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MAD ARMY, Asteria qualify for FSL Elite with Wildcard win

(Photo: FSL)
(Photo: FSL)

MAD ARMY from Thailand and Asteria from India are the final two teams to qualify for the 2021 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers SEA: FSL Elite after they emerged victorious from the FSL Wildcard event on Sunday (3 October).

MAD ARMY and Asteria were among the eight teams that qualified for the double-elimination playoffs out of the initial field of 48 squads in the tournament. Both MAD ARMY and Asteria swept through their opponents in the first two rounds to meet in the best-of-five upper bracket final, with the first spot in FSL Elite at stake.

Game one of the series in Ascent started out as a close affair, with MAD ARMY managing to get a 7-5 lead by halftime. The Thai squad then went on a 6-4 run after the side switch to win the map 13-9 and claim a 1-0 series lead.

Game two in Icebox saw another tightly-contested first half with MAD ARMY once again taking a 7-5 lead. However, Asteria turned the tables after the side switch, winning eight rounds while only conceding one, to take a 13-8 win and tie up the series 1-1 heading into game three.

MAD ARMY were undeterred from their loss in the previous game, as they took firm control of the first half of game three in Haven with a 8-4 lead. The Thai squad then went on a 5-1 run after the side switch to claim the map 13-5 and take a commanding 2-1 series lead.

With a spot in FSL Elite well within reach, MAD ARMY bulldozed through Asteria in game four at Breeze. The Thai squad dominated the first half, 9-3, then won four-straight rounds after halftime to close out the series, 4-1, and punch their ticket to FSL Elite.

Despite losing to MAD ARMY, Asteria still had a second chance to make it to FSL Elite if they can defeat Lightality Estelle from Malaysia in the lower bracket finals.

Asteria cruised to a 2-0 series lead after a comfortable 13-6 win in game one at Haven and a 13-5 drubbing in game two at Split. Lightality Estelle managed to bounce back and take game three at Ascent 13-8 to force the series to at least four games. However, Asteria could not be denied as they utterly dominated game four at Icebox, 13-2, to claim the 4-1 series victory and become the last team to qualify for FSL Elite.

On top of qualifying for FSL Elite, both MAD ARMY and Asteria took home the FSL Wildcard's top prize of US$1,200.

MAD ARMY and Asteria will be joining Alter Ego Celestè, Nigma Galaxy, Renatus White, Aricat Aresta, TC Arise, and BIG SCYTHE in FSL Elite. FSL Elite is scheduled form 23 to 31 October and will see the eight qualified teams compete for the lion's share of US$10,000 out of a prize pool of US$25,000 and 2021 VCT Game Changers Southeast Asia championship.

FSL partnered with VALORANT developer Riot Games back in June to expand the 2021 FSL VALORANT Circuit into the VCT Game Changers Southeast Asia series.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter.

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