Day two of champions featured three more openers. Although there were no upsets, Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #8 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes 2GE James Goopio Jremy Jeremy Cabrera and FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #5 heat Olavo Marcelo raafa Rafael Lima mwzera Leonardo Serrati havoc Ilan Eloy Khalil Khalil Schmidt put up unexpected resistance against assumed favorites.

Yesterday's peak viewership record of over 690,000 was broken today, with nearly 730,000 people watching the bout between Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid and FURIA. Valorant's peak viewership record stands at over 1,085,850, a number reached in the grand final between Sentinels and FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #5 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder in Masters: Reykjavik.

Match 1: Gambit Esports vs. Team Secret

The day opened up on Icebox between Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #8 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes 2GE James Goopio Jremy Jeremy Cabrera and Gambit Esports Gambit Esports Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Chronicle Timofey Khromov d3ffo Nikita Sudakov sheydos Bogdan Naumov nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin . Before today, Gambit held a three-map win streak on Icebox. The last time they played it, against G2 Esports, the Russians brought it home 13-0. This time, they began with a 6-1 deficit.

Gambit were able to hold onto very few rounds, in spite of their attempts to vary their approach. Gambit converted two rounds off of a timeout on round 10, one of those thanks to an Ace from Sheydos, to end the half 8-4. After switching sides, they were only able to add on the first two, as Secret then went on a five-round streak to finish the map 13-6.

“We were very confident because we knew that European players are, in our opinion, not that strong in terms of shooting, that's why we picked Icebox,” Witz said. “Icebox is our best map and we knew we could beat them.”

Switching over to Breeze, Gambit flex their muscles and handed Secret the second-ever international VCT 13-0 defeat. nAts finished the map with only one death, three fewer than his teammates Chronicle and Redgar .

“After we lost the second map we just reset our mentality,” Witz said. "We knew that we could beat them because we've practiced so much on Bind.”

But their will would only take them so far, as the first half ended on Bind 7-5 in favor of Gambit after two stellar plays from nAts and Redgar. BORKUM saved the second half pistol round with a 1v2 clutch, but that was all Secret would get in this series. Gambit chained together the next six rounds to close out the series with a 13-6.

Spinal difference.

“We lost because of our own errors,” Witz said. “Since we got one map against [Gambit], I think our confidence is very high right now.”

Team Secret will be back on the server on December 5, to play their elimination match against Crazy Raccoon Crazy Raccoon Inactive .

Sentinels vs. FURIA

The next game marked the return of Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #3 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid on the international stage and FURIA FURIA Brazil Rank #5 heat Olavo Marcelo raafa Rafael Lima mwzera Leonardo Serrati havoc Ilan Eloy Khalil Khalil Schmidt 's international debut. The last time the former played on LAN, they were the defending Masters champions but were eliminated in the quarterfinals of Masters Berlin 2-0 by Envy. FURIA's only LAN outing was in the Last Chance Qualifier.

“No matter how much experience you have, no matter how much you have played in your life, you have a little bit of nerves when you haven't played a match for so long,” SicK said. “Since we qualified for this LAN a long time ago we didn't have to go through any sort of learning experience as of late with matches and that's where we learned our best.”

It took five straight rounds on Ascent from the Brazilian side for Sentinels to get on the board. Once they did, via an eco round win, Sentinels were unrelenting and managed to tie up the half. Even though he was caught in Astral Form, mazin managed to give his team the pistol round. FURIA managed one more round, at which point Sentinels shut the game down, giving up just one round on their way to a 13-9 win.

On Breeze, Sentinels were the ones to win the pistol round. They weren't able to take advantage of it though, dropping the next five rounds. An eco A hold gave Sentinels their second point, proceeding to call a timeout and win two more to go 5-4. FURIA closed out the half 8-4, off Khalil 's Killjoy 2.8 K:D, carrying that momentum over into the first two rounds of the second half.

With rifles in hand, Sentinels picked up three rounds. SicK wasn't able to clutch in a 1v2 scenario. The American side took a pause to talk to Rawkus at 11-7. Sentinels lost the following round, with FURIA reaching match point, but then won three in a row. Seeing their advantage slip away, FURIA called their own timeout and tied the series up with a 13-10.

Things were finally looking up for Sentinels on Haven, as they won their first defensive half of the day 9-3. After reaching match point 12-4, a comeback seemed to be mounting for the Brazilian side, who, facing relegation, took five rounds in a row. A long technical pause ensued at 12-8, and when the game returned Sentinels closed it out 13-9.

“Defense is our weaker side right now but it's not really something that I worry about. I think it's just how the game has evolved with time,” SicK said. “I think some of it just comes down to us being a little bit rusty on the mechanics because we haven't played a match in so long, so we've got to get back in that match mode.”

“[FURIA] are a pretty good team. Maybe they've been underestimated a little bit coming to the tournament,” SicK said. “They have really good teamwork and their aim is on par with even us or any of the top teams. If they work a little bit more on their teamwork and get a little bit of the nerves out, maybe they're a little less experienced with the LAN gameplay, I think they could be a strong contender even in this tournament.”

KRÜ Esports vs. Team Liquid

The final match of the day was between Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #12 paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kamyk Maks Rychlewski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak and KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #2 keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro . These two teams did not go on stage, as a positive COVID-19 test forced both teams to remain in the hotel. The match was still played on LAN.

Opening it up on Haven, Liquid took hold of the first two rounds. Once KRÜ were able to buy, they replied back with three straight rounds—one of those a 1v3 clutch from Klaus. Liquid quickly got back into the game and didn't give their opponents much breathing room, losing only two rounds on their way to a 13-5 opener.

Ascent was looking like a repeat of Haven, with Liquid going 9-3 up. After switching sides though, KRÜ shrunk their disadvantage with four straight rounds, eventually recovering to an 11-8 scoreline. L1NK and Nivera dismantled an A hit by themselves to place Liquid on match point, quickly closing it out 13-8.

With this loss, KRÜ are now set to play their group's elimination match against FURIA on December 5.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, Vision Strikers and Fnatic will face off in the Group D Winner's match for the first playoffs spot of the group. Group A's two openers are also on the schedule for tomorrow.

Tomorrow's games are:

Feature image credit: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games