Valorant Champions 2022 started with a bump, and day 2 brought us some exciting matches where we saw different regions in action. We also got to know the first team to qualify for Playoffs, and it's Leviatán from the LATAM region.
Leviatán dominated the Group Stage by defeating Team Liquid and Paper Rex, and therefore they are the first team to qualify for the Playoff phase of Valorant Champions Istanbul.
However, they are not the only LATAM team that crushed it yesterday – let's recap all the matches that happened yesterday at the second Valorant World Championships.
Champions 2022 Istanbul Day 2: ZETA Divison vs LOUD (0:2)
The first match that took place during day 2 of the Valorant Champions 2022 tournament was ZETA Division (JP) vs LOUD (LATAM). And just like we teased before – LOUD absolutely destroyed them in a really nice fashion. You could clearly see that LOUD is still hungry to take that trophy after losing to OpTic Gaming in Reykjavik.
| ZETA Division | LOUD | |
| Ascent | ||
| First half | 7 | 5 |
Second half | 8 | 13 |
| Fracture | ||
First half | 7 | 5 |
| Second half | 9 | 13 |
Now LOUD only needs one game to qualify for Playoffs, and they will fight for it against... OpTic Gaming. At this point, it's hard to believe that these brackets are not rigged, don't you think?
Champions 2022 Istanbul Day 2: OpTic Gaming vs BOOM Esports (2:1)
This was the most exciting match out of all we got yesterday. Multiple clutches, close 1v1 duels, niche strategies that worked – all that kind of stuff was there.
Even though most of the community expected OpTic Gaming to win, the first map wasn't as flawless as you would think. BOOM Esports really showed that they are not to be underestimated. We really loved their playstyle and how they managed to put OpTic Gaming in some uncomfortable situations.
OpTic Gaming | BOOM Esports | |
Breeze | ||
| First half | 4 | 8 |
| Second half | 12 | 12 |
| Overtime | 16 | 18 |
| Bind | ||
| First half | 10 | 2 |
| Second half | 13 | 5 |
| Fracture | ||
| First half | 9 | 3 |
| Second half | 13 | 3 |
The other two maps were actually easy wins for OpTic, but you know – they are OpTic. We expect them to win the entire thing, and BOOM are the underdogs of the tournament.
Champions 2022 Istanbul Day 2: Paper Rex vs Leviatán (0:2)
This was a game to determine the first team to make it to the Playoffs – and it turned out to be Leviatán. The Latin American squad scored another clean 2:0 victory against Paper Rex, a team that almost won the last VCT major.
.@ShyyFab just took over and got the ACE! #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/wKwuUoGY4A
— VALORANT Champions Tour TR (@ValorantEsports) September 1, 2022
FLAWLESS @LeviatanGG | #VALORANTChampions pic.twitter.com/rQmFX9vUH4
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) September 1, 2022
And it's not that Paper Rex played poorly or anything like that; in fact, both matches were tied after the first half. As some of you may know, Paper Rex really likes to go for the aggressive lines, and it seems like the LATAM squad had some excellent strategies prepared to counter them.
Again, this team is one of the underdogs of this tournament, but after the two matches we have seen, we believe that they can go really far.
| Leviatán | Paper Rex | |
| Haven | ||
| First half | 6 | 6 |
Second half | 13 | 8 |
| Bind | ||
| First half | 6 | 6 |
| Second half | 13 | 11 |
Champions 2022 Istanbul Day 3 Matches
During Day 3 of the Valorant Champions Istanbul (2.09), we will see two Group C Opening Matches and a Winner's Final Match for Group B:
| Date | Match | Tournament Phase |
| 02.09, 02:00 PM CEST | DRX vs Furia | Group C Opening Match |
| 02.09 , 05:00 PM CEST | Fnatic vs 100 Thieves | Group C Opening Match |
| 02.09, 08:00 PM CEST | OpTic Gaming vs LOUD | Group B Winner's Final Match |
Who do you bet on? We have to admit that all of these pairings are pretty hard to predict – virtually anything can happen. However, if you are confident about one of these matches and want to share your predictions with us, do it on our Discord!