Fnatic’s international win streak ended by LOUD in Valorant Champions playoffs

❘ Published: 2023-08-16T21:07:33

Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games

Fnatic has fallen for the first time at an international event to VCT Americas squad LOUD.

Fnatic has seemed unstoppable at VCT international events in 2023. The EMEA squad stomped through VCT LOCK//IN to start the year, winning the tournament with five straight series wins. They followed that up with a similar performance at VCT Masters Tokyo, only dropping one map en route to taking the tournament trophy.

Even in domestic play in the VCT EMEA league, Fnatic has a near-perfect record. The team went undefeated during regular season play, going 9-0. Yet, the team stumbled at the finish line, losing to Team Liquid 1-3 in the Grand Final.

That, however, was the only blemish on their record until Valorant Champions 2023.

LOUD take down Fnatic at Valorant Champions 2023

Fnatic looked like they would have a similar run to Tokyo at Valorant Champions based on their group stage performance. The squad easily dispatched VCT Pacific’s ZETA DIVISION and China’s Bilibili Gaming in two 2-0 sweeps.

However, the playoff stage of the event is a different beast. Matched up against LOUD, the teams’ first series against each other since the Grand Finals of VCT LOCK//IN, Fnatic looked mortal.

The crew lost the first map Ascent, 11-13, and then lost the series on Lotus, 6-13. This is Fnatic’s first loss at a VCT international event in 2023, ending an 11-match win streak. The team will go to the lower bracket, for the first time this year, and are one more series loss away from elimination at the World Championship event.