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Valorant Champions 2021 group stage is almost over, and the teams are preparing for the knockout stages. The tournament has seen clear dominance of the EMEA sides across the team from other regions. It again fueled the debate regarding the rivalry between EMEA and the NA region.
A total of eight teams will qualify for the knockout stage of the Valorant Champions 2021. Five teams have already secured their slots in the quarter-finals, and four out of them are EMEA teams.
Acend is one of four EMEA teams that have secured their slot in the Valorant Champions 2021. They defeated North America's Team Envy to secure their place in the next stage. However, after their win against Team Envy, Acend's Kiles spoke to the media and answered the queries of journalists. In response to Sportskeeda Esports' question, Kiles put EMEA over NA depending on the recent performance of Valorant Champions 2021.
All four EMEA teams qualified for the knockout stage as the winners of their respective groups in the Valorant Champions 2021
Acend secured a flawless victory against North America's Team Envy last night. They became the 4th EMEA team after Fnatic, Gambit Esports, and Team Liquid, who have secured their slots in the quarter-finals.
After the match, Acend's Vlad "Kiles" Shvets spoke to the media. Sportskeeda Esports asked Kiles about EMEA teams' performances in comparison to NA teams. In response to that, Kiles said,
"I think it is pretty obvious that EMEA is above NA. We're better prepared than them both mechanically and strategically. I think we're way ahead of them."
Valorant Champions 2021 is the biggest Valorant event of the year where the best team will be crowned as the game's first-ever world champions. A total of 16 teams from different regions have participated in the tournament. Out of 16 teams, four are from EMEA regions, and all of them qualify for the knockout stage as the top seed from their respective groups.
Meanwhile, NA is yet to confirm a representative from their region in the quarter-finals of the Valorant Champions 2021. Sentinels are already out of the competition, whereas Team Envy and Cloud9 Blue will go up against X10 CRIT and Vision Strikers, respectively, on the group stage's final day to stay in the competition. It will be interesting to see how NA teams respond to Kiles' comments in the coming days.
