Fnatic loses first match at VALORANT Masters Toronto

It was another tough day for EMEA fans at VALORANT Masters Toronto as the region’s Stage 1 champion Fnatic lost its first Playoffs series against Pacific’s Gen.G Esports.

Prior to the Fnatic game, VCT Pacific Stage 1 winner Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) — another first seed — was kicked into the lower bracket by China’s Wolves Esports.

During its debut at Masters Toronto, Fnatic had to relive the nightmare of facing Gen.G Esports. Just like at Masters Shanghai last year, both teams delivered a back-and-forth showdown between the two strategic geniuses. And just like in Shanghai, Gen.G came out on top with a 2-1 victory.

On Haven, both teams delivered defence masterclasses, first Fnatic with its signature double-duelist team composition, then Gen.G with its Viper-Omen setups. Yet it was Gen.G who won both pistol rounds and secured a 13-11 comeback following a 4-8 half. On top of that, Byeon ‘Munchkin’ Sang-beom on Viper shot down several site hits from Fnatic, who looked hesitant on its swings and lurks.

Fnatic’s map pick, Split, turned out just as competitive, with EMEA’s last hope making a comeback after a devastating 3-9 half on defence. To achieve this absolutely cinematic victory, Fnatic became the first Masters Toronto contestant to steal a pistol round from Gen.G, who had previously maintained an 11-0 pistol-round score in the tournament.

On top of that, Fnatic had to string together five incredibly close rounds at match point to reach overtime. Fuelled by impressive entries from Emir ‘Alfajer’ Beder on Raze, Fnatic won in overtime (14-12).

For Lotus, the final map of the series, Gen.G chose its signature Viper-Deadlock team composition. However, it was Kim ’t3xture’ Na-ra on Neon who stopped the majority of Fnatic’s attack executes with deadly Operator accuracy. The EMEA team looked overall indecisive on Lotus despite winning both pistol rounds. After an 8-4 defence half, Gen.G exploited Fnatic’s weaker B holds to take the map 13-6.

Ahead of the EMEA disaster, VALORANT fans were treated to an impressive show of macro gameplay from Wolves Esports. The Chinese underdog punished VCT Pacific Stage 1 winner RRQ for its safe team compositions and weak defence sides to claim yet another 2-0 victory.

On Ascent, Wolves had a strong early start by capitalising on its typical Deadlock-Cypher team composition. After securing eight rounds on attack, the Chinese roster struggled to defend against RRQ’s fast site hits. However, two pistol-round losses were too much to overcome on RRQ’s way to overtime. Wolves secured its map pick 13-11.

Icebox saw RRQ’s duelist, Maksim ‘Jemkin’ Batorov, come alive on Jett for his second map on an international stage. He helped his team effortlessly execute versatile attack strategies to turn its first pistol-round win into an 8-4 lead. Jemkin’s glory was short-lived, however, as he was massively outfragged by his Wolves counterpart, Tyler ‘Juicy’ Aeria, in the second half. Throughout a disastrous defence, RRQ could not secure a single round, losing Icebox 13-8.

With all opening Playoffs matches concluded, VALORANT Masters is heading into its first set of Playoffs elimination games tomorrow.

On June 16th, fans will then get to watch yesterday’s winners, Paper Rex and Sentinels compete in the upper bracket. Afterwards, another Upper Bracket Semifinals will be played between today’s winners, Wolves Esports and Gen.G.

Fans can tune into the matches on VALORANT’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.