Acend fought back from down 1-0 and 2-1 to earn a 3-2 victory over Gambit Esports in the best-of-five grand final of the Valorant Champions Tour on Sunday in Berlin.
Acend claimed a $350,000 prize for their performance, while Gambit took home $150,000 for second place.
After earning the top spot in Group A, Acend didn’t lose a map in the best-of-three quarterfinal and semifinal. They ran into a tough final opponent in Gambit, which had earned 2-1 wins in each of the previous two playoffs rounds.
Gambit opened Sunday with a 13-11 win on Breeze, but Acend took the next map, Ascent, 13-7. Gambit scored a 13-3 blowout on Fracture to move within one map of clinching the title.
Acend pushed Gambit to extra time on the fourth map, Icebox, and squeaked out a 14-12 win. They moved to a winner-take-all fifth map, Split, and Acend notched the decisive 13-8 victory.
Eight teams had emerged from the group stage for a single-elimination playoff bracket. All matches in the tournament were best-of-three until Sunday’s grand final.
Valorant Champions 2021 final standings and prizes:
1. Acend — $350,000
2. Gambit Esports — $150,000
3-4. Team Liquid, KRU Esports — $90,000
5-8. Team Secret, Cloud9, X10 CRIT, Fnatic — $40,000
9-12. Team Envy, Sentinels, Team Vikings, Vision Strikers — $20,000
13-16. Keyd Stars, FURIA Esports, Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE — $20,000
–Field Level Media
