Envy slew both their North American VALORANT demons today thanks to their own “El Diablo.” A stupendous series from Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker fueled an impressive 2-0 victory over 100 Thieves, sending Envy into the grand finals of the VCT Masters Three Berlin against Gambit.
100T struck first on Haven, taking the pistol round and punishing Envy’s aggressive second-round buy. They were still largely on SMGs going into round four and, even then, nearly won their bonus thanks to Hiko. Envy fought back into the map with great reads and Gambit-style lurks. They took five straight rounds to prompt a 100T timeout and continued to build a lead with big plays from newest additions yay and Marved. Envy won nine consecutive rounds to take a 9-3 lead into half-time, with an amazing 20 kills and only four deaths from yay.
Envy continued to build their lead by taking the first two rounds of their defensive side before 100T’s first buy, during which steel delivered a huge 4k to give 100T a lifeline. Another massive round from yay snuffed out that lifeline, and a 1v1 from crashies against Hiko, the clutch master himself, closed out the map 13-5 in favor of Envy. Yay finished with an absurd 31 kills over nine deaths.
100T took a clean attacking pistol round to start Ascent, with steel making noise on B to pull the rest of Envy off A. Both sides fought over the A site again and again throughout the first half, back and forth, but more terrific Op play from yay led the way for Envy to take a small 7-5 lead.
That Envy lead grew thanks to a gorgeous A site take and an impressive post-plant hold, with a big triple coming from Marved, before a bonus round win from Envy turned up the heat under the 100T seats. Up 11-5 in a massive gun round, a 1v1 clutch win from Victor against Hiko effectively drove the dagger into the hearts of 100T. 100T rallied with a few rounds but missed some crucial kills in the 21st round. Envy took the second map 13-8 and the series 2-0.
As tremendous a series as yay had, virtually all of the Envy roster stepped up across both maps. In back-to-back days, Envy defeated the two North American teams that had given them the most trouble throughout VCT. Envy played both teams twice during NA Stage Three and lost all four matches, but they defeated both squads in back-to-back 2-0’s on the biggest stage in Berlin. Now, they face a final test in Gambit, a team fresh off a dominant showing against G2 in the semifinals.
Envy has now earned their spot at Champions after besting 100T in total VCT points and securing the second spot in NA. 100T must now sit and root for Team Envy, because their victory over Gambit would mean a guaranteed spot for 100T at Champions as well.
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more esports news and analysis.
