Acend outlast Gambit 3-2 to become first-ever VALORANT world champions

European powerhouse Acend have made history as the first-ever VALORANT world champions after they outlasted Masters Berlin champions Gambit Esports 3-2 in the VALORANT Champions 2021 grand finals on Sunday (12 December, 13 December SGT).

Acend have been dominant throughout the entire tournament, entering the Playoffs as the top seed of Group A and looked virtually unchallenged as they made their way to the finals with back-to-back sweeps over Team Secret and Team Liquid.

Meanwhile, Gambit earned the top seed of Group C and were pushed to the limit by both X10 CRIT and KRÜ Esports on their way to face Acend for the championship.

Acend came out swinging to start the series and dominated the first half of game one on Breeze 9-3. After both teams split the first four rounds after the side switch to bring the score to 11-5, Gambit finally flipped the switch and pulled out one of their signature comebacks, winning eight-straight rounds to steal away a 13-11 win in the finals opener.

Despite their demoralizing loss in game one, Acend were quickly able to bounce back to take game two in Ascent. After a relatively close 7-5 first half ended in their favor, Acend went on a 6-2 run after the side switch to deny Gambit another chance at a comeback and tie up the series with a 13-7 score.

It was a team effort that fueled Acend's game two victory, though both Mehmet "cNed" İpek and Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi notched a game-high 17 kills apiece to lead the way.

The pivotal third game of the finals on Fracture ended up as another back-breaking loss for Acend, as Gambit absolutely dominated the first half, 11-1, then cruised to a 13-3 map win to take match point.

With their backs against the wall in game four at Icebox, Acend pulled out all the stops to force a decider. After building a 7-5 lead in the first half, Acend managed to hold off another rally by Gambit and force the game to overtime with the score tied at 12 apiece.

CNed, Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński, and Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt were the difference makers as Acend ended up taking the 14-12 overtime win, with all three players finishing with 24 kills apiece to send the finals to a do-or-die game five.

With everything on the line at Split, Acend once again edged out Gambit, 7-5, to end the first half. After Acend won the first two rounds after the side switch, Gambit looked to make yet another comeback by snagging three-straight rounds.

However, Acend managed to stop their opponents in their tracks and grab momentum for themselves, securing four-straight rounds to take the 13-8 game five win and claim the 3-2 series victory. Starxo led the way for Acend in the finale, notching a game-high 20 kills and eight assists against 14 deaths while cNed pitched in with 18 frags and eight assists of his own against just 11 deaths.

With their victory, Acend have been crowned as the first-ever VALORANT world champions and will be taking home the grand prize of US$350,000. Meanwhile, Gambit will be taking home US$150,000 in consolation.

Acend VALORANT roster:

1. Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi

2. Mehmet "cNed" İpek

3. Vladyslav "Kiles" Shvets

4. Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński

5. Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt

Gambit Esports VALORANT roster:

1. Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov

2. Nikita "d3ffo" Sudakov

3. Bogdan "Sheydos" Naumov

4. Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin

5. Igor "Redgar" Vlasov

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