VCT LOCK//IN Day 6 highlights: LOUD and DRX defeat NRG and Talon to make it to Alpha Bracket playoffs

With VCT LOCK//IN kicking off on February 13, 2023, 32 teams from all three international leagues and China have been divided into two groups, Alpha and Omega, consisting of 16 teams each. The tournament follows a single-elimination format, which means that even a single loss means that the team's out of the tournament.

February 19 was Day 6 of the tournament and the last day of Alpha Bracket group stage matches and hosted the two semifinals of the group. The first match on Day 6 was between LOUD (Brazil) and NRG Esports (NA), and the second was between DRX (Korea) and Talon Esports (Thailand).

LOUD and DRX emerged as the winners in two nail-biting games, both of which went into Overtime, to confirm their spots in the VCT LOCK//IN playoffs. They knocked out NRG and Talon from the tournament. Here are the highlights from Day 5 of VCT 2023 LOCK//IN.

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VCT 2023 LOCK//IN: Day 6 match results and highlights

The following were the Map Vetos for the two matches on February 19:

• NRG Esports vs LOUD: NRG ban Ascent; LOUD ban Haven; NRG pick Split; LOUD pick Pearl; NRG ban Icebox; LOUD ban Lotus; Fracture remains
• DRX vs Talon Esports: TLN ban Haven; DRX ban Lotus; TLN pick Fracture; DRX pick Ascent; TLN ban Split; DRX ban Pearl; Icebox remains

The results of the matches at the end of Day 6 of VCT LOCK//IN are as follows:

• NRG Esports vs LOUD: 1-2 [Split 3-13, Pearl 15-13, Fracture 18-16]
• DRX vs Talon Esports: 2-1 [Fracture 13-10, Ascent 13-6, Icebox 13-10]

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Top highlights from Day 5 of VCT LOCK//IN

1) tuyz's superb clutch in Overtime

At the start of this round, LOUD were at a disadvantage after losing three players quite early on in the round without obtaining equal trades. However, Less and tuyz had other plans. Less managed to claim two quick kills at A-Site and brought FNS down to four HP.

tuyz, however, emerged as the star of the round as he rotated to the B-Site through the defender spawn, catching ardiis with a crisp headshot as he tried to set up on the B-Main angle with his Operator. After this, it was a fairly one-sided affair as FNS only had four HP to his name in comparison to tuyz's 150.

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2) s0m's fantastic shot onto cauanzin gives NRG their seventh round

FNS and s0m were trapped in A-Main on Fracture when cauanzin used a Breach ultimate on them. Both NRG players ate the ultimate to the full extent and were easy preys for cauanzin, but s0m managed to make the best of his first shot and get the kill on cauanzin, which ultimately helped them claim their seventh round on the map.

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3) cauanzin hits a fantastic shot, but s0m closes out the round to put NRG on the board on Split

With a clean shot to the head, cauanzin shot Victor out of the sky while he came at him with a Showstopper. However, that wasn't enough as s0m on Astra with an Operator managed to get the final kill of the round and got the defuse with 0.18s remaining.

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4) garnetS' electrifying round with the Neon ultimate

Talon Esports' garnetS showed how powerful a Neon dancing around at full speed with electricity coming out of her fingers can be. His excellent performance gave his team their fourth round, equalizing their score with DRX.

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5) DRX BuZz gets a spectacular 4K on Icebox

In this round, BuZz positioned himself perfectly to take advantage of the tiny gap in the Harbor wall. He knocked garnetS out of the sky with a crisp Phantom headshot, and ended the round with a long-range spraydown on foxz.

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Upcoming matchups

Day 7, February 22, of VCT LOCK//IN will mark the beginning of the Omega Bracket group stage.

• Team Liquid vs Team Secret: 9:00 am PST/ 6:00 pm CET/ 10:30 pm IST
• Natus Vincere vs KRU Esports: 12:00 pm PST/ 9:00 pm CET/ 1:30 am IST (next day)
• ZETA DIVISION vs Leviatan: 3:00 pm PST/ 12:00 am CET (next day)/ 4:30 am IST (next day)

You can catch the matches live on Valorant's official Twitch or YouTube channels or your favorite streamer's watchparty.