool you as up until this point, almost every game that Gen.G had played in the playoffs went to double digit rounds for both teams. These were not easy wins and the results could have been drastically different if just a few things went another way.
In the end, Gen.G’s focus held strong, giving them the right to call themselves the Masters Shanghai champions.
You can relive how Gen.G became the Masters Shanghai champions on the official Valorant YouTube page.
Banner photo by David Lee/Riot Games.
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