Day two of the Masters Bangkok playoffs saw G2 beat EDG to qualify for the grand finals, while T1 eliminated Vitality
G2 defeat EDG in 2-0 win to make their first Masters grand final
The opening game of day two of Masters Bangkok playoffs had Americas Kickoff champs G2 go up against EDward Gaming, the sole remaining undefeated team at Masters Bangkok. G2 chose the first map of play to be Lotus. EDG ran off to an early 4-2 start, but G2, post a timeout were able to win the next five rounds in a row. EDG restabilized with the last round, ending the half 7-5 in their opponent’s favor.
However, G2 on attack looked like a whole other beast, with both JonahP and trent finding crucial info Jawgemo could make plays off of. G2 quickly got themselves to match point, 12-6. EDG staved off their loss for just one more round, before a 13-7 win on Lotus put G2 at a huge advantage in the series. JonahP was the map MVP, with 20 kills and four untraded first kills on the Breach.
The second map of the series was Split, more familiar territory for EDG. Once again, the Chinese representatives got themselves to a 4-3 start, but once again, G2 were able to find a flurry of rounds to gain a huge advantage of five rounds in a row to end the half 8-4 in their favor thanks to a 4K from leaf and 3K from trent.
G2 won their second pistol of the day, using that momentum to win four of the next five rounds to get themselves to map and series point, 12-5. EDG needed seven rounds in a row to push it to OT, of which they netted only two before G2 won 13-7 to qualify for their first grand finals at an international VCT event.
The win was a teamwide effort, with every member of the G2 squad going positive in terms of kill differential. The highest ACS on the server belonged to jawgemo who had 37 kills across both map. Both him and JonahP also each had seven first kills. G2 are the first grand finalists of Masters Bangkok with this win, while EDG have a chance to meet them in the grand final if they can win the upcoming best-of-five lower final.
T1 eliminate Vitality in a thrilling three-map series to qualify for lower final
The second game of the day would decide who would go up against EDG in the lower bracket, with T1 facing off against Vitality Gaming. The former had lost to EDG in the upper bracket, while VIT had been taken down by G2. The map veto started off on T1’s map of Lotus, where they found a blistering 7-1 start on attack with their Iso-Raze double duelist comp paying dividends.
Vitality were able to find three more rounds to end the half 8-4 in T1’s favor, but after the sideswap, despite T1 taking their second pistol of the day, were able to win six straight rounds in a row to bring the score to 10-10. Both teams won two more rounds apiece to push the game to OT, where Vitality pulled off the successful comeback to win 14-12. Vitality’s Less was the map MVP with an ACS of 267 on the Viper, a 85% KAST: the highest on the server.
Despite the loss, T1 seemed to remain in good spirits, starting Haven off on defense. They ran a Yoru and Iso while Vitality opted for the Yoru and Jett. T1 were able to put up a strong defense showing thanks to iZu on Cypher being an absolute anchor menace on site, putting up more kills than the Vitality squad combined in the same half. T1 ended the half with a 8-4 lead, but after switching to attack, pulled off five flawless attacking rounds to take map two 13-4 and push the series to a map three.
The decider Split was familiar with both teams, and VIT found themselves their first pistol of the day, but immediately lost the anti-eco. This gave T1 a surge of momentum, and iZu on the Yoru was having an absolute game, going 15/4 in the first half alone to enable T1 to find a 9-3 half. Vitality lost the last pistol of the day, but won another couple rounds to keep themselves alive and bring the score to 10-5.
T1 were at their finish line, and another three rounds in a row saw them win map three 13-5, eliminate team Vitality, and set themselves up for a rematch in the lower final vs EDG.BuZz was the MVP from T1’s side across all three maps, with an ACS of 270 and 15 first kills, the highest on the server. Every single member of T1 went positive in terms of KD across the series while none on Vitality’s side being able to achieve the same.
With this win, T1 will duel EDG in a best-of-five lower final match tomorrow to decide who will go up against G2 in the grand final.
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Cover photo courtesy of YiCun Liu/VALORANT Champions Tour
