In a shocking result, heavy favorites Cloud9 will not be present at Los Angeles’ VALORANT Champions tournament in September after going down to Leviatán 3-2 in the loser bracket. The LATAM team is the second in the history of franchised VALORANT to reverse sweep an opponent, coming from two matches down to book a final meeting with KRÜ Esports.
It’s a match C9 wasn’t even expected to play. Entering the VALORANT Champions Tour Americas Last Chance Qualifiers lower final, C9 already suffered an upset loss at the hands of KRÜ Esports. Out to prove the loss was a one-off, C9 began strong with a swift two-map lead. With their ticket to a rematch against KRÜ in sight and all but confirmed, the number two-seeded C9 began to crumble and face their demons once more.
Leviatán’s comeback began on Split, a map that showed the LATAM team’s resilience. After going down 4-0 in the first half of the do-or-die map, Leviatán fought to tie it at half-time 6-6. The second half started with Roberto “Mazino” Bugueño stomping opponents with his signature Astra, holding off a fast-finishing C9 to win the map 13-11.
Haven was next, with C9 trying their best to finish the job with a powerful attacking half, securing a 9-3 lead. But Leviatán weren’t going away, opening their own attack half with eight straight rounds. C9 would only manage one round on defense as their LATAM opponents blew past C9 13-10 thanks to a 17-kill effort from Shyy. Suddenly, now 2-2, C9’s curse seemed all too real.
The North American outfit only had one more opportunity to end the series. Bind was the decider, and thanks to a pistol win and some clean gun rounds from Mazino, a 7-5 lead proved enough. In the end, Mazino delivered the killing blow, pushing into a Viper’s Pit and getting two critical kills to prevent a post-plant defense from C9. The NA representatives were done for after that, losing the match-deciding round as Leviatán broke out the brooms.
The Leviatán team was just as surprised as the fans in the stands that they managed to do something only one team had done before in 2023. They still need to win one more for the Champions spot, but it’s within reach, with a guaranteed qualification for a LATAM team.
“It’s a dream if we can get [that Champions spot],” Agustin “Nozwerr” Ibarra said on stage after the win, adding that no matter the result, the team would hold their heads high knowing at least one Latin American team was guaranteed to attend the major tournament.
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Vicente “Tacolilla” Compagnon spoke to the analyst’s desk about the win, unable to describe what had happened. “It’s so good, inspiring,” he summed up. “It’s a crazy feeling because you’re so close to losing everything in the year, the year will be over. The only thing we thought of is playing round by round, ignoring the top of the screen. If we lose, let’s lose with pride.”
For a player like Tacolilla, his inconsistency over 2023 was particularly notable. Ranked as one of the lowest duelists in the region, Tacolilla has lit the VCT LCQ on fire, and his form since entering the lower bracket is a big step up. For that, he thanked his psychologist.
“I talked to my psychologist about my nervousness and it can just snowball in matches,” Tacolilla said. “It can lead to a mental breakdown, but I also know I’m a good player, and my teammates trust me. They give me the confidence to play like I play in scrims.”
Leviatán will face KRÜ Esports for the final Americas spot at VCT Champions 2023 on July 23.
