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Valorant Champions 2023 is amongst the more evenly competitive events in VCT. A total of eight teams have made it to the Playoffs stage, with two teams from each participating region. Day 10 of the event saw two matches. The first was between DRX and Bilibili Gaming. Bilibili Gaming had a great start on the first map, and looked like they would run away with the series.
That said, DRX managed to pull off one of the biggest comebacks and pulled back the series in their favor. They closed out the best-of-three (Bo3) series by 2-0.
The second match between EDward Gaming and Evil Geniuses went the distance. The first map, Split, was very competitive and ended things in overtime in favor of EDG. However, in the next two maps, Evil Geniuses came in swinging and absolutely dominated EDG to close out the Bo3 series with a 2-1 win.
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During the post-match conference of Champions 2023, Sportskeeda Esports got the opportunity to talk to EDward Gaming's coach, AfteR, about why his team struggled in the last two maps. He responded by saying:
"We were not very coherent"
EDward Gaming's coach, AfteR, talks about why his team struggled against Evil Geniuses in the final two maps in Valorant Champions 2023
EDward Gaming's Valorant roster has come a long way since its international debut. Their biggest achievement was their breakthrough performance during Masters Tokyo, where they defeated the likes of NAVI, LOUD, and T1. There, they became the first Chinese team to make it to the Playoffs stage.
Hence, coming into Valorant Champions 2023, EDward Gaming was considered among the favorites. After Boostio's comments on Chinese Valorant teams, the matchup between EDward Gaming and Evil Geniuses was destined to be heated. As mentioned, the series was very competitive in the first map, but Evil Geniuses took over and were able to close out the Bo3 with a 2-1 win.
After the match, Sportskeeda Esports asked EDward Gaming's coach, AfteR, why the team had difficulties winning rounds in map two, Ascent, and map three, Pearl. Here's what he had to say:
"I think probably we were not very coherent on map two and map three in terms of our communication, especially on the thing that we want to do and also with the circumstances that we're facing, there are some conflicts, especially their Yoru on Pearl."
He further added:
"I think this (Yoru) is definitely the Agent that messed up with our thoughts a little bit so we were not that familiar with the solution with this Agent and some details on this map, especially confronting this composition which is not that very often seen. Also we had some of our mistakes as well."
Due to this loss, EDward Gaming has now been sent to the lower bracket. Their next match in Valorant Champions will be against the fellow Chinese team, Bilibili Gaming. It will take place on August 18 at 3 pm PDT/ 12 am CEST (next day)/ 3:30 am IST (next day).
