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 defeated Leviatán Leviatán Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee in a five-map battle for a spot at Masters 1: Reykjavik. With this win, they are now the only team to attend every international VCT event in Valorant history. Leviatán will face NIP for the final spot at Reykjavik.

KRÜ vs. Leviatán (3-2 KRÜ)

The top two teams of Latin America met in the grand finals of the VCT Latin American Stage 1 playoffs. The rosters of both KRÜ and Leviatán had competed for the Latin American crown during 2021, but KRÜ managed to hold onto their dominance by taking the sole LATAM slot in every international event. These two teams were the clear frontrunners in 2022 and competed once more for an international berth.

KRÜ had reigned supreme over LATAM for most of 2021. In the 11 months preceding these playoffs, the only non-international loss they suffered was to the Leviatán roster under the organization of Australs. After a disappointing performance at Masters 2 Reykjavik, superstar keznit was picked up to help KRÜ match the firepower of the top international teams. A playoff appearances at Masters 3 and Champions helped establish the Latin American region as a threat.

The core of the Leviatán roster have been together since the beginning of 2021. They won LATAM South Masters 1, but lost control of their crown in Stage 2. Under Australs, they fell just one match short of qualifying for both Masters 3 and the Champions last chance qualifier against KRÜ and FURIA respectively.

During the group stage, KRÜ narrowly defeated Leviatán, but the favor was returned in the southern playoffs as Leviatán took the top seed by defeating a keznit-less KRÜ. keznit was suspended for discriminatory comments, but was free to play in these playoffs.

The match started on Breeze which was one of the maps Leviatán had beaten KRÜ on earlier in the tournament. Leviatán got off to a strong start with spike plants in each of the first eight rounds although KRÜ did defuse the spike twice. Two more KRÜ rounds brought them to a two round deficit, but Leviatán closed the half with an 8-4 lead.

KRÜ started to win rounds off of fast site executions to retake the lead and give them the first map point. Leviatán forced overtime by using the Viper's Pit and Null Command ultimates to prevent KRÜ from planting early in the round.

The second map of the day, Haven, was a favorite of both KRÜ and Leviatán. It was the most played map for both teams, and they had both remained undefeated on it this year. keznit brought out his unconventional Phoenix pick for KRÜ while kiNgg flexed to Breach for Leviatán.

A Leviatán pistol win was immediately followed by a 1v2 ace clutch by keznit. adverso responded with a clutch of his own against keznit. Neither side could gain a clear advantage in a very close back and forth battle. Both teams nearly pulled off 2v4 clutches in the final two rounds of the half but settled for a 6-6 score.

Mazino tried his hand at a 1v2 clutch to open the second half, but KRÜ were unable to convert that into a significant lead. Leviatán finally managed to string some rounds together by consistently hitting the A site. Five rounds in a row gave them the first three round lead of the map, and they ran away with a 13-9 victory to tie the match at one map apiece.

KRÜ had only won seven combined rounds over the last two times they played Ascent, although one map was played without their star player and the other was plagued by technical difficulties. On the other side of the coin, Leviatán had only lost a combined seven rounds over the last three times they played the map and were poised to take the lead in the match.

Leviatán pulled a page out of the LOUD playbook by constantly setting up towards the A site, but it cost them the first five rounds of their attacking half. It took a clutch by kiNgg in the seventh round to get Leviatán on the board, but KRÜ found multikill after multikill for eleven rounds in the half.

The map was not a complete wash as Leviatán proved to be more competent on their defense and started to mount a comeback. A 1v4 ace clutch by Mazino was the only round KRÜ won for the rest of the map as Leviatán forced overtime then carried the momentum to a 14-12 win. Both teams ran into a brick wall on their attack, but Leviatán showed their resilience in a spectacular comeback.

Facing elimination, KRÜ needed to win their map pick of Fracture which they had never won since the map was released. They won their attacking pistol, but struggled to hold postplants as Leviatán won four rounds in a row. A critical eco round allowed KRÜ to regain the momentum, and Klaus survived an Operator shot with one hitpoint in the clutch to give KRÜ the lead which they converted into an 8-4 advantage at the half.

Another pistol win helped KRÜ to a flawless second half and a 13-4 victory that forced a deciding map five. keznit was actually held in check on Fracture, but Mazino posted 331 ACS on the Sage to lead a dominant team effort from KRÜ.

The final map of Split had long been a stronghold for KRÜ. They infamously eliminated Sentinels from Champions on the map and were undefeated on it this year. They won their defensive pistol, and a NagZ quadra kill with a judge secured the second round. Like Ascent, the defender sided nature of the map showed its face with a dominant 11-1 first half for KRÜ.

Unlike Ascent, KRÜ were able to convert that massive advantage into a map win. Three flawless round by Leviatán threatened a repeat of Ascent, but KRÜ put their foot down to take the map 13-6. After struggling through the series, NagZet finally had his moment in the sun with 19 kills to only nine deaths.

Over the series, KRÜ dominated in individual moments. Their two aces, eight quadra kills and 17 triple kills easily outpaced Leviatán's zero aces, four quadra kills and 12 triple kills. The individual efforts were spread across all of KRÜ's players as their more balanced performance pushed them across the line in the final maps.

KRÜ will represent Latin America at Masters 1 like they have in every international event so far. They looked less dominant in the LATAM scene than they have in previous months but still secured the top seed. Leviatán will have to face NIP in the new South American last chance qualifier for a chance at attending their first international event.

Looking Ahead

The LATAM/BR Last Chance Qualifier happens on April 1 with Ninjas In Pyjamas Ninjas In Pyjamas Inactive taking on Leviatán Leviatán Latin America South Rank #1 tex Ian Botsch kiNgg Francisco Aravena Mazino Roberto Rivas aspas Erick Santos C0M Corbin Lee for the final spot at Reykjavik.