KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori Klaus Nicolas Ferrari Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro heat Olavo Marcelo have defeated Leviatán Leviatán Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee in the grand final of the VCT Americas Last Chance Qualifier, securing the last place remaining at Valorant Champions 2023. The all-LATAM final ended in 3-1 fashion, and finished Leviatán's season.

“It's a dream come true,” said Melser in a post-match interview. “The entire team knew we were capable of this. We all put in the work to make it here and to get this win.”

The clash between the only two LATAM rosters was a rematch of the upper bracket semi finals where KRÜ handled Leviatán in an easy 2-0 fashion. keznit dominated in that series, dropping a 1.66 rating and going 44-24 across the two maps.

The first map of the series was Split, a replay from the teams' earlier series where KRÜ dominated to a 13-5 score. KRÜ started the first map just how they left off, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead on attack. Despite Leviatán finding a few round wins, KRÜ cruised out to a 9-3 lead at halftime. The map ended up the same score as the previous matchup between the LATAM squads, ending 13-5.

KRÜ found 14 of the 18 first bloods on Split, and even won four out of their five low buy rounds.

The teams headed to Pearl for the second map, Leviatán's first pick of the series. After winning the pistol, Leviatán struggled on their post plants, giving up five successful retakes to KRÜ on their attack side. KRÜ looked destined to steamroll yet another map after winning the pistol, but Leviatán would have none of it. Eight straight rounds following an eco win, including five retakes of their own, enabled Leviatán to take Pearl comfortably 13-7.

Tacolilla found his stride on the map, finding eight first bloods. Mazino and kiNgg settled in on the defensive side, going a combined 23-7 with each contributing over 200 ADR.

Game three headed to Ascent, a map KRÜ picked despite losing 13-4 to Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #9 Xeppaa Erick Bach runi Dylan Cade moose Kaleb Jayne vanity Anthony Malaspina OXY Francis Hoang in their last matchup. KRÜ found success on their attack side on the defender-sided map, establishing a 7-5 lead at halftime even after losing the pistol. Klaus and keznit put together 28 combined kills and six first bloods to lead the charge for KRÜ.

The defensive side for Ascent was a breeze for KRÜ, dropping just the bonus round en route to a 13-6 victory. Four clutches on the map was the key for KRÜ to take an advantage in the series. KRÜ also managed to plant 11 times on their attack side as Leviatán gave up the bombsites time and time again. Leviatán also struggled mightily with their economy, putting together just five full buy rounds.

Lotus was the fourth map in the series as Leviatán faced elimination and the end of their season. Shyy and company looked up to the task early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead on attack. KRÜ answered by taking the lead at 6-4 with five straight rounds before coming to a 6-6 stalemate at the half.

After KRÜ won the pistol and the bonus, in which Leviatán opted to save in a 3v4 situation, Leviatán faced a 9-6 deficit on their defensive side on an attack-sided map in Lotus. A pivotal round 19 saw Leviatán retake through NagZ 's Viper ultimate in order to break the KRÜ economy. KRÜ answered with a massive eco win of their own to bring the score to 11-9.

Round 21 was scrappy with both Killjoy ultimates invested as kiNgg managed to trade out the final kill to complete his 3K to secure the round win. NagZ answered with an enormous opening 2K in the next round to help move KRÜ just one round away from a Champions 2023 appearance.

A trap play attempt from Leviatán around the Raze Showstopper found the opening pick, but left the A bomb site completely open for KRÜ. Leviatán found just one kill on the 5v4 retake, ending their season at the hands of their LATAM compatriots.

Across the series, keznit continued his form from the rest of the LCQ, dropping a 167 ADR and finding 18 first bloods. Melser and Klaus supported their star duelist player masterfully, with a 1.17 rating from Melser and 41 assists for Klaus.

Leviatán often ended up saving when down a man, but the economy stats paint an interesting story. In the series, KRÜ had 55 full buy rounds compared to Leviatán's 25. Leviatán won just 14 of their 42 semi-buys, a sharp contrast to KRÜ winning 6 of their 10 semi-buys.

Keznit finished the Last Chance qualifier atop the leaderboards in rating (1.29), K:D (1.33), KAST (82%), and ADR (181.3). DaveeyS , Melser, and Klaus finished in the top seven of the LCQ in rating as well.

Three players remain on the squad from the original KRÜ appearance at Champions 2021 in keznit, NagZ, and Klaus.

“It's a happiness that can't be described,” KRÜ head coach Atom said post-match. “With all the things that the team went through to get this win, I have all the respect in the world for the team.”