XERXIA Esports has become the third Asian team to be eliminated from the VALORANT VCT Champions tournament after being sent home by KRÜ.
It was a must-win match for both teams since whoever lost would go home.
The elimination matches for groups C and D give teams one last chance to end their 2022 season on a high note.
Two Asian teams have already been eliminated a day earlier. This piled up pressure m on XERXIA Esports, who hails from Thailand, to represent their region.
Also, their Latin America opponent was also faced with the potential of being knocked out in the group stage after their incredible run at Champions last year.
They faced each other in the Group C lower bracket series after losses to XSET and FunPlus Phoenix, respectively. Both teams lost these opening matches 2-0 losses, giving each team a disappointing start to the tournament.
In their first head-to-head clash, KRÜ took the win to keep their hopes alive, getting the better of XERXIA 2-1.
The game began on Icebox. Since XERXIA went with a more standard composition, Surf locked in Jett as the team’s duelist pick, setting himself up as a player to watch on the map.
In a bid to recover in the game, KRÜ started snowballing four rounds in a row after they adopted the strategy pioneered by FPX of buying up to Vandals in the second round.
KRÜ continued executing their post-plant strategies to perfection in the first half, punishing several XERXIA players who made several noticeable mistakes over and over.
Eventually, KRÜ took the win easily on Icebox 13-4.
In game two, XERXIA came into their map pick of Haven blazing.
Continuing from where they stopped in game one, KRÜ continued setting the pace but faltered along the way.
After XERXIA took the pistol round, they never looked back, getting six rounds in a row straight out of the gate.
After XERXIA got the second pistol round, the map was virtually over.
Both teams went for Ascent, a stark contrast to the first two maps.
But in the second half, Ascent completely dominated on their attack, picking apart XERXIA’s defense at every opportunity. Unfortunately for XERXIA, they just couldn’t keep up and lost Ascent 13-6 in another one-sided map. KRÜ took the match 2-1.
Written. By Oladipupo Mojeed
