VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters Playoffs Day 5: Viewership Stats and Results

Playoffs VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters - Reykjavík action continues to surprise with its amazing results. Yesterday, April 18, two matches were traditionally held. This time, the matches of the second round of the lower playoff bracket were played, namely, the duel of the Korean team DRX vs. the Japanese team ZETA DIVISION and the battle between the Europeans from G2 Esports and the Southeast Asian team Paper Rex.

Fall of Europe

The main shock of the evening was the defeat of G2 Esports. The team started the game rather well, taking the lead on the opponent's pick, the Split map, with a score of 9:3. However, in the second half, Paper Rex managed to turn the tide of the battle and finish the map with a score of 10:13. Standing out on the first map was the Indonesian star of the Paper Rex team f0rsakeN. According to the results of the first map, he achieved 25 frags and KD of 1.16.

The second map of Blind was G2's pick, but their performance took a wrong turn from the start. The Europeans finished the first half with a score of 4:8, and two victorious sidearm rounds in the second half of the map became the only highlight of G2's performance. Paper Rox closed the second map with a score of 7:13.

The MVP of the match was f0rsakeN. The team from Southeast Asia advanced to the semi-finals of the lower bracket, while G2 left the tournament. Therefore, for the first time in the history of the VALORANT Champions Tour, there will be no European teams in the top 4.

Asian derby

The highlight of the evening was the rematch of the Japanese club ZETA DIVISION against the Korean team DRX. DRX chose their signature Icebox as the map of the first round, but ZETA's ubreachable defense was an unpleasant surprise for the favorites of the match: in the first half, the Koreans were catching up with a score of 4:8. The intense second half kept the audience in suspense, as neither team managed to build up a significant advantage. Only the victory in the final two rounds allowed ZETA to reach the winning score of 13:11.

The intense struggle continued on the second map, Ascent – the choice of the ZETA team. And yet, the Koreans were able to finish the first half with a slight advantage – 7:5. In the second half, it seemed that no one could stop ZETA’s assault, but the decisive final rounds went in favor of DRX – 13:10.

On the third map, Split, ZETA upped its pace, punishing the enemy’s passive offense over and over again. The Japanese took the first five rounds with no response from DRX. The defensive strategy turned out to be a complete disaster for the Korean team. As a result, the map was closed with a devastating score of 13:4 in favor of ZETA DIVISION, and TENNN became the MVP of the match. After this match, the list of achievements of the Japanese club encompasses victories over teams from Brazil, Europe, and Korea. The dark horse of this tournament took revenge on DRX for the defeat in the group stage and guaranteed itself a spot in the top 4 at the Masters. On April 24, they will face Paper Rex in the lower bracket semi-finals.

Viewership statistics

The streams of the fifth day of the playoffs collected almost 3M Hours Watched in total. Traditionally, more people watched broadcasts on Twitch: 550K, as compared to 115K on Youtube. It is also interesting that Japanese-language streams outpaced English-language streams in terms of Peak Viewers: 287K and 250K viewers, respectively.

DRX vs. ZETA has become the most popular match in the tournament at the moment, attracting a total of 663K viewers. The same match was when the Peak Viewers mark was reached for the Japanese broadcasts. By the way, the other match of the evening (G2 vs. Paper Rex) barely entered the top 10 most popular matches in the tournament.

Announcement of the new character

In addition to esports battles, the teaser of the new female character also pleased fans of the shooter from Riot. The developers have not yet disclosed the details, and so far it is only known that the agent's name is Fade, she is from Turkey and belongs to the Initiator category in the game. The gameplay, as well as her abilities, are still being kept under wraps. However, based on the information in the blog released in March, and the small teasers on social networks (that Riot used to fuel interest in the release of the heroine throughout the last week) Fade will be able to significantly interfere with other characters. Also, the developers do not forget to treat the fans with Easter eggs inside the game itself. So far, on the shooting range in the Brimstone`s office, you can find the Fade`s prison cell, and if you enter it, then the player will receive the darkened screen debuff. The official cinematic will be presented during the grand final of Masters: Reykjavik.

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The VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters - Reykjavík matches are paused until Friday, with April 22 already featuring the matches of the upper bracket final between LOUD and Optic Gaming, and the lower bracket semi-final between ZETA DIVISION and Paper Rex. The Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final will be played on the final day of the tournament on April 24th.