São Paulo silenced: Fnatic win VCT 2023: LOCK//IN over Brazil's LOUD
Fnatic denies LOUD their second international VALORANT title as they stun the Brazilian squad in São Paulo, Brazil, after a close 3-2 victory.
Heading into this series, Fnatic was the undisputed frontrunner after qualifying for the Grand Final without dropping a single map. Viewed as the "EMEA superteam", Fnatic went into every series at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo with a confident swagger that felt unrivaled by any other team at the event. After taking down their EMEA rivals, Natus Vincere, in the semifinals yesterday.
For LOUD, even they did not expect to make it as far as they did. After their VCT Champions 2022 victory in Sept. 2022, the Brazilian team lost both Bryan "pANcada" Luna and Gustavo "sacy" Rossi to the Sentinels, forcing them to bring on two new players to the team in 2023. However, LOUD proved all throughout VCT 2023: LOCK//IN that the magic was still there. Time and time again, LOUD showcased their strong level of play as they stood against some of the tournament's top contenders like DRX and NRG to reach the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo Grand Final.
That, unfortunately, was not enough to stop the EMEA superteam of Fnatic from early dominance in the Grand Final.
Fnatic bring it to series map instantly
Fnatic was in top form throughout the first two maps on Ascent and Fracture as Leo "Leo" Jannesson was an unstoppable force looming over LOUD in front of their home crowd. Leo amassed a total of 46 kills throughout the first two maps as his utility usage on Sova kept track of every attempted push from the side of LOUD. Notably, Fnatic's performance on Ascent held LOUD's star duelist Erick "aspas" Santos to a 0.55 Rating as he was constantly countered at the start of every round.
The LOUD house: LOUD's near reverse sweep electrifies crowd
THIS GRAND FINAL IS GOING THE DISTANCE!!!
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 4, 2023
Lotus goes to @LOUDgg! #VCTLOCKIN pic.twitter.com/ap80ZriAVS
Down 0-2, LOUD completely shifted their level of play. Instead of a dominant 3-0 sweep from Fnatic, we saw LOUD rise to the occasion as the São Paulo crowd started to grow louder and louder. Maps three and four on Split and Lotus saw Felipe "Less" Basso handle the pressure of being down with ease. His 46 kills on the two maps led LOUD to a fifth and final game on Icebox, where the team's dominance would continue.
The São Paulo crowd erupted as LOUD's dominance from maps three and four continued on Icebox as the Brazilians ended the first half up 9-3 over Fnatic. Shortly after, they collected two more rounds to bring the map to 11-3 as Fnatic were on the brink of letting another championship slip through their fingertips.
Fnatic stun LOUD to win first VCT title
Your #VCTLOCKIN Winners! pic.twitter.com/KzoT0CoZVy
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 5, 2023
Down eight rounds, Fnatic slowly inched their way back on the attack side of Icebox. As each round passed, so did the Brazilian's chances of being able to win their second international VALORANT title. Soon after, Fnatic did the impossible as they climbed their way out of a 3-11 hole and brought the series to overtime at 12-12. There, Fnatic finally put the closing seal on their most dominant performance as the EMEA superteam became the first champions of VCT 2023.
Following Fnatic's victory at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, teams will have a short period of rest before the regional leagues begin on March 26, 2023. There, teams will be competing for a spot at VCT Masters Tokyo and eventually, VCT Champions 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
You can watch the action unfold on VCT's Twitch and YouTube channels.
Sage got his start in esports as a volunteer writer in 2016 for esports organization, Dignitas. Since then, he has continued to work on his craft as a journalist and reporter for a number of established esports publications, such as esports.gg, Unikrn, Akshon Esports, Howla, The Player’s Lobby, Nerd Street Gamers, and most recently Dot Esports. Now, as a member of Esports Illustrated’s content team, Sage’s primary duties are centered around creating groundbreaking written and video content about the esports industry that impacts the community in a meaningful way. Sage graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Informatics. There, he was a member of the Rutgers Esports Executive Board, both as the head of the fighting game community and a videographer/photographer for the Content team.