With the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT Champions 2022) moving towards the bracket stage, eight out of 16 teams will exit the year-end tournament at the end of the ongoing group stage. After all, only one team will get to lift the prestigious and shiny trophy in this year's ultimate tournament.
EDward Gaming and BOOM Esports have already bid adieu to their Champions 2022's journey, having lost to Team Liquid and ZETA DIVISION respectively in the elimination series. Today, KRÜ Esports and XERXIA Esports will battle to remain in the competition.
The winner from the aforementioned matchup will battle either XSET or FPX, whoever loses today's winner's skirmish, to enter the playoffs stage. Three top-performing teams from three groups, namely Leviatán, OpTic Gaming, and DRX, have already claimed their slots in the upcoming bracket stage.
Eliminations are never easy, be it for the beloved teams or their fans. This article will shed light on the possible outcome of the elimination matchup between XERXIA and KRÜ through head-to-head comparisons, recent results, potential lineups, and more.
KRÜ Esports vs. XERXIA Esports: Who will make their exit from VCT Champions 2022 today?
Both rosters have fought through immense competition and passed several tests to be where they are now. However, they fumbled against XSET and FPX in their preliminary matchups of VCT Champions 2022. As a result, they will now have to prove their callibre against one another to remain in the tournament.
KRÜ Esports isn't an unknown gem, as fans have witnessed their immense potential in VCT 2021. That said, XERXIA is a prominent underdog team who managed to qualify for the ongoing tournament in a very impressive manner.
Both these rosters are expected to unleash their best at each other in today's best-of-three elimination series. Hence, it's incredibly difficult to predict the team that is destined to be sent home at the end of the clash.
Predictions
XERXIA and KRÜ are equally capable of giving each other a hard time at winning today's matchup. That said, the Argentine roster was a prominent part of the circuit last year and features considerably more international experience than Thailand's rising stars.
Considering their VCT careers, KRÜ Esports hold a prominent upperhand over XERXIA Esports.
Head-to-head comparison
KRÜ and XERXIA's Valorant rosters have not faced each other in any tournaments before.
Recent results
While XERXIA managed to qualify for the VCT Champions 2022 through circuit points, KRÜ had to fight their way through their regional Last Chance Qualifiers to gain a ticket to Istanbul. However, both teams qualified for Masters Stage 1 and 2 this year after dominating their regional Challengers stages.
KRÜ and XERXIA have showcased similar performances in VCT 2022. They did extremely well in Challengers but fumbled against international competition in Masters Copenhagen and Reykjavik. Unfortunately, the Klaus-led team had to pass an extra set of tests in the form of LCQ due to the lack of circuit points.
Considering their similar form throughout VCT 2022, the odds don't seem to considerably favor either of them.
Potential lineups
KRÜ Esports
- Joaquin "delz1k" Espinoza
- Juan "NagZ" Pablo Lopez
- Nicolas "Klaus" Ferrari (IGL)
- Robert "Mazino" Rivas
- Angelo "keznit" Mori
XERXIA
- Itthirit "foxz" Ngamsa-ard (IGL)
- Panyawat "sushiboys" Subsiriroj
- Natchaphon "sScary" Matarat
- Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut
- Thanachart "Surf" Rungapajaratkul
Where to watch
Fans all over the world can watch the Argentine and Thai prodigies take on each other live on YouTube, Twitch, and Valorant esports' official website. The series starts at 5:00 PDT / 17:30 IST / 14:00 CEST. Fans can also join their favorite streamer's watch party as a fun alternative to the official livestreams.