XERXIA eSports defeat OpTic Gaming at VCT Masters Reykjavík. They pulled off one of the greatest sweeps in the series going 2-0 against one of the powerhouses from North America.
Each map was a nail-biter, with both teams not backing down from every round. XERXIA banned Bind and Split while choosing Icebox for the first map. OpTic banned Breeze and Fracture and picked Ascent as the second map.
They left Haven as the tiebreaker map for the rest of the series.
Map 1: Icebox
XERXIA proved that Icebox was their map after smoothly winning the first four rounds. Finally, OpTic was able to stop the momentum during round five, with yay securing the round Chamber’s Headhunter.
XERXIA then attacked A-site in the sixth round, forcing two players on OpTic to save. XERXIA tried to attack A-site again in round seven. However, Marved and yay proved their clutch genes to secure the round.
XERXIA won the next two rounds. Yay almost secured an ace in the 10th round but died after securing four kills. OpTic then won the final two rounds in the first half.
The first half on Icebox went 7-5 in favor of XERXIA’s methodical play style. OpTic started strong in the second half, but XERXIA quickly stopped the momentum in round 15.
After OpTic’s timeout before round 17, they prevented XERXIA from defusing the spike using Sova’s ultimate. XERXIA took a timeout after this and won the next three rounds with ease, taking the game to match point.
OpTic won the next two rounds, forcing XERXIA to save at the end of round 22. OpTic’s hopes were quickly dashed as XERXIA secured their map 13-10.
Map 2: Ascent
OpTic started their map pick by winning the first two rounds. However, XERXIA stopped them with no effort in round three. XERXIA took the game to round five until OpTic tied them in round six.
OpTic takes the lead in round seven, but XERXIA stops them again with sushiboys being the superhero. OpTic calls a timeout with hopes of stopping the momentum, but XERXIA wins the next four rounds with ease.
Sushiboys was in the highlight reel with a famous “pros don’t fake” moment in round 11. He was defusing the spike while FNS failed to check.
OpTic stopped the momentum in the second half with a successful B-site retake during the pistol round. OpTic wins the next two rounds until XERXIA finally stop them in round 16.
After losing the next two rounds, OpTic decided to not let XERXIA score 2-0 in the series without a fight. OpTic secures rounds 19 to 21, but XERXIA took round 22. XERXIA then closes off the series in round 23.
Results
XERXIA eSports wins the series 2-0. XERXIA will face Team Liquid in the Group B Winner’s match at 2 PM CT tomorrow. OpTic Gaming will have a chance at survival if they can beat the powerhouse: KRU eSports.
Their Group B Elimination Match will happen at 1 PM CT on Tuesday, April 12.
