The Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters at Reykjavik, Iceland proved to be a stomping ground for Sentinels. However, Nuturn Gaming showed that the Korean teams were serious contenders for the big prize. Now, in Berlin, Germany, the home of Valorant Champions Tour Stage 3 Masters, Vision Strikers, and F4Q will represent the Korean region in order to reaffirm the Nuturn storyline.
The F4Q lineup: Efina, Esperanza, zunba, fiveK, Bunny
Player to watch: Chae “Bunny” Joon-hyuk
Infamously dubbed the stream team, F4Q were a group of casual gamers to begin with. However, they shot to fame after ending Vision Strikers’ 104-game unbeaten streak. F4Q though, one-upped their previous feat by going up against the best in the region and grabbing the second qualifying slot for the Berlin Masters. F4Q will now be representing Korea in Berlin come September after fending off storied organization Damwon Gaming in the Semi-Finals.
Team Overview
F4Q’s journey in the world of competitive Valorant has been that of continuous improvement in terms of results. One could attribute a portion of their success at the VCT Stage 3 Korea Challengers to the addition of Yoo “Locomotive” Jung-sun as the coach in July 2021. People might be quick to point out that the Korea Challengers have a single-elimination format after seeding.
However, F4Q played with structure and their performance at the Korea Challengers proves their win over Vision Strikers was not a fluke. It also reinforces the belief that, with proper guidance, the players can compete at the highest level in Korea.
Core Competencies
F4Q are one of the rare teams to favor the Raze pick over Jett on most of their maps. The Raze pick allows them to play a more team-oriented game while preserving a similar level of mobility for Bunny. In fact, F4Q have championed the art of playing compositions devoid of Jett, an agent that finds its way into the lineups for most Valorant teams.
Moving towards the map preference, F4Q have a penchant for playing the Ascent. The map has served them well, with the team boasting a 72% win rate on the map, as per VLR. Haven is also one of their strong suits, with the team’s worst performance on the map being a 13-11 defeat against DWG.
The Berlin Bracket
F4Q have a tough bracket in Group D, a group that features Sentinels, G2 Esports and Bren Esports. But, they could arguably shock Bren in their opening fixture in the Group to secure a place in the Decider, at the very least, if not qualify for the knockouts.
F4Q will be in Berlin to gain invaluable experience and have fun while at it. But, does the greatest underdog anime storyline yet in the Valorant scene have even more surprises left to unravel in Berlin?