Can Alter Ego Celestè clean sweep the 2021 FSL VALORANT Opens?
Five-time 2021 FSL VALORANT Circuit champions Alter Ego Celestè will be looking to make a clean sweep of the FSL Opens as they top the list of eight teams that qualified for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers SEA: FSL VALORANT Open VI playoffs, which kick off on Thursday (26 August).
Alter Ego Celestè are notably still fresh from a perfect run in the FSL VALORANT Open V earlier this month, which won them their fifth-straight title of this year's circuit and their ninth dating back to last year.
They are undoubtedly the heavy favorites to win the sixth open tournament of the 2021 circuit and bring their total number of titles in the FSL to a staggering ten.
Contesting the title for Open VI against Alter Ego Celestè are Open III and V runners-up Galaxy Racer, Open IV runners-up Oasis Gaming Aqua, Aricat Aresta, BIG SCYTHE, Hashira SR, Renatus White, and Wildfire Sphinx.
Those eight teams qualified for the FSL VALORANT Open VI playoffs after surviving the tournament's group stage from 16 to 18 August. The group stage saw the 54 participating teams drawn into four groups of 12 teams each competing in a 'GSL' format, double-elimination bracket with best-of-one matches. The two teams that emerged victorious from each group's upper and lower brackets will qualify for the playoffs.
Alter Ego Celestè and Oasis Gaming Aqua topped Group A, Galaxy Racer and Hashira SR qualified from Group B, Renatus White and BIG SCYTHE came from Group C, while Aricat Aresta and Wildfire Sphinx survived Group D.
The FSL VALORANT Open VI playoffs, scheduled from 26 to 29 August, will follow a double-elimination format where all matches will be a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.
Alter Ego Celestè will open the playoffs by taking on Wildfire Sphinx, followed by the match between Renatus White and Hashira SR, then a showdown between Galaxy Racer and BIG SCYTHE, and with the Oasis Gaming Aqua-versus-Aricat Aresta match rounding out the first round.
The eight teams in the playoffs will be fighting for their cut of the US$5,000 prize pool, with all teams guaranteed at least US$150 in winnings, and points to get on the FSL Open Leaderboard. The champions will claim the lion's share of US$1,500 and 10 FSL Circuit points.
The series will have four stages, starting with the FSL Open, a monthly open group stage tournament where the top eight teams will earn points for the FSL Open Leaderboard. As the last tournament of the FSL Open, the top three teams in the leaderboard at the conclusion of Open VI will qualify for FSL Elite.
The next stage is the FSL Open Overtime in September, where teams that finished 4th to 19th on the leaderboard will compete for three qualifying spots to FSL Elite. This is followed by the FSL Wildcard, which is open to teams who have not qualified for the FSL Elite, or teams new to the circuit. The top two teams will earn a spot for FSL Elite.
Finally, the FSL Elite, which is currently scheduled for October, will see the eight teams that have qualified play for a prize pool of US$25,000. The last team standing at FSL Elite will claim the grand prize of US$10,000 and the title of VCT Game Changers Southeast Asia champions.
Alter Ego Celestè and Galaxy Racer have already qualified for FSL Elite, with the final spot still up for grabs between Renatus White, Aricat Aresta, and Oasis Gaming Aqua.
For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter.
