Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses Quit VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo

The last quarter-finals of the Alpha bracket at VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo have come to an end, as a result of which Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses have left the competition. The day before, the North American teams lost to DRX and Talon Esports, respectively, thus completing their journey in the tournament.

DRX-Cloud9

The first meeting of the game day started on the Pearl map, which became the choice of the North American team. At the same time, Cloud9 players immediately seized the initiative on the server, showing confident defense. In turn, DRX was unable to impose a fight, actually signing their defeat in advance - 9:3. After the side switch, the intrigue never returned to the server, while the North Americans quickly got the necessary rounds and took the lead in the series - 13:3.

The teams then moved on to the Haven map, which turned out to be DRX's pick. Here the situation dramatically changed its vector, since now the South Korean team had the initiative and smashed the opponent round after round - 9:3. In the second half, Cloud9 tried to get back into the game, but it turned out to be too late. As a result, DRX players managed to hold out until the bitter end and equalized the score in the series — 13:7.

Everything was decided on the Icebox map, where the intrigue finally left the server. The reason for this was the weak game of the North American team, which failed to adjust to the opponent in defense and actually signed their defeat - 11:1. After switching sides, Cloud9 never returned to the server, while DRX managed to close the series without any problems and knocked out the opponent from the championship — 13:2.

Evil Geniuses - Talon Esports

The final meeting within the quarter-finals of the "Alpha" bracket started on the Haven map, which became the choice of the North American team. At the same time, the players of Evil Geniuses quickly seized the initiative to close the first half with a comfortable advantage — 9:3. However, after the switchover, Evil Geniuses suddenly disappeared from the radar, while Talon Esports made a powerful comeback and took the lead in the series — 13:11.

Then the teams moved to the Split map, which turned out to be the choice of Talon Esports. Here the situation developed in a similar vein, as the Thai team failed the first half, while Evil Geniuses played confidently on defense and got a double advantage — 8:4. However, after the change of sides, the North Americans again disappeared somewhere. This situation was taken advantage of by Talon Esports players, who managed to make another comeback and get the final victory — 13:10.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo runs from February 13 to March 4 in Sao Paulo at Ginásio do Ibirapuera. As part of the championship, 32 teams from China, Europe, Asia and America are fighting for a total prize pool of $500,000.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 Interim Results: LOCK//IN São Paulo

• 1st place: $100,000
• 2nd place: $60,000
• 3rd-4th place: $40,000
• 5th-8th place: $25,000
• 9th-16th place: Giants Gaming, Karmine Corp, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses — $10,000
• 17-32nd: KOI, DetonatioN FocusMe, FunPlus Phoenix, BBL Esports, Paper Rex, Team Heretics, MIBR and Gen.G Esports — $5,000