Vision Strikers will play Fnatic in the second matchup at VALORANT Champions on Friday and Kim “stax” Gu-taek isn’t mincing words about his Group D opponent. Both teams are walking into today’s match with a victory, but stax doesn’t think Fnatic stand a chance.
“Fnatic was a team that was lucky to be here,” stax said after beating FULL SENSE. “They’re only here because Gambit won Masters 3 for them.”
Fnatic only qualified for Champions after Gambit Esports won VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 3: Masters Berlin. They had earned plenty of EMEA Circuit Points through their run at previous tournaments but struggled to leave a mark in the Stage 3 EMEA Challengers Playoffs.
Vision Strikers vs. Fnatic at Champions
“I do want to thank Gambit,” Jake “Boaster” Howlett said during the pre-tournament press conference. Boaster and other members of Fnatic have given Gambit some cheeky gratitude multiple times before and during the tournament.
Fnatic’s match against Cloud9 was a nail biter, with Map 3 on Fracture going into overtime as Anthony “vanity” Malaspina and company refused to go down easily. Vision Strikers were going to face the winner of the Cloud9 and Fnatic match. Stax wasn’t worried about either team.
“Cloud9 is only here because they won the NA LCQ,” stax said. “You saw what just happened to another team that won an LCQ event.”
Stax was referring to his team’s 2-0 stomping of APAC Last Chance Qualifier winner FULL SENSE in the first match of Champions. Catch Fnatic against Vision Strikers at 12 p.m. ET on VALORANT’s official Twitch channel.
