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The Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Day 5 saw the conclusion of the first round of qualifiers. The day saw two matches, with TSM facing Gen.G Esports for the third spot and Cloud9 Blue vs Envy in the finals.
While TSM wrapped up third place, it was up to Cloud9 and Envy to put on a good show in the finals. Cloud9 TenZ was the star player going into the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Finals and proved just why in the course of three intensely-fought maps.
It all ended with Cloud9 becoming the No 1 team in the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament as they beat Envy 2-1.
Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament: Day 5 Finals - Cloud9 Blue beat Envy
Cloud9 were extensively criticized for their Defense during previous performances in the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament. Nevertheless, the consistency they showed in the finals, especially on Defense, answered all their critics.
On the other hand, Envy showed some of their best performances in a long time. The team dominated the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament with their thrifty rounds and sneaky plays.
However, regardless of all their tricks, the finals were more of a conflict than a match.
The commentators mentioned:
"We are seeing these players going at each other, as planting the bomb becomes secondary. They just want to fight each other."
Indeed, this was the case in the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Finals on all three maps. The first map was on Ascent, where TenZ and Cloud9 had brilliant statistics, though it did not matter as they lost the round 13-11.
On Ascent, in the first round, Mitch took charge of the action as he grabbed four kills in the Pistol round. The economic choices made by Cloud9 helped as Attackers were relatively balanced. Envy also followed up with a tight Defense as they made the score 6-6 before the swap.
After the swap, Envy dominated the Pistol round as mummAy and Food picked up two kills each. In the end, kaboose got 18 frags for Envy in their 13-11 victory on the first map.
Despite that loss, Cloud9 were pretty confident as TenZ picked up 23 kills on Ascent.
The next map was on Split, which is tactically the Defenders map. Cloud9 Blue made sure that they forced the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Finals into a third map. Their performance in Split was perhaps one of the best in this event.
Cloud9 took the first eight rounds easily without breaking a sweat. TenZ had his goal clear as he started the Pistol round with three kills and ended the match with 29 eliminations.
Perhaps the best player in Valorant right now, TenZ had the highest number of kills in this Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament.
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Split became a disaster for Envy as C9 Shinobi, Vice and Relyks took charge. This allowed TenZ to get into his groove and notch that early kill. He was playing Reyna, and the fans saw precisely how good he is.
C9 Mitch was playing Killjoy, and his tactics to close out an entire site with this Agent's ultimate was quite skillful. TenZ, however, was a class apart on Split, and in just the first four rounds, he got up to 10 kills, setting him up perfectly.
Cloud9 eventually went on to get an 11-1 scoreline before the swap on Split, putting Envy under pressure. The Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Finals became intense at this point, as everyone was eagerly waiting for the third map.
Envy couldn't do much and ended up with a 13-7 score on Split. This meant the final map of this event would be Bind.
Cloud9 had impressive stats on Bind, although Envy was down but not out. The latter won the first Pistol round to set the tone. Not for long, though, as Ten Z and Shinobi got it back for C9 in the second round.
After that, Cloud9 put on a show for the fans in the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament.
They dominated as Defenders and made it quite similar to the second match on Split, as Cloud9 made sure the score was 8-4 in their favor before the swap.
After the change, Envy had a great chance to win the Pistol round, but it wasn't to be. C9 Mitch took his time and got two decisive kills, which gave C9 their first victory as Attackers.
Following this, Cloud9 dominated the next three rounds. Relyks and Vice kept pushing the opponents while the latter kept the map information rolling in. In the end, Cloud9 sealed the game 13-5, giving them a 2-1 victory in the Valorant First Strike North America NSG Tournament Finals.
This was quite crucial for Cloud9, as it sets them up perfectly for Valorant First Strike. Also, the side has now come up to the third spot in the Valorant North America rankings.
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