Only two teams allowed more points than Team Heretics in group play of the Valorant tournament at the Esports World Cup. Now, only one stands in the way of them winning the championship.
Heretics, which is second in Group C, followed up Friday’s quarterfinal win with a 2-1 victory over Gen.G Esports in the semifinals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday. They will face Fnatic on Sunday for the title and the $500,000 grand prize.
The Esports World Cup is a collection of more than 2,000 players from 200 clubs around the world slated to compete in 25 tournaments across 24 titles. Teams compete for prize money and club points in each tournament.
Club points are then applied to the overall Club Championship standings, with the team finishing atop the standings being crowned Esports World Cup champion.
The EWC winner takes home $7 million dollars out of a $27 million prize pool. Another $38 million is spread across the game-specific tournaments.
The 25 tournaments include: Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, Counter-Strike 2, Crossfire, Dota 2, EA FC 25, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Free Fire, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Overwatch 2, PUBG MOBILE, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Rainbow Six Siege X, RENNSPORT, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics, Tekken 8 and Valorant.
On Saturday, Heretics opened with a 13-7 win on Ascent, but Gen.G answered with a 13-8 win on Haven. In a tight third map, Heretics advanced with a 16-14 victory on Lotus.
Fnatic, on the other hand, needed a reverse sweep to get by Paper Rex in the other semifinal after dropping Sunset 13-10 to open the match. Fnatic dominated on Ascent to get even, winning 13-3, then took the match with a 13-8 triumph on Split.
Though they both failed to advance to the grand final, Gen.G and Paper Rex will play a third-place match on Sunday. The difference between third and fourth is $60,000 and 200 club points. The runner-up gets $230,000 and 750 points.
In the Dota 2 tournament, all four opening-round playoff matches were sweeps, with Xtreme Gaming, Team Yandex, Talon Esports and Team Falcons all advancing. They will play the four second-place teams in group play on Sunday, with those four winners advancing to the quarterfinals (where the four group winners await).
Xtreme draws PARIVISION, Yandex gets Gaimin Gladiators, Talon will play Tundra Esports and Falcons face Natus Vincere. The winner of the Dota tournament earns $1 million and 1,000 club points. Second place gets $500,000 and 75 points, with third and fourth taking $300,000 / 500 points and $200,000 / 300 points, respectively.
One champion was crowned Saturday, as Goichi “GO1” Kishida of Japan beat China’s Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun to win the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves grand final. GO1’s DetonatioN FocusMe team pocketed $300,000 and the 1,000 club points for the win, while KuaiShou Gaming earned $155,000 and 750 club points for Xiao Hai’s effort.
–Field Level Media
