The first time FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #2 MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qRaxs Doğukan Balaban met T1 T1 Korea Rank #3 Sayaplayer Ha Jeong-woo (하정우) Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo Carpe Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) xccurate Kevin Susanto , the Turks held the Koreans to a mere 11 rounds over two maps. That game sent both teams in opposite directions in Group B, but here in the decider, they met once more. Although T1 put up a better fight, FUT still closed out the series 2-0 to reach the playoffs.

FUT looked confident out of the gate. They picked up right where they left off with a dominant 10-2 first half on Bind. They stuck multiple ninja defuses against a T1 squad that looked timid and uncomfortable.

In a year where FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 Leo Leo Jannesson Derke Nikita Sirmitev Boaster Jake Howlett Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder popularized the half-armor meta FUT have adamantly refused to conform. They buy full-armor at almost every opportunity which leads to them taking far more ecos than anyone else at their level.

But that strategy nearly came back to haunt them today when T1 mounted a comeback to pull within two rounds at 11-9. Two big wins on eco rounds barely saved FUT in a 13-10 scare.

Water dousing fire.

Although the game was much closer than the previous matchup, FUT were still assured in their abilities.

“What they did the first match, they did the second time around,” MrFaliN said. “We gave them the opportunities [this time].”

T1 picked Pearl the first time around, but after a cakewalk 13-4 victory, FUT chose to bring it back. Whether it was long postplants on B or elaborate utility barrages towards A, FUT dominated the gun rounds. Still, that was only enough for a 7-5 lead.

Maybe not this time.

A constant trend for T1 across both maps was their reliance on individual moments. Both of their first half rounds on Bind came from big multikills, and both rounds surrounding halftime on Pearl came down to heroic clutches to keep things close.

It took three more clutches and an ace from Carpe to keep T1 in the map, and they managed to stretch the game to overtime. In the end, FUT's coordinated pushes were just too much for T1 to handle, and they closed the map 14-12.

Individual moments just barely failed to sustain T1.

“I guess at the end of the day, FUT just played better,” said Munchkin after the match.

MrFaliN was a standout performer for FUT. Not only did he call a dynamic strategic game, but he also put up the most kills and least deaths across the series at 45-25. The rest of his team finished with higher ratings than all of T1 but Sayaplayer , their only consistent performer.

No Turkish team had ever made the playoffs of an international VCT LAN, but FUT finally broke through.

“Being in here as a full Turkish roster is already a success in itself, and making playoffs is the cherry on top,” MrFalin noted. “I think the real victory will be when a Turkish team does it at Champions next year”.

As to what gave FUT the final boost they needed to perform, qw1 had an answer.

“Discipline and a long training session,” he said.

On the other side of things, T1's year ended in heartbreak.

“I'm proud of my team, but the fact that our journey ends here is a bit of a disappointment for myself,” xeta said

Nevertheless, making every international event of the year is no small feat. As T1 prepares for the [offseason]https://www.vlr.gg/256209/2023-valorant-off-season-events-announced), they will have plenty of opportunity to reflect on all the ups and downs of a highlight-laden 2023.