EU Masters: Acend continues Cinderella run; to meet Team Heretics in final

The Cinderella story of Acend in the VALORANT Champions Tour continues as they defeat FunPlus Phoenix 2-1 in the semifinals.

Acend wasn’t one of the teams expected to do well in Masters. After all, there were some really solid teams competing for the crown. Fast forward just one week, and Team Heretics is the only team left standing to keep Acend from the Masters throne.

FunPlus Phoenix, one of the favorites to win it all, started off the series the way you’d expect from a favorite. Despite being Acend’s pick, FPX started off strong, winning the first seven rounds without response. This set them up for an easy 13-7 win.

If there’s one thing we learned is to never discount Acend. They responded in kind on FPX’s map pick Ascent. After a 2-3 start, Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek and his team won the next six rounds. FPX never recovered from this run and lost their map pick, tying the series.

Both teams turned to Icebox as a decider. FPX started off best by winning the first four rounds. Acend responded in kind winning the next three. Things remained close, with Acend winning both rounds in overtime, and together with that, their place in the Master finals!

Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek dominated the series, ending the semifinals with 67 kills.

Acend will meet Team Heretics -, that defeated Guild Esports in the other semifinal. The First Strike champions routed the Swedish team 13-10 and 13-7 on Haven and Ascent respectively. 

Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas was on fire once again and had a big say in the victory.

Acend will meet Team Heretics later today (March 21) at 5 PM CET.

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Image credit: VALORANT Champions Tour EU (Twitter)