The first week of EMEA competition saw the favorites shine in Group A. Gambit Esports Gambit Esports Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Chronicle Timofey Khromov d3ffo Nikita Sudakov sheydos Bogdan Naumov nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin , FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks and Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #20 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio secured the first three wins of their group.

Stage 1: EMEA Challengers began its five weeks of league-style play this weekend. The group opened up with a much-anticipated match between Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #22 paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kamyk Maks Rychlewski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak and Gambit Esports. FunPlus Phoenix came out on top in a tight bout with BIG BIG Inactive , while Natus Vincere bested LDN UTD LDN UTD Inactive feqew Lukas Petrauskas Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius Destrian Tomas Linikas MOLSI Michał Łącki to close out the weekend.

Team Liquid vs. Gambit Esports (GMB 2-0)

The last and only time Liquid faced Gambit, a Masters: Berlin slot was on the line. It was a long best-of-three game from which Gambit emerged victorious, thus impeding Liquid from reaching the Masters event. This time Liquid could afford a loss, though they did not want one.

“We are feeling confident,” Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen said in the pre-game interview. “We didn't have the best preparation, but I want revenge from Gambit. I personally didn't play my best match against them last time so I'm looking forward to revenge and I think I'm going to play good. It's going to be a fun match for sure.”

Icebox looked initially close as both teams put three points on the board. On round seven, Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov stepped in with a 4K that pulled the momentum in his team's favor as they went 11-3. Liquid managed to scrape back six rounds to reach 12-9, but Gambit's advantage was insurmountable and they took the first map 13-9.

The series went to Breeze, Liquid's pack and their best map statistically. Liquid showed control on the defensive side and kept Gambit trailing most of the time, aided by clutches from Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom and Dom "soulcas" Sulcas. In spite of a 7-5 half, Liquid fell apart after switching sides and were only able to secure one more round before Gambit closed out the series with a 13-8 win.

Chronicle's performance stood out on the Russian side, finishing the series with a 2.65 KDA and 14 multikills across 43 rounds. soulcas was the most impactful player on the Liquid side with a 1.66 KDA rating and over 80% KAST.

No money, no teammates, no problem. A 2v4 gave Gambit the first series point

FunPlus Phoenix vs. BIG (FPX 2-1)

The next game in Group A would go on for three hours as FunPlus Phoenix and BIG faced each other for the first time ever.

FPX found a slight 4-3 advantage to start off Bind, aided by Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin and Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky, but it didn't take long before BIG found themselves an 8-4 lead on Bind. Switching sides, FunPlus Phoenix only found three rounds—thanks to a 1v1 from Pontus "Zyppan" Eek and an Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks 3K—before BIG closed it out 13-7.

BIG started their opponents' Haven pick with a 4-1 lead, but a mid-half surge prompted by a 3K from FPX's ardiis made sure they won the half 7-5. BIG had trouble fully reentering the game from thereon, only finding three scattered rounds on their attacking side that paved the way for a series tie, as FPX won the second map 13-8.

BIG left Split open for the decider, a map where they held only a 49% win rate, versus FPX's 70%. In spite of this, BIG slogged their way to a 9-5 advantage. However, as they got comfortable on the defense, FPX took the next seven rounds to place themselves on match point, quickly wrapping it up 13-11 to find their first VCT EMEA win since August 2021.

Honoring their original ZyppanGoKill ZyppanGoKill Inactive Shao Andrey Kiprsky ShadoW Tobias Flodström Meddo Johan Renbjörk Lundborg Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov name, Zyppan topped the server's leaderboards with a 2.44 KD and 83% KAST. SUYGETSU clocked in a 47% headshot rate, the highest in the tournament so far.

As the oldest player in the tournament, Fatih "gob b" Dayik is proof that experience matters.

Natus Vincere vs. LDN UTD (NAVI 2-0)

The final match of Group A this weekend was between Natus Vincere and LDN UTD. These two rosters faced each other only once, in the Meta Open Valorant in October. Back then, LDN UTD took a close 2-0 win against the Russian squad.

This time, NAVI came out in full swing with a decisive 11-1 first half on Ascent. LDN UTD managed to claw back several rounds on their attacking side, largely thanks to multikills and clutches, but their opponents' advantage was too big to recover, with NAVI taking the first map 13-7.

The fight moved to Haven, a map where LDN UTD held a 21-win streak standing since July 2021. They showed their prowess on the attacking side, going 8-4 up, but NAVI's attacking side was incontestable. The Russian side won 9 rounds and found a 13-9 win to close out their series in dominant fashion.

Artur "7ssk7" Kurshin shined on the Jett, scoring 8 first bloods, more than half of what his team did combined across the series. LDN UTD had a particularly rough time, as only Michał "MOLSI" Łącki finished with a positive KDA of 2 and over 200 ADR.

Looking ahead

Group A of Stage 1: EMEA Challengers returns next weekend. Each match will be played at 4 p.m. CEST on February 18 through 20.

Week 2 of Group A will see the following matches: