[VCT BR Week 4 Group B Recap] Challengers Rise to the Occasion.
TLDR: There were some great games in group B today with KS squeaking by against ING and Sharks knocking down Furia.
I have started this series after writing a news post for Week 3 for the VLR writers wanted application. Even if I don't get the job, I will try to keep this series going. I will still try to put out a weekly opinion piece as well. I have also begun some stats posts, but I will probably save those for after the group stage is completed.
Here is my BR Post Library if you wan't to learn about my takes on the BR scene
Keyd Stars (2-1) Ingaming
Keyd Stars came into this match after suffering a loss to NIP that broke their streak of wins in Brazil. A loss to Ingaming would have effectively eliminated them from playoff contention barring an extremely unlikely string of games causing a three way tiebreaker. Ingaming came into the match with some unexpected hope after beating Sharks and making them the first team eliminated from playoff contention. Ingaming put up a great fight, but were unable to close the match in the end.
Keyd Stars picked Icebox despite losing it to NIP last week. They once again failed to perform on their defensive half, losing 7 rounds in a row en route to a 4-8 disadvantage at the half. They brought the game back to 7-8, but Ingaming proved to be more effective on the retakes closing the map 13-9. BRNWOWZK1 and heat lit up the scoreboard with 42 kills between them, but the combined 5 clutches from RglMeister and flainzz ended up being the difference. Keyd Stars won 3/3 eco rounds but just 2/9 of their full buy rounds in the map.
Ingaming picked Breeze where they beat Sharks last week, but for the second time this series, the home team lost the first half in dramatic fashion. Ingaming lost the pistol, and were consistently unable to hold onto the A site as Keyd Stars ran away with a 9-3 lead. Keyd Stars once again struggled with their defense as Ingaming brought the game all they way back to 11-11 with only two rounds separating them from the series win. However, Keyd Stars won the last two rounds fairly cleanly to force a map three. Murizzz’s Neon was the talk of the town after the picks, but he managed only 1 first kill to 5 first deaths while mwzera had consistent production for KS including a 1v2 clutch in a postplant on A where a shockdart sniped RglMeister in his Viper’s Pit.
Map 3 was Ascent which Keyd Stars have only played once since last August. It was a bad omen that they started on the defense where they have played poorly all series. They won the first two rounds, but once again had no answers for Ingaming’s attack surrendering 8 rounds in a row before salvaging a 4-8 half. Keyd Stars’ attack was much more comfortable for them, and they only lost one round before closing the map and series 13-9. Two critical clutches by mwzera and v1xen from A hell stifled every chance Ingaming had to stem the bleeding.
Heat was uncharacteristically quiet over the last two maps, but he still managed to post a 16-5 first kill to first death statline. Mwzera looked the most comfortable in a more passive Sova role than he has before, and notched 4 clutches over the series. BRNWOWZK1 was the star of the show for Ingaming with 249 ACS, but NANZIN was noticeably absent from this series.
Sharks (2-0) Furia
Although Sharks were already eliminated from the playoffs, and Furia were mostly playing for seeding, this game still turned out to be a great battle.
Breeze was the first map, and Sharks decided to experiment with their composition to prepare for the next stage of VCT. Frz picked up the Chamber for the first time, despite putting up team leading stats on Cypher previously. Furia lost the first three rounds, but won a critical eco in the fourth to regain momentum. Unfortunately, the momentum only lasted a few rounds as KILLDREAM hit 3 “one-deags” with the Sheriff and 7 hp to clutch the 8th round. The back and forth battle continued until Furia led at the half 7-5. The final round was secured by a Nozwerr post-mortem shock dart in a 1v3 to kill the player defusing at the last second. Furia won the second pistol and started to pull away, but back to back to back 4k, 3k, and 3k, rounds by KILLDREAM kept Sharks in it. Sharks then pulled away to the tune of 5 rounds in a row to win the map 13-10. KILLDREAM’s Viper led the way with 365 ACS and more than double the ADR of anyone else in the game. Nozwerr had three clutches, but was unable to overcome the 7-1 advantage Sharks had in multikills of at least 3 kills.
Icebox one again showcased Sharks mixing their comps up as prozin came off the Kayo to cover the Sage which allowed Frz to play the Killjoy. Sharks won the first two rounds, but Furia quickly ran back seven in a row forcing Gaabxx to save the awp in multiple consecutive rounds. Sharks salvaged a 4-8 scoreline at the half, but lost their attacking pistol. However, Icebox has been by far the most attacker sided map in Brazil so far in these group stages with 129 rounds won by the attack against only 73 won by the defense through four weeks. This trend continued as Sharks converted 9 straight to close the map 13-9.
Sharks did not need this win as they are already eliminated, but this provides a clearer picture that they were unlucky with this group of death. They still have issues, but are still competitive in this ultra-competetive group. With this loss, Furia have dropped into a tie with NIP and KS at 2-1 and will have to face KS for a spot in the playoffs. Even if they lose, an NIP win over ING secures them the 3rd seed, and an ING win over NIP forces a three way tie for two spots.
Coming Up
TBK vs Vikings and Liberty vs Gamelanders Blue tomorrow in group A.
There are two games left in group B. KS vs FUR, and ING vs NIP.
Here is a breakdown of the potential results in week 5.
FUR > KS, ING > NIP
Furia get 1st seed, and KS,NIP,ING have a 3 way tie for two spots.
FUR > KS, NIP > ING
Furia get 1st seed, NIP get second seed, KS get 3rd seed.
KS > FUR, ING > NIP
KS get 1st seed, NIP, ING, FUR have a 3 way tie for two spots.
KS > FUR, NIP > ING
NIP get 1st seed, KS get 2nd seed, FUR get 3rd seed.
Rumors suggest that 3 way tiebreakers are decided by round differential in other regions. At the moment, NIP have +12, KS have +7, FUR have +6, and ING have -4.
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