LOUD crowned the Valorant 2022 World Champions

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The Brazilian esports team, LOUD, defeated North America’s OpTic Gaming to become the  2022 Valorant Champions on Sunday, marking LOUD’s first victory on the international stage. 

The grand final was certainly an enthralling event for the fans who came down to the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul for an epic 3-1 slugfest, with multiple maps going into overtime.

The champions, LOUD will take home $300,000; OpTic will receive $150,000. The third-place team, South Korea’s DRX, walked away with $110,000. The final weekend of the event was a good representation of the global reach of esports, with the final four rosters hailing from North America, Brazil, South Korea, and Europe.

Valorant Champions 2022 Grand Finals Map Veto between OpTic Gaming and LOUD:

1. LOUD ban Pearl

2. LOUD ban Fracture*

3 LOUD pick Ascent

4. OpTic pick Bind

5. LOUD pick Breeze

6. OpTic pick Haven

7. Icebox was leftover

In the Grand Finale of Valorant 2022 World Champions Tour, OpTic Gaming went up against LOUD for the fifth time this year, making it one of the most competitive rivalries in the history of Valorant games. However, it was the Brazilian squad that would come out on top this time, finally getting revenge for their last three series losses in a decisive 2-0 sweep.

The match turned out to be a replay of the Masters Reykjavik, where both teams met in the upper bracket final. In that series, LOUD was ahead of OpTic but eventually fell to OpTic in the grand final. However, the LOUD that showed up to play in Istanbul was a different beast altogether. They broke OpTic’s 6-0 win streak on Bind, which is one of their strongest maps, and then took Ascent with a dominant performance and a 13-3 scoreline.

Both LOUD and OpTic Gaming were neck-and-neck in the first half of Bind. As they entered the second half, they were in a 6-6 tie. However, LOUD came in guns blazing after they took the second pistol, with Felipe “Less” Basso showcasing a stupendous performance. Even Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker was not able to stop LOUD’s onslaught, as he was often the last man left alive against multiple LOUD players.

After the biggest hurdle, the map of Bind was behind them, it was the Brazilian powerhouse, LOUD’s, turn to enter their map of choice. They picked Ascent, where key clutches and crucial rounds all went their way. In Round 4 of the match, a 1v2 clutch by Bryan “pANcada” Luna broke OpTic’s economy, and LOUD extended their lead to a 6-1 scoreline.

With around 10HP left, pANcada opted for Omen’s From The Shadows ultimate to reposition from Hell to A Main, so as to avoid dueling with Austin “crashies” Roberts. With the spike ticking, the crashies had no choice but to attempt the defuse, which gave pANcada an easy shot at the kill.

LOUD ended their attacking half with a 9-3 scoreline, then went on to win the next four rounds to take the map in decisive fashion. They have not lost a single map so far in the playoffs, and are currently on a brilliant 6-0 streak.

For the first time in the tournament, yay had hit negative numbers in first kills and first deaths, going 3-4 in Chamber, which indicated a clear sign of OpTic’s struggles. To put things in perspective, yay has been having the tournament of his life at Champions, topping the leaderboard in multiple statistics.

When it comes to first kills and deaths, he leads the competition by a mile with a ridiculous 61-20 scoreline. DRX’s Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul is close behind with 59 first kills but has died first 49 times.

LOUD finally claimed revenge on Optic at the best possible moment and claimed the second-ever VALORANT world championship. LOUD also becomes the first team not from NA or EMEA to win an international trophy and has, of course, won the first one ever for Brazil.

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