DRX have kept up their group stage momentum at the VALORANT Champions Tour Masters Copenhagen playoffs with yet another win. DRX overcame Leviatán, Latin America’s first seed, to reach the upper bracket semifinals. The Korean powerhouse looks like one of the most dangerous teams in Copenhagen.
The three map series started in Leviatán’s favor, as the Chileans came out strong with a quick 13-6 Ascent.
“After Map 1, we weren’t entirely happy, but we weren’t frustrated or upset,” DRX’s Kim “Zest” Gi-seok said in a post-match press conference. “We just prepared for the second map.”
DRX rallied and it looked as though Leviatán couldn’t mount any kind of a response until late on Map 3, Haven. The series ended 2-1 for DRX. Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan on DRX had a massive series, finding both supportive impact and kills; he posted a whopping 51 assists across the three maps.
Leviatán’s Vicente “Tacolilla” Compagnon had a good first series, even though it wasn’t enough to pull his team over the line. He remains one of the most exciting players to watch as he shows his prowess on Chamber.
“Before coming into the match, we didn’t expect Leviatán to be this good,” Zest said. “They were very strong. We had this impression of LATAM, but it’s not a region that should be underestimated.”
Masters Copenhagen is Leviatán’s international debut; they’ve typically been unable to reach Masters events, falling time and time again to KRÜ Esports. That changed at the Stage 2 LATAM Challengers playoffs when Leviatán finally got the better of KRÜ. Although their opening match at Masters Copenhagen was a loss, it was also a learning experience.
“This is the first event for all of my guys,” Leviatán assistant coach Martín “Betony” Bourre said. “It’s the first international event so I’m really positive for tomorrow. We’re really strong and we’ll win everything tomorrow.”
Leviatán go on to face the loser of the match between OpTic Gaming and XSET. The team is not too worried over which of the two North American teams goes through.
“I don’t believe they’re as difficult as DRX, without taking anything from any of the other teams,” Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena said.
For DRX’s part, they’re also happy to face the winner of the match. While they’re okay with either team, they have some personal beef to settle with XSET. After securing the NA first seed, Brendan “BcJ” Jensen called out DRX’s Kim “stax” Gu-taek as an initiator that he felt was overrated.
“We’re just innocent beings here, so I’m not really sure why he triggered us,” stax said. “He will get what he deserves for triggering us.”
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