The Koreans ruled in this match between East and West.
Group D started its opening matches for Champions Istanbul. The first match saw DRX from Korea going up against FURIA Esports from South America. The top team from the Korean region meets the South American LCQ runner-up in a battle to kick off the two team’s journey in Istanbul.
The first map of the match was Ascent, and here we saw both teams play evenly – both sides dominated one half of the map to reach a draw at the end – which necessitated overtime to be played. While FURIA showed that they are a capable team, they were no match for DRX who easily led overtime to their victory with a score of 16-14.
Haven, the second map, is where FURIA seemed to fall apart. They managed to grab a few wins in the first half, but by then, DRX was way ahead by four points. In the second half, however, DRX did not give FURIA a chance to take a breather as they executed a back-to-back win streak that ended the map by round 17, with the Koreans winning the map 13-4. The pistol round in round 13 was especially brutal to FURIA.
With this win, DRX stands at the top of the tables for Group D with their 2-0 win against FURIA. They will now head straight into the Winners’ Match to see who the first Group D team will be to proceed to the Playoffs.
VCT Champions Istanbul is happening in Istanbul from August 31 until September 18, with the Playoffs set to be played in front of a live audience at Volkswagen Arena starting September 9, 2022.