In the second game of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 Stage 2 Masters lower bracket, Leviatán beat XSET in a long 2-1 series with two overtimes, qualifying for 2022 Champions. The teams showed just how close they were in skill, with both teams making big comebacks to force overtimes in back-to-back maps. However, in both overtimes, Leviatán’s players clutched it out when needed most. Every player on the team had their moments, from the close first map loss to the later two overtime wins.
“The ability to clutch up was 100% due to our individual training and it really showed in this series specifically,” said Leviatán player Benjamín “adverso” Poblete. “We all had our moments being clutch.”
FIRST WIN ON LAN ✅ @LeviatanGG clutches up to clinch the series! #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/w7eFQlTO5K
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) July 16, 2022
Two overtime wins put Leviatán on top
Those clutch moments didn’t matter as much on Split, but the latter two maps were a different story. On the second map of Ascent, down 1-0 in the series, they were at an 8-4 deficit at halftime. But, while fighting for a potential comeback, it was Marco “Melser” Amaro that won multiple clutches to take it to overtime.
“I’m really happy today because those clutches happened, and I knew that I played those moments the best possible way,” Melser said. “But it wasn’t all me — we took that momentum and all built on it for both Ascent and Haven.”
Melser definitely stole the show on Ascent, but when Haven was forced, it was a true team effort. After setting up an early 9-3 lead, XSET fought right back in the second half to try and snatch the win away. One of the craziest rounds was round 24, with XSET on series point. Leviatán took a gamble and teleported up to A site’s high ground, but died immediately with the spike. This put XSET in an amazing position to defend the rest of the map, but a double satchel jump from Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena and a clean one tap helped retrieve the spike. Hurt, he jumped down, dying from fall damage but putting the spike with his team on the low ground.
Calmness and professionalism key in the win
XSET’s attack struggles showed in the third map, which was the second today to go into overtime. Both teams kept strong defenses, going to triple overtime; in the end, Leviatán getting a free plant on C site after a ton of spam ended up winning the series for them.
“For those rounds spamming C, what I wanted to point out was the calmness of their perfect performance in such a heated match,” said Leviatán assistant coach Martín “Betony” Bourre. “We used each ability at the perfect time to run the clock down and that calmness and professionalism led to the win. They were able to get all the calls right, as soon as I heard those calls I know we won the round.”
FIRING SQUAD 💥@LeviatanGG | #VALORANTMasters pic.twitter.com/Uy0gWGPvDi
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) July 16, 2022
With this win, not only are Leviatán still in the Stage 2 Masters tournament, but they’ve officially qualified for Champions. That alone made the team happy as could be, despite how intense the series win was. Betony was talking to the team owner soon after the win, and the mood was as high as could be.
“I was able to speak to the owner post-match, and getting this victory and qualifying for Champions shows just how much we can do,” Betony said. “It’s a big step for us, to overcome this obstacle. These players, these five monsters put all their energy into this match and deserve the win.”
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