Fnatic captain Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett mentioned Cloud9 as a team he hopes to play at VCT Masters Tokyo during a press conference before the VCT EMEA playoffs. This year, Fnatic has had little issue eliminating VCT Americas teams. The Valorant EMEA team won the VCT LOCK//IN trophy to begin 2023 by defeating Sentinels, FURIA Esports, 100 Thieves, and LOUD.
Fnatic’s past performance against North American teams could have been more consistent. At Masters Reykjavik in 2021, when the North American team won the first VCT title, the team twice fell to Sentinels. At Valorant Champions 2022, XSET also eliminated Fnatic, who had a 1-1 record versus 100 Thieves.
One of the favorites from EMEA to make it to VCT Masters Tokyo is Fnatic. The team earned the top seed entering the playoff round by winning VCT LOCK//IN and being unbeaten in the VCT EMEA regular season. As a result, they need one victory to qualify for the Japanese competition.
Boasters criticizes Cloud9 before the VCT Masters in Tokyo
Boaster was questioned about who he believes will be his primary rival if he advances to the VCT Masters Tokyo during a news conference held before the VCT EMEA playoff stage. As fans have been calling for the top VCT Americas team to face European competition, the Fnatic captain used the question to target Cloud9 specifically. “I’d prefer to play Cloud9 because Cloud9 vs. EMEA has recently received much attention. I want to defeat another NA squad personally, so I’d love to play them,” Boaster added.
‘ANGE1’ Kyrylo Karasov of NAVI added his two cents and stated that he would also like to compete against some VCT Americas teams. “I’d also like to put some of the Americas teams to the test since they seem formidable. You know, when they play each other,” ANGE1 laughed.
Fnatic defeated Cloud9 2-1 in their only previous encounter, which occurred at Valorant Champions 2021. Only Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev and Boaster were still playing for Fnatic then, and Nathan ‘Leaf’ Orf and Erick ‘Xeppaa’ Bach still represented Cloud9. Both teams had entirely different starting lines at the time.
In VCT Americas, Cloud9 has enjoyed a winning streak similar to Fnatic’s in EMEA. The group won its final seven games of the regular season, securing one of the top seeds for the playoff round. Their lone loss came against LOUD in Week 2; LOUD went on to lose 2-3 to Fnatic in the VCT LOCK//IN championships. Despite Boaster’s enthusiasm over the prospective top-seed encounter, both teams still need to win their remaining games to qualify for the international competition.
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