In the VALORANT Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier, Rise has continued their winning streak by defeating Cloud9 Blue in the upper semifinals. Despite a disconnection that caused the map to be paused during overtime in the first map and an intense three-game series, Rise has come out on top and proved they are no longer the underdogs.
The first game of the Series on Breeze was one of the tournament’s most hectic and intense matches. The first half made it look like C9 Blue was in control, finishing with a 7-5 scoreline on attack. But Rise again proved they shouldn’t be overlooked by fighting tooth and nail in the second half to tie the game. This included an impressive two-vs-four clutch by supamen and Derrek in round 19 that helped Rise stay alive. They also won the final two rounds before overtime to force the series into a 12-12 situation.
But just after supamen pulled off an incredible 4k in round 25, he unfortunately disconnected from the match due to connection issues. His teammate Shanks got an ace the following round for good measure, and Rise was about to win the first map when it was delayed due to supamen’s power disconnecting. Supamen was unable to reconnect in a timely fashion, and the game was postponed until the next day.
“So I call up the energy company, they told me there was a power line came down because of a thunderstorm in the area,” Supamen told Dot Esports. “And I was telling them that this is super urgent, I have a really urgent thing, a tournament I need to do for a major qualifier. They’re like, ‘yeah, we understand. But there’s nothing that we can do until there’s a crew out there to assess the whole situation.’”
The delay was not enough to throw Rise off their game, and they finally closed the first map of the series 15-13, however. Rise started map two on Ascent with six straight round wins, making C9 Blue fans everywhere nervous. But C9 bounced back in the second part of the half, securing five rounds.
C9 won the first two rounds in the second half, but both teams traded blows and forced the second map into another overtime situation. Thankfully this time, no one disconnected or lagged out, and C9 Blue won the map 14-12, taking the intense series to map three.
Rise maintained an excellent defense throughout the first half on Haven, including another two-vs-four clutch from supamen and Derrek in round 11. C9 Blue needed to redeem themselves in the second half, but Rise refused to let up and finished the series with five straight round wins on attack.
Rise has beaten two of the best teams in North America and has proven itself as one of the best teams in the region. While many fans considered them the underdog coming into the Last Chance Qualifier, they have shown they’re more than capable of taking it all.
“Honestly, a lot of people said we shouldn’t be here, because they consider us underdogs. And I’ve considered us the underdogs, but I fully believe that we deserve to be here. And we have proved that again and again,” Supamen said. “And I don’t think people should take us lightly anymore. And I think we feel like we are still the dark horse. But we are definitely not the underdog.”
Rise will face 100 Thieves in the upper final of the VCT North American Last Chance Qualifier tomorrow at 8pm CT. C9 Blue will face the winner between Gen.G and Luminosity in the second round of the lower bracket tomorrow at 2pm CT.
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