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VCT Masters Tokyo has officially begun. A total of 12 teams will be competing against each other to be crowned 2023's Masters Champion. The event will start off with the Group Stage, where teams will be playing in a double-elimination format to try and make it to the Playoffs. Once there, these lineups will then compete for the trophy itself. VCT Masters Tokyo Day 2 has two matches lined up and one of them is between NA's NRG Esports and EMEA's NAVI.
Day 1 of Masters Tokyo started off with three matches. The first was between Americas' Evil Geniuses and EMEA's FUT Esports. The former were incredible throughout the series, and Demon1 making it to Tokyo gave the team a huge confidence boost.
Despite FUT's best efforts they lost the BO3 (Best of Three) series by 0-2. The second match between Pacific's DRX and China's Attacking Soul Esports saw a similar result. The Chinese team was unable to find success on their international debut and lost the BO3 series by 0-2.
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Lastly, the third match was between China's EDward Gaming and Pacific's T1. This series went the full distance as both teams were able to win on their own map picks. It came down to the third map, Pearl, where T1 concluded the BO3 series with a 2-1 win against EDward Gaming after an overtime.
NRG Esports vs NAVI - Who will the NA vs EMEA matchup in VCT Masters Tokyo?
Predictions
NRG Esports started off slow with their run in the VCT Americas League, but were able to bounce back in the crucial matches. Eventually, NRG Esports finished 2nd place in the Americas League and earned their spot as NA's most fearsome team.
NAVI had a great start to 2023 as they looked incredible in VCT LOCK//IN as they finished 3rd-4th place. They continued to have that same level of performance going into the VCT EMEA League. However, NAVI seemed to struggle a little towards the end as they finished 4th place in the league. Luckily, Fnatic's win at LOCK//IN gave the region an extra slow, which allowed NAVI to qualify for Masters Tokyo.
Predicting the winner for this matchup is extremely difficult as both teams have performed incredibly well at the highest level of Valorant. Statistically, NRG have looked slightly better than NAVI in their previous matches. This match is going to come down to the exceptional IGLs (In-game Leader) FiNESSE and Ange1, and their mid round calls.
Head-to-head
These teams have not faced each other before.
Recent results
NRG Esports' latest match was against LOUD in the VCT Americas League, where they lost the Grand Finals BO5 (Best of Five) series by 0-3.
NAVI's latest match was against FUT Esports in the VCT EMEA League, where they lost the BO3 series by 0-2.
Potential lineups
NRG Esports
- Pujan "FiNESSE" Mehta (IGL)
- Sam "s0m" Oh
- Austin "crashies" Roberts
- Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks
- Victor "Victor" Wong
- Chet "Chet" Singh (Coach)
NAVI
- Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov (IGL)
- Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky
- Pontus "Zyppan" Eek
- Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin
- Mehmet Yagiz "cNed" ipek
- Erik "d00mbr0s" Sandgren (Coach)
When and where to watch
Fans can support their favorite teams by watching the match on the official YouTube and Twitch channels of Valorant Champions Tour. They can also tune into the many watchparties done by streamers and pro players. The match will be held on June 11, 2023 at 8 pm PDT/5 am CEST (next day)/8:30 am IST (next day).
