Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #3 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius defeated Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #9 penny Erik Penny paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak Serial Maikls Zdanovs in the lower bracket final of VCT EMEA Stage 1, avenging their February loss and securing a rematch in the grand finals against FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder .

Team Liquid's loss also means they won't get to skip to Masters Toronto's playoffs stage. The team will instead start out in the Swiss stage like most of the competition. Only the first seed, which will be decided in tomorrow's grand final, gets a direct playoffs spot.

The win also puts Heretics atop the regional points standings, currently tied with the Dark Horse at eight points. The team will either extend their lead tomorrow, or be dethroned by FNATIC.

Woot hugs a teammate on stage (Photo by Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games)

Haven was Heretics' first pick, where they were the unquestionably superior team. Liquid mustered just three rounds on the opening map, all of them largely stemming from individual plays.

kamo first got Liquid on the board in round five, in which he managed a 3K and a C retake. It would take another seven rounds for Liquid to score again, when Keiko put up three of his own in the final round of the first half.

Though Keiko managed to sneak in a third round for his team, with a 1v1 over benjyfishy , there was not much Liquid could do on the opening map. None of its players finished Haven with a rating over 0.9, or a positive scoreline.

Totally outclassed.

Ascent, though, was a much different story. Liquid hit the ground running by chaining the first five rounds and, though they gave up points throughout the rest of the half, they still kept a marginal 7-5 lead at halftime.

It was at this point Heretics began to chip away and take full control of the game. Liquid just could not stop their opponents' advances and soon found themselves down 12-10. Though that round looked impossible to lose for Liquid, MiniBoo seemingly effortlessly outplayed paTiTek , Kamo, and Serial , putting the three away in a 1v3 that secured the second map for his team.

That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for the Dark Horse, who barely won anything on Icebox. Down 8-0, the team held strong for a B retake that gave them their inaugural point. Serial clutched against two the following round to find a second round, but that was also the last one Liquid would get.

Heretics capstoned an incredible map with a strong B defense, granting them the 13-2 win and their shot at the trophy tomorrow.

MiniBoo, big brain.

Since the partnership began, Heretics have attended two regional grand finals. The first time was at last year's Kickoff, where they lost to Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #15 saadhak Matias Delipetro Avez Hazem Khaled Elite Efe Teber SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin marteen Martin Pátek . The second time came immediately after, during Stage 1.

Back then, Heretics blitzed through Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #31 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat , FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #13 xeus Doğan Gözgen MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan qRaxs Doğukan Balaban , and FNATIC to reach the grand finals, where the orange-and-black outfit bested them.

A year later, they're back in a similar situation. This time, FNATIC blitzed through the upper bracket by defeating FUT, Liquid, and Heretics in the upper final.

Heretics have already avenged one loss; in February, Liquid eliminated Heretics from Kickoff by way of a 3-0 win in the lower bracket final. A second revenge match is in sight, but this time with even higher stakes.

FNATIC and Team Heretics rematch tomorrow, at 6 p.m. CEST, for the VCT EMEA championship. The winner gets the trophy and a playoffs slot at Masters Toronto. The loser goes back to the planning board to prepare for the Canadian international.