BBL Esports and Team Liquid have emerged victorious in today’s VCT EMEA Stage 1 playoff matches, defeating FUT Esports and Natus Vincere respectively. With these wins, BBL and Liquid will face each other on May 16 in a high-stakes elimination match that will determine the third and final EMEA representative at Masters Toronto.
BBL Triumphs in Turkish Derby
The day began with another chapter in the storied Turkish rivalry between BBL and FUT Esports. Despite losing the first map, Haven 14-12 in overtime, BBL bounced back with a dominant 13-2 victory on Split before closing out the series 2-1 with a 13-10 win on Ascent.
On Split, BBL’s PROFEK and sociablEE were unstoppable, each securing an ace within the first six rounds. FUT had no answers for BBL’s aggressive composition featuring Raze, Tejo, and Breach, resulting in a crushing 9-3 half that BBL easily converted to a 13-2 map win.
The final map on Ascent was more competitive, with FUT initially taking a 5-3 lead before BBL rallied with four consecutive rounds to go up 7-5 at halftime. Unlike their previous encounter on this map, which went to an exhausting 25-23 scoreline, BBL managed to close things out more efficiently at 13-10.
PROFEK emerged as the series MVP with a 53/43/38 KDA and 1.56 rating across all three maps, including a standout 23/14/10 performance on Ascent.
Liquid Shows Resilience Against NAVI
In the second match of the day, Team Liquid overcame NAVI in another 2-1 series. After dropping Icebox 13-11 despite a valiant comeback attempt from 10-4 down, Liquid dominated Split 13-4 behind nAts’ impressive 21/10 KDA and 198 ADR.
The decisive Ascent map featured several clutch moments from both sides, including a remarkable 1v3 from Serial in round 12 that helped secure a 6-6 halftime score. Liquid ultimately pulled ahead in the second half, with PaTiTek leading the charge (21/11 KDA, 172 ADR) to secure a 13-8 victory.
Final Four Set for EMEA Stage 1
With these results, the tournament’s final four teams are now confirmed: Team Heretics and Fnatic in the upper bracket, with BBL Esports and Team Liquid in the lower bracket. Both Heretics and Fnatic have already secured their spots at Masters Toronto regardless of their upcoming match result, though they’ll still compete for EMEA Points and seeding.
The most consequential match will be between BBL and Liquid on May 16, with the winner claiming the final EMEA qualification spot for Masters Toronto. As nAts noted in his post-match interview: “It’s going to be a good game, and that’s going to be a game to qualify for Toronto, so let’s see who [deserves] to be there.”
VCT EMEA will return on May 16 with the upper bracket final between Team Heretics and FNATIC, followed by the lower bracket match between Team Liquid and BBL Esports.
Andrew "SuZki" Scola is a dedicated Valorant player who has been in the game since the Valorant beta release. He has a peak rank of Immortal 3 and is also a semi-pro esports player. He's also been associated with a few gaming clans and communities, including Highlander Gaming and SoCal Valorant Community. In his free time, he creates content for the Valorant community and writes guides about Valorant based on his experience.
