Gambit Esports took down the Korean representatives, Vision Strikers, to proceed in Valorant Masters Berlin playoffs.
The first semi-finalist of Masters Berlin became clear. EMEA representatives Gambit Esports defeated Korean Vision Strikers and pushed them out of the tournament. Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin was the MVP of the series with a 1.40 rating. Gambit Esports are the first semi-finalists of Valorant Masters Berlin.
Bind
It was a perfect map point for Gambit Esports at their opponent’s map pick. Vision Strikers subbed in Kim “Lakia” Jong-min for the first time in Masters Berlin, replacing Lee “k1Ng Seung-won. It looked like they had a plan behind this substitution, but Gambit were ready for it. Starting on the attackers side, the EMEA representative performed completely passive strategies, giving up no information to Vision Strikers.
The Korean team couldn’t hold off the attacks from Gambit and made mistakes while seeking openings. This strategy led to an 8-0 score advantage in favor of the CIS team. Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin showed a monstrous performance with a 460 combat score and helped his team secure the map point with 13-2.
Split
Putting Lee “k1Ng Seung-won back to the roster was the first move of Vision Strikers to tie the series. The Korean team started the map on defense, expanding the lead to 6-2 by denying slow attacks of Gambit Esports. The defense inside of the bombsite was the key for Vision Strikers. They ignored mid-control, gave enough space to Gambit, and restrained them in the bombsites. The first half ended 8-4 in favor of Vision Strikers.
Winning the second pistol round gave a huge advantage to the Korean team. Then, Kim “stax” Gu-taek popped off and won successive clutch rounds to help his team. Vision Strikers executed fast attacks on the bombsites and tied the series with a 13-7.
Icebox
Gambit brought back their old game style into Icebox, waiting enough to make their opponents worried. Bogdan “sheydos” Naumov and Nikita “d3ffo” Sudakov stepped up in the first half for their teams and found opening kills. The patient game got the first-half lead for Gambit Esports, 8-4.
Vision Strikers sought a way out in the second half. Splitting Gambit’s roster across the map and catching them off-guard seemed to work well in a couple of rounds. However, the EMEA’s first seed adjusted their games immediately. They won the post-plant situations in chaos and grabbed the map 13-8.
Gambit Esports advanced to the semifinals in Masters Berlin. They will face the winner of G2 Esports – KRÜ Esports matchup. Vision Strikers’ journey in Masters Berlin has ended here.
