Vision Strikers and F4Q become the first teams to qualify for Masters 3 Berlin after their victories at the South Korea Challenger playoffs on Sunday.
On Saturday, Masters 2 representative NUTURN Gaming were eliminated from Masters 3 contention after they lost to DWG KIA. That loss ensured that two new teams would represent South Korea at the upcoming international tournament. After they took down NUTURN Gaming, who eliminated them from Masters 2, many thought that DWG KIA would be one of the two teams to qualify. However, they were bested by F4Q, who made a Cinderella run throughout Stage 3 to qualify.
Throughout Stage 2, before Masters 2 Iceland, F4Q struggled to perform in the closed qualifiers. They dropped out of the running for Iceland after losing to the very team they bested for Masters 3. After weeks of preparation, F4Q got their revenge against and punched their ticket to Berlin, Germany. It’s a story equivalent to that of North America’s Version1 who made a seemingly impossible run to qualify for Masters 2.
Vision Strikers overcome upset from Masters 2 qualifier
Vision Strikers became famous around the world in VALORANT for their 100+ game win streak they accumulated leading up to Masters 1. However, that win streak was cut short, and Vision Strikers failed to qualify for the first international tournament in Iceland. Instead, NUTURN went in their place and finished third overall for their country.
Last Stage we ended on a disappointing note. This Stage we erase that pain and qualify for #VALORANTMasters Berlin with a commendable victory!
지난 스테이지 2의 아픔을 지우며 스테이지 3 마스터스 베를린에 진출하였습니다! #FollowYourVision #VSWIN #VCTKR #VCT pic.twitter.com/hdoK8VOmPt
— DRX VS (@DRX_VS) August 8, 2021
“Last Stage we ended on a disappointing note,” Vision Strikers said on Twitter. “This Stage we erase that pain and qualify for #VALORANTMasters Berlin with a commendable victory!”
While NUTURN will not be attending Masters 3 Berlin, there will be a familiar face for those who watched Masters 2. Kim “Lakia” Jong-min played under NUTURN throughout all of Masters 2 and was an essential part of helping the team place third in Iceland. However, when the dust settled after the event, Lakia left NUTURN and rejoined Vision Strikers.
Lakia was briefly on Vision Strikers from June 7-17 in 2020. He came back to his former team at the start of July in 2021 to help Vision Strikers reach one of the game’s biggest tournaments.
