Cloud9 vs KRÜ Esports at Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 2022: Predictions, livestream details, and more

The Valorant Red Bull Home Grounds is set to be held for the third time from December 9 to December 11. The new iteration of the event features some of the world's toughest competitors, with teams from North America and Europe vying for the top spot.

Red Bull Home Ground has returned to the vibrant city of Manchester for its third iteration as an official part of the Valorant Champions Offseason Tournaments. For the first time, North American teams will be able to compete against the top EMEA teams.

Cloud9 will face KRÜ Esports in the second semi-final, while 100T have already defeated Team Vitality in their first semi-final contest to secure a place in the Grand Final. Let's take a look at the possible outcome for the Cloud9 vs KRÜ Esports matchup, which is scheduled to commence soon.

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Cloud9 vs KRÜ Esports: Who will win the second semi-final series in Valorant Red Bull Home Ground #3?

Most Valorant esports fans will be familiar with the two teams from past VCT matches. The two sides are the top Valorant teams in their respective regions and have consistently shown form.

Cloud9 had previously defeated KRÜ Esports in the Red Bull Home Ground #3, displaying dominance. Cloud9 should have the upper hand in this match, considering they beat KRÜ Esports 2-0 with a much stronger roster from the North American team, including superstars like Yay, Zellsis, and Vanity.

The Valorant roster of KRÜ Esports has also performed well in previous tournaments and is regarded as one of the strongest teams in South America. Like with Cloud9, they underwent significant changes in preparation for VCT 2023, bringing in skilled players.

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Predictions

KRÜ Esports was briefly eliminated from the tournament recently, but after hours of debate and controversy, they were reinstated, qualifying for third place in Group A and sending FOKUS home.

They played amazingly well against Team Liquid, with the South Americans displaying high levels of skill, although the Liquid roster had two stand-ins.

Cloud9 has already won a match against the Chilean squad, where they dominated to make it a one-sided game.

KRÜ is playing with the team's sixth man, the Brazilian "axeddy," and has not performed as well as expected when "Melser" enters the server. With this handicap and a Cloud9 that has already defeated KRÜ, the outcome is expected to be one-sided.

The winner of the series will face 100T in the Grand Finals scheduled for December 11, while the losing side will exit the competition.

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Head-to-head

Cloud9 has faced KRÜ Esports once in the past, winning quite comfortably. Considering the head-to-head situation, the popular North American Valorant team certainly has an advantage over KRÜ Esports.

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Recent results

Head-to-head and recent results (Image via vlr.gg)

It might appear that KRÜ Esports is well-matched against Cloud9 going by recent results. However, KRÜ Esports has had a relatively quiet VCT 2022.

Despite defeating a few opponents at prestigious international tournaments, the team's overall performance has lacked discipline and well-thought-out strategies, leading to an early elimination in tournaments such as Champions Istanbul 2022.

Cloud9 has a stronger roster on paper, and after defeating KRÜ once in this tournament, this might well be a warm-up for a grand finale against their North American rivals, 100 Thieves. However, in all probability, KRÜ Esports could just deliver an upset defeat.

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Potential lineups

Cloud9

• Nathan “leaf” Orf
• Erick “Xeppaa” Bach
• Anthony “vanity” Malaspina
• Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker
• Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro

KRÜ Esports

• Nicolas "Klaus" Ferrari
• Juan Pablo "NagZ" Lopez
• Alexandre "xand" Zizi
• Santiago "Daveeys" Galvis Ruiz
• Carlos "axeddy" Alberto Machado

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When and where to watch

The Cloud9 vs KRÜ Esports semi-final will take place on December 11, 2022, at 1:30 pm GMT / 5:30 am PDT / 7 pm IST. To watch the game live, fans can head to twitch.tv/redbull or Red Bull Gaming's official YouTube channel.