EMEA's Last Two Champions Berths Are Set — KC Sweeps FUT, Liquid Ends Fire Flux's Cinderella Run
Karmine Corp completed a worst-to-first turnaround and Team Liquid held off Fire Flux Esports, locking in the final two EMEA slots for Valorant Champions Shanghai.
Dek
Karmine Corp erased a winless Stage 1 with a 2-0 sweep of FUT Esports, while Team Liquid held off a resilient Fire Flux Esports side to claim the region's last unclaimed seat at Champions Shanghai.
Lead
Karmine Corp and Team Liquid are headed to Valorant Champions Shanghai. KC swept FUT Esports 2-0 in Friday's EMEA Stage 2 upper final to complete a run that started from a winless Stage 1, while Liquid eliminated Fire Flux Esports 2-0 in the lower bracket to claim the region's fourth and final berth. The two join FUT and Team Vitality as EMEA's representatives, with KC and FUT now set to meet again in Sunday's grand final.
What Happened — KC Ends FUT's Undefeated Streaks
FUT had already clinched a Champions spot on points, but for Karmine Corp the series carried full elimination stakes: win, and the miracle run to Shanghai is complete. KC opened on their own pick, Lotus — a map they had yet to lose all stage — and never let FUT settle, closing the first half 10-2 on attack before finishing the map 13-6.
KC's best map of the stage stayed unbeaten. N4RRATE was already up to 17 kills and four first bloods by halftime on Chamber, and KC's attack-side execution gave FUT no route back into the map.
Haven was the tighter of the two — neither side had dropped it all stage, and FUT led 7-5 at the half after stealing two eco rounds. KC's pistol win to open the second half flipped the map; a string of proactive picks and converted retakes turned a 7-7 scoreline into a 13-8 close.
FUT held a 7-5 lead at halftime behind two eco-round wins, but KC's second-half pistol reset the map. Repeated advantaged retakes carried KC from 7-7 to a 13-8 finish and a 2-0 sweep.
N4RRATE was the story of the series regardless of map — a 46/24/11 series KDA, 1.65 rating and 193 ADR, with three EMEA newcomers in Avez, dos9 and LewN now headed to their first global VCT stage together.
Player | Team | Rating | ACS | K/D/A | KAST | ADR | FK | FD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N4RRATE | KC | 9.9 | 326 | 46/24/11 | 90% | 193 | 8 | 3 |
| LewN | KC | 9.7 | 252 | 37/28/11 | 75% | 144 | 9 | 4 |
| Avez | KC | 8.9 | 206 | 28/26/14 | 78% | 136 | 1 | 5 |
| dos9 | KC | 7.5 | 141 | 18/25/22 | 80% | 84 | 4 | 4 |
| SUYGETSU | KC | 6.6 | 126 | 21/20/8 | 73% | 84 | 1 | 1 |
| yetujey | FUT | 9.4 | 263 | 35/26/8 | 73% | 181 | 3 | 1 |
| s0pp | FUT | 7.8 | 203 | 30/31/7 | 63% | 133 | 5 | 6 |
| sociablEE | FUT | 5.5 | 166 | 25/34/10 | 58% | 107 | 2 | 8 |
| KROSTALY | FUT | 6.8 | 124 | 18/29/10 | 60% | 91 | 2 | 4 |
| xeus | FUT | 4.8 | 108 | 15/30/5 | 53% | 77 | 5 | 4 |
The turnaround
KC finished Stage 1 without a single match win. Six months later, they're an EMEA grand finalist with a Champions Shanghai berth already secured.
What Happened — Liquid Grinds Past Fire Flux
With KC's win taking the upper-bracket slot, the last open ticket to Shanghai belonged to whoever won the lower-bracket clash between Team Liquid and Fire Flux Esports. Liquid took it in two, though Fire Flux made them work for both maps.
Fire Flux opened on Haven — a map they had banned in four of their previous five matches — but the gambit didn't pay off. Liquid's defense held FF to two rounds across the first ten, and although a round-14 eco win pulled Fire Flux back to 11-9, Liquid closed it out 13-10 behind trexx's 25 kills and 323 ACS.
A surprise pick that backfired: Liquid's 10-2 defensive half shut down FF's Chamber-Vyse setup. FF clawed back to 11-9 off an eco win, but trexx's 25-kill, 323-ACS map on Sova put it away.
Lotus followed a similar shape. Liquid strung together another 10-2 defensive half, with nAts and kamo combining for 31 kills across the map. A DeadInk 1v3 in the second half briefly threatened another Fire Flux comeback, but Liquid held on for a second 13-10 to seal the series — and Liquid's fifth all-time Champions appearance.
Liquid repeated the formula: a 10-2 defensive half built on nAts and kamo, who combined for 31 kills. A DeadInk 1v3 kept Fire Flux alive briefly, but Liquid closed out the same 13-10 scoreline.
Player | Team | Rating | ACS | K/D/A | KAST | ADR | FK | FD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trexx | TL | 9.4 | 263 | 42/29/17 | 80% | 170 | 2 | 2 |
| nAts | TL | 9.4 | 242 | 38/28/15 | 72% | 151 | 7 | 5 |
| kamo | TL | 8.3 | 201 | 30/34/16 | 72% | 139 | 6 | 8 |
| Kicks | TL | 8.5 | 167 | 30/29/12 | 70% | 106 | 3 | 2 |
| purp0 | TL | 7.2 | 159 | 28/29/4 | 70% | 108 | 4 | 7 |
| hezacoil | FF | 8.2 | 193 | 31/31/9 | 74% | 125 | 5 | 5 |
| batujnax | FF | 8.3 | 189 | 30/31/9 | 74% | 123 | 3 | 1 |
| reazy | FF | 8 | 198 | 31/38/15 | 70% | 130 | 3 | 6 |
| Kachoww | FF | 7.9 | 186 | 30/36/10 | 59% | 129 | 8 | 6 |
| DeadInk | FF | 7.4 | 160 | 27/33/3 | 52% | 103 | 5 | 4 |
The Stakes
What's Next
FUT and Liquid meet in Saturday's lower final, Aug. 29, with the winner advancing to face Karmine Corp in Sunday's grand final, Aug. 30 — a rematch of Friday's upper final. That result won't change who's going to Shanghai; all four EMEA seeds are locked. What's left to decide is seeding and momentum heading into the tournament.
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