LOUD and Paper Rex have joined Sentinels and Gen.G Esports in the VCT Masters Madrid playoffs after defeating EDward Gaming and Karmine Corp, respectively.
Here's everything you need to know about today's results:
LOUD 2-0 EDward Gaming
Results: 13-2 Icebox, 13-3 Sunset
This was arguably one of the most one-sided matches in Valorant's esports history. The Brazilians were unstoppable throughout the whole series as they only dropped five rounds, four of them while defending.
Gabriel "qck" Lima was the best player of the match as the Brazilian finished with an ACS of 315 and 38 kills to his name. Meanwhile, Zhang "Smoggy" Zhao was the best-rated player in EDward Gaming with an ACS of 214.
Curiously enough, LOUD knocked out EDward Gaming in Aug. 2023 from the Valorant Champions 2023 as both teams met in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals.
Paper Rex 2-1 Karmine Corp
Results: 13-10 Bind, 6-13 Lotus, 14-12 Ascent
Paper Rex knocked out Karmine Corp from the VCT Masters Madrid one day after eliminating Team Heretics. This means that the Asian roster has sent home the only two rosters from Europe in the competition.
The Singaporean organization had a good start to the series with the Asian-majority squad getting an early 8-1 lead. It was then when the Europeans woke up, as they reduced the differences to 9-6.
Right when the comeback looked real, Paper Rex reached match point. After four failed attempts of closing out Bind, Paper Rex were finally able to do so in the 23rd round of the match.
However, Karmine Corp weren't going to give up. The Europeans would take the second map of the series as they won by 13-6 on Lotus. It's worth mentioning that Paper Rex lost on the Indian map against Team Heretics in yesterday's match.
Last but not least, the closest map of the series was Ascent as both sides had to go to overtime to decide a winner.
When it looked like Karmine Corp had the momentum to close out the series (11-8), Paper Rex won the following four rounds to put themselves on match point. Although the Europeans pushed the game to overtime, Paper Rex obtained the victory after winning the final two rounds.
Unfortunately for the Europeans, the final result puts Martin "marteen" Pátek and Marshall "N4RRATE" Massey's performances to nothing, as both players gathered 62 and 55 kills, respectively.