The NA team started their VCT Masters tour in the Group Stage after failing to win the Stage 1 Challengers Grand Final against The Guard. Although it was a close contest, they fell 3-2 and had to compete in the Masters group stage.

Not deterred by their loss, OpTic went into the group stage hot. Although they lost one of the three games they played, they finished second in the Group B standings.

They started their playoff run with a win over their NA counterpart, The Guard. With them being the last team standing in the competition, The Guard’s head coach Mathew Elmore called on fans to support OpTic.

Followed by a 2-1 victory against DRX from the Korea Challengers, they sealed their qualification to the Upper Bracket Finals.

Unfortunately, they faced an insurmountable challenge from Brazil-based LOUD. That loss relegated them to the Lower Bracket Finals.

Fortunately for OpTic, they were locked-in in the just-concluded Lower Bracket Final. It was a sweep for OpTic as they convincingly won Haven, Fracture, and Bind in the best-of-five series.

With the North American team in the Grand Final, they will have to overcome a familiar foe, one they failed to defeat in the past. LOUD has had a perfect run so far in the Masters, giving up only two maps, one against Team Liquid and the other against OpTic.

Stealing one map could be seen as a plus for the team heading into the Grand Final, as it is an indication that LOUD is not invincible.

Although the Brazilian team has bested them in the past, OpTic will fancy their chances of winning the series. The winner walks away with $200,000 out of the $675,000 prize pool and 750 circuit points.

Across several esports betting sites, LOUD is the heavy favorite with the online betting sites to win the 2022 Masters. They are currently enjoying a ten-game winning streak and look the stronger of the two teams.

After an eventful two weeks, the Grand Final will commence at noon, Eastern Standard Time. The winner will go home with a lot of cash, bragging rights, and will be steaming with confidence ahead of Challengers 2.

At this stage of the competition, it is not just a battle between teams. Esports lovers and teams from several leagues will rally behind their compatriots as OpTic and LOUD go head-to-head.

A win for OpTic would be a win for the entire North America. The same applies to the team representing Brazil.

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?The Brazilian champions have been nearly untouchable at VCT Masters Reykjavik and seeing how they have made it past Team Liquid (1-2) and G2 Esports (2-0) to reach the upper bracket finals only proves how good LOUD can be. But we wouldn’t underestimate OpTic Gaming either, even though their showings haven’t been perfect.

Nevertheless, OpTic had a rough road to reach this stage of the tournament. They first had to fight their way through the group, which featured Liquid, XERXIA, and KRU Esports, and then make it past The Guard (2-1) and DRX (2-1).

You could argue that LOUD have looked better in their wins, but there is nothing that would explain why they are -188.68 favourites against OpTic. Admittedly, OpTic nearly lost against DRX on Sunday, but you can instead look at that overtime win on Split (15-13) as OpTic showing that they can deliver in clutch moments.

This has the potential to be the best series of VCT Masters Reykjavik, and even though we would consider LOUD as a slightly better team, we don’t see how OpTic can’t steal at least one map and force a tight affair.

?ZETA DIVISION had a rough start to their trip to Iceland, with a humiliating 2-13, 3-13 defeat against DRX in Group A’s opening round. But then something clicked, and ZETA DIVISION started performing like their old selves.

With a commanding 2-0 sweep of Fnatic and a well-deserved 2-1 victory against Ninjas in Pyjamas, the Japanese champion dragged their way into the playoffs, only to stumble against tournament favourites, G2 Esports (0-2). But despite that loss, ZETA DIVISION proved their worth by beating Team Liquid (2-1) and DRX (2-1) to keep the lower-bracket run alive.

Paper Rex’s road to the lower bracket semi-finals wasn’t as turbulent – but just as impressive. After losing against DRX (1-2) in the upper bracket quarter-finals, Paper Rex crushed North America’s champions, The Guard (13-10, 13-8) and claimed another big scalp on Monday when they humiliated G2 (13-10, 13-7).

With two massive wins against some of the best teams at VCT Masters Reykjavik, Paper Rex deserve to be viewed as the better team, but we aren’t ready to bet on them at -151.52. Paper Rex have shown a lot, but it’s not like ZETA DIVISION are weak. Admittedly, they can be a bit inconsistent, but when ZETA DIVISION are rolling, they’re tough to stop.

It’s hard to say how this series will end, but considering how momentum-driven both Valorant esports teams are, it’s fair to expect this to be a quick 2-0.

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