VCT EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers recap: Team Liquid is back in blue

Aug 16, 2022

Liquid hasn’t quite had the dream run in 2022, and fighting through the hordes of hungry teams in the VCT EMEA LCQ was no walk in the park either. Almost falling at the final hurdle against M3C, they took down the historied squad 3-1 to snatch that final spot at Champions.

Looking to relive their journey? Or did you see the hype on Twitter and wonder what you missed? Here’s everything that went down during the VCT EMEA LCQs.

VCT Stage 2 Masters: Final Placements

Liquid topple titans to get to VCT Champions 2022

Liquid came into the LCQ with scores to settle and a point to prove. Having crashed out of VCT Stage 1 Masters early and failing to find their momentum in Stage 2 Challengers, the LCQ very much represented a possible redemption arc - and, spoiler alert, they got that redemption. 

Tearing through BBL (who only took one round on the second map, Icebox), before facing NAVI, who put up more of a fight, but were ultimately crushed by the might of Liquid. Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen pulled out all the stops, bending Chamber (who has taken some serious nerfs ahead of Champions) to his will and popping heads without breaking a sweat.

Their victory lap was interrupted by M3C, though, who reverse swept them in an intense series of matches. Diving deep into overtime on Icebox, Liquid found themselves in the lower bracket, where they faced longtime rivals G2 Esports. Pulling an M3C and reverse sweeping Berlin’s samurai warriors, Jamppi again showed up in style and helped pull the team through to the finals.

There awaited M3C, the squad who had beaten them once before. Yet another reverse sweep, Liquid took the series on Map 4. Headshot machine, Adil ‘ScreaM’ Benrlitom continues to live up to his nickname, flexing on his staples of Jett and Raze, then pulling out the Phoenix to shock… well, everyone. Igniting the British Agent’s fire, he steamrolled M3C, earning his squad the final spot at Champions.

With the taste of victory in their mouths, will the boys in blue and white be able to style on the competition at Champions 2022? We’ll have to wait and see. The competition has reached its peak, though, and only the strong will survive.

VCT EMEA LCQ: Vods

If you missed out on any of the action, you can check out vods of the event on https://valorantesports.com/vods!