In the second match of the playoffs, Gen.G Esports got past FNATIC, winning their first playoff series at the VALORANT Champions Tour 2024: Masters Shanghai (2024 VCT Masters Shanghai).

The Gen.G versus FNATIC series featured matches that were really close where anyone could have won. In the end, it was Gen.G who won their series against FNATIC up 2-1.

The series between Gen.G and FNATIC ended in a reverse sweep. The first game on Lotus belonged to FNATIC, winning it by 13-10. Then, Gen.G eventually overturned it on the last two maps, Bind and Breeze, to complete the reverse sweep.

Despite coming from the losing side, Emir “Alfajer” Beder led everyone on the server with his series Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) record of 61/48/19. Hot on his trail were Gen.G's Kim “t3xture” Na-ra with his 56/49/8 KDA, Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom with his 53/43/15 KDA, and Kim “Meteor” Tae-o with his 52/55/11 KDA.

Fnatic Wins Game 1 in Lotus

Despite being the first time both teams were facing each other, the Gen.G versus FNATIC series was an instant classic. The first game on Lotus went FNATIC's way, winning the map 13-10.

It was FNATIC that saw early success on the map. They took the first half of Lotus 9-3, the only half in this series where they were successful as defenders.

However, when the sides were switched, FNATIC had trouble penetrating through Gen.G's defenses, losing five consecutive rounds to start the second half. Eventually, the scores were tied by the 20th round courtesy of Gen.G. Fortunately for them, FNATIC kickstarted a three-round win streak starting from the 21st round to eventually run away with a win on the first map.

In this game, Alfajer stood tall for FNATIC as he finished Lotus with 22 kills and seven assists. For Gen.G's side, it was only Munchkin that broke the 20-kill barrier, putting up 21 kills and five assists in this game.

Gen.G Recovers in Bind

With their backs against the rope in this series, Gen.G prevented their fall to the lower bracket by kickstarting a comeback on Bind. They won the second game 13-10 after a sweaty battle against FNATIC on the map.

The first half of Bind saw both teams in a stalemate, with Gen.G having the early 6-3 lead before FNATIC tied it out prior to halftime.

Despite losing the first two rounds of the second half, Gen.G found itself with two three-round win streaks to secure map point and they eventually ended the game in the 23rd round.

Just like in the first game in Lotus, Alfajer leads Bind as the top fragger in the server, finishing the map with 26 kills and six assists along with an impressive 321 average combat score (ACS).

Meanwhile, for Gen.G, it was T3xture and Meteor that posted at least 20 kills. T3xture was Gen.G's leading scorer in Bind with his 21 kills and five assists while Meteor came up close with 20 kills and four assists of his own.

Gen.G Overcomes FNATIC in Breeze

To close this series out, Gen.G overcame FNATIC to win the third game on Breeze 13-11.

Yet again, the first half of this game was close but FNATIC was just two rounds ahead of Gen.G as they had a 7-5 lead coming into halftime.

After that, FNATIC maintained their lead up to the 16th round as the score was 10-6 in their favor. Then, Gen.G committed a five-round win streak to overtake FNATIC's lead, making it 10-11 now in their favor. Although FNATIC tied the game back 11-11 in the 22nd Round, Gen.G simply won the final two rounds of the game to prevent overtime and complete a series reverse sweep.

In Breeze, it was only T3xture that went past the 20-kill benchmark for both of the teams. As Jett, he finished Breeze with 22 kills and an assist with only 15 deaths.

Gen.G and Fnatic Finally Face Off

This series marks the first time both teams go head-to-head against each other on the international stage.

For FNATIC, this was also their first match back on the international stage after missing out on Madrid earlier this year. They qualified directly to the Masters Shanghai playoffs as they were the top-seeded team coming from EMEA.

Talking about their loss in the post-match interview, Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev revealed that they had off-stage problems that may have impacted their performance against Gen.G in this series.

“We had some issues right before the game. Also during the game, we were a bit stressed and Gen.G played good,” the Finnish-Russian player from FNATIC tells reporters after the series. “I don't think it's really us being nervous. It's just they played good and we had a bit of a situation that impacted us,” he continues.

Meanwhile, Gen.G's path to the playoffs was more arduous. They had to survive multiple rounds in the Swiss stage of Masters Shanghai, beating Leviatan and FunPlus Phoenix to get into the playoffs.

When the seeded teams drew lots to pick from the teams that qualified from the Swiss stage, everyone dodged Gen.G before they eventually fell into FNATIC's lap. In the post-match interview, T3xture talked about their team being the last one picked from the draw, but he didn't anticipate facing FNATIC.

Translated to English, Gen.G's top fragging duelist shares, “I don't want to come across as a bit too cocky but I knew that we were going to be the last one left from that draw. But, we didn't know it was going to be FNATIC that we were gonna play.”

Gen.G Drops FNATIC to Lower Bracket of Masters Shanghai Playoffs

As a result of the series, FNATIC finds themselves in the lower bracket of the VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs. FNATIC will face fellow EMEA team FUT Esports in a match where only one team will remain in this tournament.

Meanwhile, Gen.G is going to face 100 Thieves for their next matchup in the upper bracket of the VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs.

If you want to watch all the competitive VALORANT action happening in the 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour Masters Shanghai, you can watch all the matches on the official VALORANT Twitch channel. Additionally, you can also view replays and other Masters Shanghai content at the official VALORANT Champions Tour YouTube channel.

For more 2024 VCT Masters Shanghai news, follow us at ClutchPoints Gaming.