The high level VALORANT competition returns with the second week of VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers. After the breathtaking matchups in week 1, this week has more to offer in its pocket. On the opening day of week 2, VCT 2021 Champions winner Acend will face the undefeated Guild Esports.
Let’s breakdown the upcoming series.
Beware the double Straxo buff
Last year was full of success on Acend side. After winning VCT 2021 Europe Stage 1 Masters and LVP – Rising Series, the European team put an enormous end to the year by winning VALORANT Champions 2021. Acend didn’t make any changes on the roster and was invited to VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers. After two months of break, Europe’s no.1 played its first game against SuperMassive Blaze, where it got its first victory in the league with a 2-0.
Heading into the 2022 season, Guild Esports made serious roster changes. Keeping the duo of Leo “Leo” Jannesson and Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel as the core, the UK-based team brought in three new names: Jose “koldamenta” Herrero, Russel “Russ” Mendes, and Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko.
Guild didn’t have to wait for too long to reap the fruits of these adjustments. The new roster participated in the VCT 2022 Europe Stage 1 Open Qualifier in January 2022 and crushed its opponents one by one. Dropping only a single map in the qualifiers, the team made it through the main event, VCT 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers.
These results have caused a wave of hype among the fans, leading them to see Guild Esports as one of the favorites for the event. Having all the support behind it, the renewed roster started EMEA Stage 1 Challengers with a satisfying victory against BBL Esports. However, this will be the first time it will face such a tough opponent.
Both teams are coming into this series with high confidence thanks to their recent form graphs. That being said, Acend is one step ahead as the roster is used to play this kind of matchup. We haven’t seen how Guild reacts when its strategies don’t work against a rival like Acend yet. The benefit of being a team that has been playing together for a long time will be the key for Acend. However, a few minor mistakes might bring the game to Guild Esports.
We have to mention Mehmet Ya??z “cNed” ?pek when it comes to the players that are under the spotlight. The Turkish superstar resumed his outstanding performance from last year against SuperMassive Blaze. Dropping 48 kills, cNed completed the series with 1.78 KD and helped Acend take the W.
There are a few names on the Guild’s side that deserve to be mentioned, we’ll scope Leo “Leo” Jannesson today. The underrated star of the scene began the new year in full swing. After being the driving force of the team in the closed qualifiers with his 1.36 rating and 258 ACS, the Swedish player dropped 35 kills and generated 1.52 KD against BBL Esports in the first match of EMEA Stage 1 Challengers.
The series between Acend and Guild Esports will take place on February 18.
