G2 continues their dominance over Europe with their victory at the Allied Esports Odyssey. The team has placed first in every European event since the launch of the Ignition Series.
The road to victory for G2 proved to be more difficult than the team has seen before, placing 3rd in the group stage. Newly formed teams Liquid and FunPlus Phoenix showed they are worthy competitors to the defending champions.
During the group stage, tragedy struck G2’s DavidP as he found out his father passed away during a match with FunPlus. He, understandably, left the match early. DavidP decided to continue playing in the event, dedicating himself to win for his father. G2 rallied behind him, dominating the bracket stage.
The team swept through FunPlus Phoenix and Team Liquid, erasing any notion of the new teams being worthy competitors. Mixwell, in particular, put on another MVP performance, boasting the highest kill/death ratio, kills per round, econ score, and combat score for any player in the tournament. His dominating Jett overwhelmed the competition and the rest of the team understood how to support and play around his aggression. Ardiis and PaTiTek also put on fantastic performances, clutching crucial rounds in the finals.
This tournament is the first time any team has made the five-time champions sweat. FunPlus Phoenix and Team Liquid both have only fielded rosters for a little more than one week, and both teams took matches against G2 in the group stage. Liquid’s ScreaM and FunPlus’ Shao both played incredibly well. With enough time, both teams may grow to dethrone the current kings of Europe.
This event, coupled with the North American Knights tournament, showed how much fans want to see an international LAN tournament. International events garner plenty of attention and draw in new viewers, growing the esport. A matchup between G2 and North America’s best to prove which region is the best will do wonders to grow competitive VALORANT. Unfortunately, with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic being out of sight, fans are going to have to wait a while to see which region is the best.
Sources: AlliedEsports, VLR.gg, G2