Fnatic are your Red Bull Home Grounds #4 Champions

The final series of the Red Bull Home Grounds #4 sees Fnatic go up against Cloud9. The #300,000 prize pool event saw some of the best VALORANT teams go up in action in Tokyo, Japan. The tournament featured the likes of DRX, 100 Thieves, FUT esports, and more. Here’s how the Fnatic vs Cloud9 Grand Finals played out.

The Grand Finals kicked off on Bind where Fnatic took the inaugural round of the Grand Finals. However, Cloud9 were quick to bounce back with their limited buys to ensure a fast five round win-streak. OXY's Yoru was instrumental in several backstabs and positional plays that completely confounded Fnatic's VALORANT roster.

While Fnatic managed to string back a few rounds, Cloud9 continued to have an advantage even in the rounds they lost. On the defense, however, Cloud9 seemed completely unsure of what to do.

Alfajer and Derke ran havoc on the offense with some excellent aggressive plays coupled with post-plant situations. Cloud9 only managed to win one round in the second half to see a 7-13 loss on Bind.

Breeze

Whereas Bind saw both teams with round-streaks towards completion, Breeze was a much closer affair. The map saw both teams struggle to put together a streak of rounds. In fact, right till the very end neither team managed to win more than two rounds in a row. This speaks volumes of just how close this map was despite the scoreline.

With a 330 ACS, Oxy once more stepped up for Cloud9 on this map. He ended Breeze with 28 kills, 12 more than the next-best on the team who was Curry at 16.

On Fnatic, it was a much streamlined performance with both Derke and Leo putting in the efforts with more than 20 kills apiece. However, OXY's showpiece on Jett was a bit too much for them to handle. Cloud9 won Breeze with a 13-9 scoreline.

Ascent

Vanity and co. continued their momentum from the previous map onto Ascent. They won the first five rounds to kick off a 5-0 score, however, it was only on the 6th round that Fnatic found their footing in this map.

The tweet proved to be a premonition of sorts as Fnatic won the next five rounds to take the lead at 6-5. Cloud9 won the final round of the first half to even the score.

Cloud9 eventually took Ascent with a 13-9 score to take a 2-1 lead in the series. They were one map away from victory and crowning themselves as the Champions of Red Bull Home Grounds #4.

Lotus goes the Fnatic way

Lotus also started with a resounding lead for Cloud9 on the attacking side. However, their defense once again came into question. Lotus is also a map that Fnatic has made a name for itself regularly. Despite the novelty of the map, Fnatic has carved a dominant playstyle on this map having practiced it in its earliest days post-launch.

The result was not really a shock for many fans as Fnatic expected to win on Lotus. Chronicle and Alfajer led the way. Chronicle with his 355 ACS was clearly one of the most impactful player on the server. Alfajer ended the map with 20 kills.

Haven - Fnatic seal the deal

Playing on their best map as the penultimate one in the series was clearly a boost for the Fnatic players. They had their confidence back and were clearly in the groove for the final map of the series.

Haven as the final pick saw Fnatic kick off with an aggressive playstyle, which resonated from their Lotus gameplay.

After a 7-5 first-half score, Fnatic had an impeccable defense. Cloud9 were unable to win a single round in the second half to hand Fnatic a 13-5 victory on Haven.

The Grand Finals is a best-of-five series that will see Fnatic and Cloud9 face off against each other. As one of the strongest teams in the VALORANT Championships, Fnatic only managed to finish in the top four. The team had some splendid performances throughout the group stage and in the playoffs as well. 

But they lost to LOUD in the playoffs, a series that was not only exciting to watch but also a thrilling prelude to the remainder of the tournament. The team roster is the same, but there is one important change. With Coach Mini out of the equation and a new coaching staff in place, there are things that fans have been eagerly waiting for from the new roster. And so far, having reached the Grand Finals of the Red Bull Home Grounds #4, they have not been disappointed.

Meanwhile, Cloud9 has seen quite a few changes. It’s been nearly two months since most of these changes, but the team still bears a relatively new look. They won the recently concluded TEN Global Invitational where they took down DRX to win ₩15,000,000. Playing against DRX in Busan, where the home crowd was undoubtedly in support of their opponent, and emerging victorious is no mean feat.

In this tournament, Cloud9 lost their first match against Zeta Division, but they managed to bounce back soon after. They did exact their revenge in the playoffs and soon after they also managed a 2-1 victory over FUT esports. 

Fnatic VALORANT roster

Cloud9 VALORANT roster

The tournament is one of the several VALORANT OFF//SEASON events that Riot announced soon after VCT Champs 2023. The tournament took place in the iconic Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan. 

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest VALORANT news and updates.