The XERXIA Esports Valorant squad will be making a triumphant return to Masters Reykjavík, their third international Valorant LAN as a team. The core of the roster attended Stage 2 Masters in Iceland last year, when they were still playing under the X10 Crit banner.
The Thailand-based organization became the second VCT APAC team to qualify for Iceland, despite losing star player Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong, who has since returned to Overwatch with the LA Gladiators. They will join Paper Rex in representing the APAC region on the world stage.
After being forced to forfeit a match due to a power outage, the team surged through the lower bracket with wins over Persija Esports, BOOM Esports, and Bleed eSports.
Patiphan’s replacement, 17-year-old Thanachart “Surf” Rungapajaratkul, has filled the role admirably, ranking among the top 10 players in terms of K/D in the VCT APAC Stage 1 Challengers.
The match against Bleed eSports in the lower bracket final was a nailbiter that went on for the full three maps, with the game eventually being decided in overtime on the final map.
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XERXIA Esports takes Haven in overtime to qualify for Masters Reykjavík 2022
XERXIA and Bleed were originally scheduled to face one another in the group stage, but the aforementioned Bangkok power outage forced the Thai squad to concede the match.
XERXIA wasted no time proving that the depth of talent on their team runs beyond star player Patiphan. XERXIA Esports’ main controller, Nutchapon “sScary” Matarat, did not fail to live up to his name, finishing the series with 61 kills across three maps. He also posted the third-best K/D ratio in the entire tournament at 1.36.
The team initially fell short in the first map against Bleed, losing 10-13 on Ascent despite sScary’s late-round heroics. However, the Thai squad dug deep and bounced back with a dominant 13-4 victory on Bind, with Surf and Panyawat “sushiboys” Subsiriroj combining for 42 kills.
The final map, Haven, was an absolute barn burner that went to overtime. XERXIA’s in-game leader, Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard, earned a pivotal 12th round victory for his squad by preventing Bleed’s spike defuse in the nick of time.
Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut then came in clutch on the final round, securing XERXIA’s spot to Masters Reykjavík after winning a 1v2 against Derrick “Deryeon” Yee and Lionel “lenne” Lim.
You can catch XERXIA Esports in action at the upcoming VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík 2022. The tournament will take place from April 10 to 24.
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