The fourth day of EU Challengers Stage 1 kicked off today with the upper bracket final between FNATIC FNATIC Europe Unranked Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu stand-in Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder and FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks . The second match of the day between G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Unranked nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak would decide the third team to represent EMEA at Masters 1: Reykjavik.

FPX started the day off with a 2-0 victory over Fnatic, including a surprise 13-0 win on their opponent's map pick. Later on, G2 won the rematch between them and Team Liquid in 2-0 fashion to secure their slot at Masters: Reykjavik.

FunPlus Phoenix vs. Fnatic (FPX 2-0)

Both Fnatic and FPX had already secured their spots for Masters 1: Reykjavik, and would be duking it out today to secure a spot in the grand finals of the playoffs.

FPX were forced to use a substitute for the second time this season as their main duelist player Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks was unavailable to play. Returning to take his place would be FPX's in-game leader Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov, who had not played with the team since the second week of the group stage. Retaining his role as the team's controller player would be Kamil "baddyG" Graniczka, who originally subbed in for ANGE1 from week 4 onwards.

ANGE1 raised eyebrows by picking up Jett, an agent he had only played once before in his entire competitive Valorant career, on Fnatic's opening map pick, Split. The pick made sense considering the player he was filling in for, as ardiis had been on Jett in FPX's most recent Split games, but it would be no small task for ANGE1 to perform on an unfamiliar role after more than a month away from the team.

The map started well for FPX, who built a 4-0 lead by picking up the first two rounds, then beating Fnatic on their bonus, and winning one more round. By the fifth round, ANGE1 had saved up enough money to purchase an Operator, at which point he started ramping up his impact. ANGE1 managed to find eight OP picks in eight rounds on a Fnatic team that was unable to exploit any cracks in the defense of FPX. A sixth round timeout by Fnatic could not stop the momentum, and FPX kept their streak of rounds going on their way to a flawless 12-0 defensive half. A successful pistol win rounded out a 13-0 victory for FPX.

Did you know this guy doesn't play Jett?

In the broadcast's post-match interview, baddyG noted the positive impact the return of ANGE1 had on the team, allowing them to execute their gameplan as planned thanks to the Ukrainian's calm shotcalling. baddyG impressed on his Omen with 18 kills in 13 rounds, but it was none other than ANGE1 on Jett who topped the score sheets, putting up 378 ACS and 243 ADR in his first game back.

Fnatic bounced back on the second map of Haven by picking up the first two rounds of the map, and subsequently their first rounds of the series. FPX retaliated by winning the bonus and three successive rounds, putting them ahead at a score of 4-2. Fnatic took a timeout to try to regain the advantage, which helped them get a third round on the board, but FPX were unshaken and continued stringing together round wins. Consecutive 1v2 clutches by Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky and Pontus "Zyppan" Eek in the 11th and 12th rounds brought the FPX lead up to 9-3 at the half.

Fnatic needed to put up a strong attacking half if they wanted to stay alive in the series and avoid a crushing defeat. They started off well with the first two rounds, and a promising bonus round thrust Jake "Boaster" Howlett in a 1v1 clutch against Shao with the Spike planted and an opportunity to build much needed momentum for Fnatic. Boaster held his ground after hearing the defuse sound cue, expecting a fake, but Shao held his nerve and stuck the Spike all the way, putting FPX in the lead at 10-5.

Nevertheless, Fnatic continued closing the gap by winning the next full buy and eco round, putting their round tally up to seven. At this point, FPX found a way to stop the bleeding by winning two rounds in a row, which put them at a 12-7 lead and five match points. Two crucial clutches by Andrew "braveaf" Gorchakov kept Fnatic's hopes alive, but a timeout by FPX at 12-10 allowed them to prepare the necessary gameplan to win a thrifty round and close out the map.

With a 13-10 scoreline on Haven, FPX completed the sweep over Fnatic and booked their ticket into the grand final, while sending their opponent down to the lower bracket to play the winner of G2 vs. Liquid.

BraveAF put up a valiant effort to drag the game into overtime, but it was not enough.

Team Liquid vs. G2 Esports (G2 2-0)

For the second match of the day, Liquid and G2 faced off in a day one rematch to decide the final team to qualify for Masters. Liquid came out victorious in their first encounter, but were subsequently unable to defeat FPX to secure their spot for Iceland. Now in the lower bracket, they would get a second attempt at qualifying versus G2, who were coming off the back of an upset result against M3 Champions.

To start the series off, both teams headed to Icebox, a map which went the distance in their first encounter and ultimately ended with a G2 victory in a 15-13 overtime. The Spanish team was hoping to make it two in a row today.

G2 started off well, getting the first three rounds under their belt. Liquid had forced up in the second round with Marshals, which meant that round four was their first full buy round and they had to make it count. With a couple of daring peeks, Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom managed to find the heads of five players to give Liquid their first round.

G2 immediately returned fire by winning a thrifty round with the investment of a Viper's Pit, putting their lead up to 4-1. To add insult to injury, Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom lost his Operator on the edge of the Spike blast which heavily bruised the Liquid economy and forced them into a timeout.

During the remainder of the half, Liquid were not able to win more than a few isolated rounds, which meant that they couldn't bolster up their economy enough to buy into their double OP setup. This had been a key part of their gameplan — netting them eight rounds on defense earlier in the week — and without it, G2 were able to build up a comfortable 9-3 lead at the half.

G2 made the comeback more difficult for Liquid by winning the pistol round of the second half. A lifeline was afforded to Liquid when they managed to win the second round by forcing up, but their opponents responded with a thrifty round victory, which would prove to be the last nail in Liquid's coffin. G2 closed out their map pick with a final scoreline of 13-4.

ScreaM does what he is best at: clicking heads.

The second map went to Split for yet another rematch. This time, history favored Liquid, as their earlier match saw the boys in blue winning 13-9 on Split. Starting on the attack, Liquid opened the scoring with the first two rounds. G2 responded with a strong streak of rounds to put them in the lead by 5-2. Just when Liquid looked like they were going to rebound and finally put another round on the board, Žygimantas "nukkye" Chmieliauskas lined up the last three remaining players from his flank position to win the round and put G2 up by four.

G2 extended their lead to 8-2 before Liquid finally managed to put a third round on the board. A 2v4 clutch by the brothers ScreaM and Nivera prevented the G2 lead from spiraling out of control further and put the scoreline at the half at 8-4. Liquid had been down at the half in their Split victory earlier in the week too, so they were not out of contention yet.

A pistol win by G2 re-established their control, and with Liquid choosing not to force up in the second round, G2 was able to extend their lead to 10-4. As a result, the next round became crucial for both teams and turned into a must-win for Liquid if they sought to mount a comeback.

In this vital fifteenth round, G2 managed to outmaneuver Liquid and isolate two players on the A site, winning the bonus round. They had now put the Liquid economy in dire straits for the rest of the half. With superior weaponry, G2 managed to shut out Liquid for the rest of the half on their way to winning the map 13-4 and securing their slot into Masters: Reykjavik.

nukkye lines up all three for the clutch.

Looking ahead

All three slots for EMEA at Masters Reykjavik have now been determined, but the three remaining teams will still be attempting to win the VCT EMEA playoffs and secure the first seed for Masters Reykjavik, as well as the largest share of the prize pool.

Tomorrow's match is: