It was the first day of VCT Stage 2 Masters: Copenhagen, and everything was going to plan for reigning champions OpTic Gaming. All four PlatChat analysts predicted an OpTic win vs their opponents, EMEA's third seed Guild. The map picks didn't seem detrimental, and the game began with them feeling confident they would emerge victorious. But the game didn't get off to a good start. Guild took 7 rounds before OpTic scored their first, and although they fought back hard, Guild emerged with a 13-11 win on Icebox. The team was certainly surprised, but they moved on. "Reverse sweep it is", Chet told his team confidently. But the second map, Split, didn't begin any better. 7 rounds on the board again for Guild. OpTic fought back harder this time, and even managed to take it to map point. 12-11. But they couldn't pull through. "All good," FNS typed in all chat just to let Guild know they were ready. The OT rounds were fought hard, and FNS even had a few clutch plays of his own, but in the end, Guild emerged victorious once again, this time 16-14. They had underestimated Guild.
This was unacceptable. Chet couldn't have this. He needed his team to be better. He pulled aside Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker, the team's star player, who had bottom fragged in the match. "You need to do better than this," he told him. "Get some rest, we prepare tomorrow." They would be facing their former grand finals opponents, Brazilian superstar team LOUD.
The next day, they studied both their own VOD vs Guild and LOUD's vs KRÜ. They couldn't lose this. They couldn't make the same mistake again. They had to be ready, and yay had to be on point. He played Aimlabs the whole time while VOD reviewing, because he is yay and he does that. While listening to the oddly soothing sound of the constant clicking from yay's Aimlabs, the team went over each and every round. Every movement was analyzed. And by 9 PM, they felt prepared. Chet sent yay, crashies, Victor, and Marved back to their rooms, and he pulled FNS to the side.
"Don't let them lose this. I know they can do it. I know yay can do it. I know you are ready."
"Yes, Master," said FNS. "We won't let you down. We WILL be the first team to win two Valorant international events."
Chet was satisfied with the response and headed to bed himself.
When the time came for their game vs LOUD, the team was ready. 2-0 sweep. 13-5, 13-4. Yay dropped 62 kills. FNS IGLd practically to perfection. In the Verizon post-match interview, FNS said to the world, just as he had said to Chet, "We will be the first team to win two Valorant international events."
Next up on the chopping block, KRÜ Esports. They had lost to Guild in the upper bracket, but had proven they would be a tough opponent. OpTic didn't have nearly as much time to prepare for this match, but they had already studied KRÜ while reviewing the LOUD game. Chet felt confident in his team's ability. The time for the game arrived, and FNS was ready. He gave flawless calls, and they became the first team in VCT LAN history to back-to-back 13-0 their opponents. EMEA was scared. They could already tell there was no winning this.
OpTic didn't drop a single map for the rest of the tournament, up until the grand final vs Paper Rex. It was 2-2, and OpTic was up 12-11. They were getting Guild flashbacks. The round began, and gradually, Paper Rex picked them off. FNS was left in a 1v5. He knew he had to win this. If it went to OT, their mental would be ruined. This could not be a repeat of the Guild game. FNS planted the spike. 45 seconds, 5 enemies. Jinggg Raze satcheled into the site, and FNS one-tapped him out of the air. Next up, f0rsakeN. He attempted to rush with a Jett dash but was quickly halted by FNS's shorty. Benkai, mindfreak, and d4v41 executed a three-man push with 15 seconds left on the clock. and FNS knew he needed to play for time. Right as Benkai was about to get to the spike, FNS threw a Fade seize, halting the Paper Rex players just long enough to prevent them from getting the spike. He had won the round, the game, the series, the tournament. FNS's words of wisdom had come to fruition. OpTic was the first team in Valorant history to win two international events. The team jumped up from their chairs, and the crowd went wild. They all started screaming FNS's name, and FNS took the microphone and spoke only two words: "all good."
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