VCT LOCK//IN has finally kicked off and has been nothing but exciting. The tournament follows a single-elimination format, so one loss could mark the end of a team's journey. Every team brings out their A-game from the start, making it all the more thrilling to watch. Thirty franchised teams, plus two from China, are competing against each other in two separate brackets: Alpha and Omega.
Day 2 of VCT LOCK//IN gave three incredible matches for viewers to witness. The first was between Karmine Corp and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), where Karmine won by 2-1 but had to dig pretty deep and fight for it. The second match was between DRX and BBL Esports, where the heavy favorites DRX won by 2-1, but BBL truly put on a show for the viewers.
The third match was perhaps the best one out of the lot, Paper Rex vs Cloud9. The NA superteam sent Paper Rex home by winning 2-0 in dominating fashion. Paper Rex did show some neat tricks during the matches, though.
Team Heretics vs Evil Geniuses - Who will win the NA vs EU matchup in VCT LOCK//IN?
Predictions
Team Heretics has been on the Valorant esports scene since the beginning. It made a mark in VCT history by winning the first-ever Valorant tournament—First Strike. But since then, the team couldn't qualify for any event. For 2023, Heretics has seen a massive roster change as players with a lot of experience have been brought in, like Mixwell. Almost everyone on Team Heretics has played a VCT international match before.
On the other hand, Evil Geniuses has had a rather tough time competing in the VCT. It hasn't won any official tournament. With franchising, the team is coming up with a 10-man roster and has brought in some very talented players who can definitely steer EG in the right direction.
Predicting the winner in this matchup is tough, as both these teams have extremely skilled players. However, there is a chance that Evil Geniuses might just win this one; it has had a chance to study some of Team Heretics' compositions from other tournaments.
Head to head
The upcoming match is Team Heretics and Evil Geniuses' first international appearance in a VCT tournament. So, none of these teams have faced each other before.
Recent results
Team Heretics' last match was against Team Vitality in December 2022 in the Quarterfinals of Red Bull Home Ground #3, where they lost 2-0 in the best of three and had a rather underwhelming performance.
Evil Geniuses' last match was against Soniqs in August 2022 at the BoomTV Proving Grounds: Unleashed, where they lost 1-0 in a best of one. However, one thing to remember is that this match was before they brought more players to their roster.
Potential Lineups
Team Heretics
- Oscar "Mixwell" Canellas
- Auni "AvovA" Chahade
- Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt
- Ricardas "Boo" Lukasevicius
- Cista "keloqz" Wassim
Evil Geniuses
- Brendan "BcJ" Jensen
- Etahn "Ethan" Arnold
- Corbin "COM" Lee
- Alexander "jawgemo" Mor
- Kelden "Boostio" Pupello
When and where to watch
Fans of their favorite team can watch this LOCK//IN matchup on the official YouTube and Twitch channels of the Valorant Champions Tour. There is another alternative where they can tune in to watch parties of streamers and players. The matchup between Team Heretics and Evil Geniuses will take place on Wednesday, February 15, 9 am PST/ 6 pm CET/ 10:30 pm IST.