Welcome back to EGamersWorld.
We continue to watch the action at VALORANT Champions 2023, the largest VALORANT championship in the world. The group stage of the tournament continues at Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
We're talking about Group D, from where the participants of the biggest event in VALORANT opened the competition. From this quartet we will learn the name of the first participant of the play-offs.
It will be someone from the pair DRX - NaVi. Both teams got here quite unexpectedly and hence even more The International heresy to the match.
Already after a single Bo3, either NaVi or DRX will make it to the play-offs. We are left to speculate who will be this team.
Let's get started.
DRX uniforms
We open our analysis of the VALORANT Champions 2023 play-offs with an analysis of DRX's form. In this match, the Korean club is the favourite.
Bookmakers are on the side of Asian representatives. The odds for the victory of DRX are at 1.75.
In principle, such a coefficient hints at parity in the game, rather than a serious advantage. Essentially, we are in for an even clash.
South Korea's first team had a fruitful previous year. The team won literally everything they could at home and made three appearances on the international stage.
DRX played the Masters twice, first in Reykjavik and then in Copenhagen. Both times they finished in the top 6.
The main achievement was Champions 2022. DRX Ledge and Optic Gaming in the match for the grand finals and left the tournament on the third line.
- DRX roster: stax, Rb, Zest, BuZz, MaKo, Foxy9 .
DRX will go to Champions 2023 with 6 players on the roster. The latest addition to the team is Foxy9, and the five of stax, Rb, Zest, BuZz and MaKo have been playing together since last January.
Before Long Conner Champions 2023, the team made a Top 4 appearance at LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, and 2 more placings at VCT 2023: Pacific League. There was also an appearance at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, but like LOUD, they failed to jump above the top 8.
In the first match, DRX faced the titular LOUD. The Koreans managed to run over their Brazilian counterparts 2-1 with Lotus (13-15), Split (13-6) and Ascent (13-8).
DRX Mappool.
DRX's most favourite map is Fracture. The team played 10 matches on it, winning 6 of them. Next were Ascent and Haven with identical indicators. Both maps were played 9 times and two of them won 5 times each.
The worst situation is on Bind. There the team has 7 matches, but only 2 wins.
Natus Vincere form
We continue the analysis of the main match in Group D at VALORANT Champions 2023 with the analysis of NaVi's form. "Born to Win" will play as the number two.
Bookmakers are not ready to call NaVi the winner, but they are not in a hurry to sign their unconditional defeat either. The odds for NaVi's victory are at around 2.
I am not surprised by this state of affairs. That's because NaVi, like DRX, is a surprise participant in the Champions 2023 play-offs, so the difference between the teams is minimal on paper.
The season for NaVi turned out to be confusing and quite difficult. It started with a very solid top 4 at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, but continued with a more sluggish top 4 in the home league - VCT 2023: EMEA League.
Nevertheless, NaVi became a participant of the first Major of the season - VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo. And failed, taking the last place in their group.
- NaVi roster: ANGE1, cNed, SUYGETSU, Shao, Zyppan.
The roster of "Born to Win" was formed in November 2022 and has not been changed since then. However, a long playing time does not always guarantee high performance and NaVi is proof of that.
Just remember the Last Chance Qualifier, where NaVi almost gave up on Champions 2023, but still managed to pull themselves together and take the top 2, thus jumping into the last carriage of the departing train.
And that's why the result of NaVi's debut match was so surprising. The Yellow-Blacks managed to run over one of the best teams in their region - Team Liquid. And with a score of 2-0: Fracture (13-11) and Bind (17-15).
Natus Vincere Mappool
The most played map of Natus Vincere is Ascent. There the "born to win" has 17 matches and 71% wins.
Another one of the most successful maps is Pearl. It has 91% wins in 11 matches.
In the top 3 is Fracture. Here the Yellow-Blacks have 64% of wins in 11 matches.
The worst maps are Icebox and Breeze. The first one has 33% wins in 9 matches, and the second one has 33% wins in 6 matches.
History of head-to-head meetings between NaVi and DRX
Previously, the teams have not played each other in official matches. This match will be the debut face-to-face battle for the teams.
Predicted result of NaVi vs DRX at VALORANT Champions 2023
Considering the closeness of the teams in terms of game plan directly at VALORANT Champions 2023 and the odds from bookmakers, it would be logical to assume that we are in for a close game.
I am leaning towards a full-fledged Bo3, as the teams have a similar map pool and can surprise each other on the opponent's peaks.
Bottom line: total +2.5.
