After facing a tough road that saw them fall to the brink of elimination twice, Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #6 Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) MrCANI Chen Tingxun (陈廷训) MarT1n Zhuo Zhengjie (卓政杰) YOU Yip Man Ho ZiXuan Liu Junwei (刘俊伟) won the Ascension China Tournament, earning entry into VCT China. They did so by defeating Rare Atom 3-0.

The third time was the charm for XLG, as Rare Atom was the team they lost to twice before, once in the group stage and once in the upper final.

Both sides have players who are coming off of landmark performances in this tournament. In the lower final, XLG's Rarga had a 110-kill performance in the five-map series against Chosen Clique Gaming Chosen Clique Gaming China Rank #9 Maple Elvin Sun GREEN Qiu Jianzhi (邱建智) KaweNtw Martim Ferreira Coco Ding Dajian (丁达建) .

In the upper semifinals, Rare Atom's UdoTan had a 39-kill, seven-death showing in a 2-0 sweep of Ambitious Legend Gaming Ambitious Legend Gaming China Rank #19 Chaos Chen Junlin (陈俊霖) Link Wen Xuan Zhong (钟文轩) huNter Dalai (达来) Volay Li Jiajun (李家骏) aluba Zhong Haojun (钟皓钧) LilMad Wu Xinquan (巫鑫权) .

In the Chinese region, eight active and verified teams were selected for Ascension based on circuit points earned from Valorant China National Competition. Xi Lai finished at the top of the circuit point rankings, while Rare Atom finished fourth. The eight teams that qualified for Ascension China were:

• Xi Lai Gaming
• KeepBest Gaming
• Chosen Clique Gaming
• ZY Gaming
• Rare Atom
• Ambitious Legend Gaming
• Qing Jiu Club
• Xtreme Gaming

Group Stage Results

In the eight-team tournament, the teams were split into two groups of four in a double-elimination format.

The eventual two finalists were both seeded into group A. Rare Atom made quick work of ZY Gaming ZY Gaming China Unranked B1SK Vitaliy Emelyanov f1cio Hoàng Ngọc Sơn Attention Wong Ka Fai (黃家暉) FFs Leung Cheuk Nam (梁卓南) slowly Kelun Sun (孙科伦) Babyblue Geng Haoran (耿浩然) , defeating them 2-0 and never looking quite uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Xi Lai Gaming defeated Xtreme Gaming Xtreme Gaming China Unranked QiuYe Li Runtao (李润涛) Core An Ziwen (安梓文) 5CM Ding Xuanpeng (丁宣鹏) waituu Xu Yinze (许寅泽) G1Xad Chen Xiaotao (陈晓涛) NOTSOBAD Zhao Weiqi (赵韦亓) in comeback fashion after dropping the first map. In the winner's match, Rare Atom defeated XLG 2-0 to claim the top seed out of the group. In the decider, XLG defeated ZY Gaming 2-1, keeping their hopes alive.

Group B saw its strongest teams make quick work of the rest of the field. Chosen Clique Gaming defeated Ambitious Legend Gaming and then KeepBest Gaming both by scores of 2-0, dopping just 24 rounds in the process. In the decider match, KeepBest Gaming KeepBest Gaming China Rank #11 Wolfen Berkant Joshkun UCc Wang Ziyi (王梓译) dimasick Dmitriy Matvienko suyjing Wang Sicheng (王斯澄) Snail Zhu Dongnan (朱东楠) fell to ALG 2-1, rounding out the four playoff teams.

Rare Atom Roll in the Playoffs, fall short in grand final for second straight year

In the playoffs, Rare Atom continued their dominance, sweeping ALG and only dropping just three rounds in the process. XLG defeated CCG in a less-dominant sweep, setting up a rematch of the two qualified teams from Group A.

After dropping a close map one, their first map loss of the tournament, and then easily taking map two, it took until overtime for Rare Atom to defeat XLG again, for the second time in the competition. XLG went on to play CCG again in the lower final, after they defeated ALG in the elimination match.

The back-and-forth lower final went to a fifth map, but the final map was a 13-2 blowout going to XLG. It saw Rarga explode for 110 kills and achieve an ACS of 290. The 3-2 win set up for a third rematch in the grand final against Rare Atom.

In the grand final, XLG came out ruthless, stealing away Rare Atom's first map pick and then winning their own map pick to go up 2-0, meaning a reverse sweep would be needed for their opponents. Despite their opponents having the double map ban, it appeared that XLG learned from the previous two meetings, and went on to win 3-0.

Rare Atom has now made two consecutive Ascension China grand finals without victory.

Rarga impressed in the grand final with a server-leading 57 kills, and was named the MVP of the competition. XLG will be the 12th team that participates in VCT China, and will hold membership for at least a year.