Two matches away from Masters 1 invite, XSET are eager to get their revenge against Cloud9.
XSET is one of the few teams that has consistently been in the top four of NA Valorant events. But the team has not always been able to go into the Grand finals. They have another chance now in the VCT NA Challengers as they eliminated the new LG roster. XSET AYRIN shared some of his thoughts in the post-match interview, about the pressure on the team and was very confident and eager for their next match.
XSET reached the lower bracket after losing 1-2 to OpTiC Gaming. They went 2-0 against Knights to face off against LG. After a thrilling 2-1 win over Version1, LG lost to The Guard. They might have fared slightly better than XSET in the upper bracket, but they couldn’t match the XSET boys and are now out of the running.
XSET players continue dominance on Breeze
Having won 7 of their last eight matches on this map, XSET were the clear favorites to win once again.
Luminosity started the series with two round wins. But that’s all the momentum that the team had as they only managed to win two more rounds in the half. The first half finished with a 8-4 score in favor of XSET.
XSET continued its momentum into the second half, winning all but one round to complete a 13-5 victory on Breeze. Breeze was XSET’s map pick.
The second map, Ascent, followed a very similar trajectory to Map 1. LG won a few rounds then XSET strung together a few more. This time, LG failed to convert a single round on their defense. XSET won Ascent with a 13-5 score, again.
There were some heroic performances on Ascent by Cryocells and Zekken. They were the stars of Map 1 with 22 and 21 kills respectively.
There’s been a significant improvement in Cryocells performance in the playoffs. He has a higher KDA, higher damage per round and a slightly higher first blood percentage in the playoffs compared to the groups.
XSET once again with the Lower bracket run, can they break the barrier this time?
As mentioned earlier in this article, XSET is a team that consistently reaches the top four, even if they have not always been able to go past that. It’s also worth noting that XSET has often grinded through the lower brackets of playoffs to reach the top four. Their team has to survive and this survival ‘instinct’ often helps them perform better.
When asked if their past experience of having gone through numerous lower bracket runs helps them manage the pressure this time around, AYRIN had this to say:
“I think the opening match of any tournament, everyone has a bit of nerves. I think any nerves that we had going into the playoffs with this new roster are gone now. So in a way, to answer your question, yes, we are way less nervous. We don't seem pressured at all.”
With their victory against LG, XSET is now two matches away from securing an invite to VCT Masters Reykjavik. The road to Reykjavik has been a tough one for the team, but the prize is just a few matches away.
“We're just learning as much as we can from the mistakes we've had in our previous runs. We're always 1-2 wins away from International LAN”
XSET AYRIN spoke about the team’s preparation coming into Challengers 1. The team’s latest pickup, Crycocells, has been an excellent investment so far. The 19 year old player has put up stellar performances repeatedly, allowing XSET to dominate their opponents just as they did today with LG.
“I think Don [SyykoNT - Team Coach] has put in more work in these four months than he did all of last year. And he worked his ass off all of last year.”
Moving ahead, XSET will now face Cloud9 in an elimination match. The players are eager to meet Cloud9 again after losing to them in the group stage. It was a back and forth series, but Cloud9 ultimately won the third map (Icebox) with a 13-10 score.
“We want to play Cloud9 cause we had a close Map 3 and I kind of felt we slipped it.”
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