The final day for ESPN eSports Valorant invitational was indeed one for the books. Team Canyon defeats Team Mirage in the final round with 2-1.
ESPN successfully pulled off the virtual event that’s been dubbed as the most ambitious eSports crossover in history.
After three days of thrilling match-ups, with eight teams coming from seven famous game titles, battling it out in a whole new virtual world that is Valorant, only one team surfaced as the champion—and that is Team Canyon.
Considering all of the players’ statistics, strengths, weaknesses, and nature of their original game titles, the predictions made were leaning more on either Team Mirage or Team Dev to bag the ultimate win.
Nevertheless, many have weighed in the strong possibility of Team Canyon or Team Heroes stealing the limelight.
What a day! Thanks for tuning into the ESPN Esports @playValorant Invitational.
Congratulations to Team Canyon for clutching it out in an amazingly close Grand Finals set against Team Mirage! pic.twitter.com/5064xrcOz0
— ESPN Esports (@ESPN_Esports) April 23, 2020
Team Canyon’s 2-1 win
The team of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pros kickstarted the best-of-three finals, with a 13-8 win on Bind.
However, Team Canyon was managed to pull through in the second round with a 13-10 win on Haven. The team was able to maintain its momentum until the third and final round.
The deciding match on Split had a similar result of 13-10, declaring the Apex Legends pros as the first-ever ESPN eSports Valorant invitational tournament.
Team Canyon shook the ESPN eSports Twitch live stream with their game-clinching win against Team Dev in Day 2 of the Group B round-robin, giving them the advantage in the final four.
Team Mirage isn't done yet! They're waking up and looking to bring it back to an even scoreline for the second half.
????: https://t.co/tkRMYxQlY0 pic.twitter.com/3JdoRcr2oG
— ESPN Esports (@ESPN_Esports) April 23, 2020
Team Dev is consists of Valorant developers. Many were assuming that either they will dominate the win or that they will give Team Mirage a run for their money in the final round.
Experts’ chosen MVPs and overall game analysis
Riot Games‘ Valorant is still in its closed beta phase. However, it has already garnered a competitive and interactive community and has also lured famous pro players from other game titles.
In fact, Spencer “Hiko” Martin of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been seen as the best performing player all throughout the three-day tournament.
Emily Rand of ESPN comments:
Team Mirage are playing the highest level of competitive VALORANT right now, and Hiko not only has had incredible individual rounds and statistics, but he sets up the rest of his team to clean up with impeccable Breach play.
Team Mirage is actually a powerhouse Valorant-playing team, considering they’re from CS: GO pro league. They’ve recently won the 100 Thieves Invitational and the T1 Invitational tournament as well.
Although Team Mirage only came close to winning, most of the experts saw him as the overall best player of the tournament.
Meanwhile, on the winning team, the experts agree that Justin “Kellar” Kellar was the most valuable player among the champs. Tyler Erzberger highlights the many instances that Kellar went on a “one-versus-the-world to clutch out a round.”
Image courtesy of ESPN Esports /Twitter