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One of the most anticipated series of VCT Champions 2022 will pit two of North America's finest rosters against one another. Today's second matchup will see OpTic Gaming and XSET battle it out to preserve their spot in the upper bracket of the yearly tournament.
The opening series of the upper semifinals will pit LOUD against DRX, with XSET facing OpTic Gaming immediately after. While the first matchup sounds interesting, fans are more hyped for the ever-powerful OpTic to take on the odds-defying XSET.
This article will predict the results of today's OpTic vs. XSET upper semifinal series in VCT Champions 2022.
OpTic Gaming vs XSET: Who will win today's highly-anticipated upper semifinal round in VCT Champions 2022?
Both OpTic and XSET are incredibly popular North American rosters showcasing notable promise, making it rather difficult to predict the odds for their face-off.
XSET is an iconic Valorant roster, known for their presence in the erstwhile VCT 2021 and the ongoing VCT 2022. OpTic Gaming was formed in early 2022 by acquiring Team Envy. At the time, Team Envy was a prominent name in Valorant Champions 2021 and they are now back to enhance their reputation as OpTic Gaming.
Predictions
With both OpTic Gaming and XSET undefeated in Champions 2022 so far, they are two of the toughest contenders to face in the ongoing VCT season. Their face-off will likely be one of the most nail-biting series in Champions Istanbul yet.
That said, OpTic Gaming has showcased a more consistent performance throughout VCT 2022. They made it to the Champions 2021 last year unlike XSET, who couldn't gather enough circuit points or win the LCQ.
While their VCT 2021 career wasn't impressive, XSET made sure to steer clear of making the same mistakes this time. They performed impressively in NA Challengers Stage 1 and 2, and also managed to defeat some of their international competitors in Masters Copenhagen. Fortunately, they had enough circuit points to qualify for Champions this time.
Many had underestimated XSET's capabilities, but talents like Dephh, Cryocells, and zekken silenced the naysayers with amazing performances. As it stands, they are fully capable of defeating OpTic Gaming in today's series.
That said, OpTic Gaming boasts a prominent edge over XSET. Supporting this claim is the presence of exceptional players like Yay and Crashies, who have showcased some of the most astonishing plays in Champions 2022 yet.
Head-to-head comparison
XSET and OpTic Gaming have faced each other 11 times before, with the latter emerging victorious in eight of those encounters. Considering the stats above, the head-to-head comparison predicts that OpTic will come out on top in today's game.
Recent results
Interestingly, both OpTic and XSET have won three of their last five matches.
Potential lineups
XSET
- Jordan "AYRIN" He
- Brendan "BcJ" Jensen
- Rory "dephh" Jackson (IGL)
- Zachary "zekken" Patrone
- Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban
OpTic Gaming
- Pujan “FNS” Mehta (IGL)
- Jaccob “Yay” Whiteaker
- Victor “Victor” Wong
- Austin “Crashies” Roberts
- Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen
Where to watch
Fans can watch the aforementioned matchup live on YouTube, Twitch, and valorantesports.com. Alternatively, one can buy tickets to the live event being hosted at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul. The series starts at 10:00 am PDT / 7:00 pm CEST / 10:30 pm IST.
Champions Istanbul is presently hosting the playoff stages, following a double-elimination format. Any team that loses two matches at this point will be eliminated from the tournament. The current stage started off with eight teams, of which only six remain in the competition. Team Liquid and Leviatán were sent home yesterday after they lost their upper quarterfinals and lower quarterfinals series.
