The grand final of the Esports World Cup will feature a clash between two VCT EMEA organizations, with Fnatic on one side and Team Heretics on the other. The English club first overcame Paper Rex, the Toronto Masters champions, while the Spanish squad defeated the South Korean team Gen.G in the second semifinal. Both losing teams will still compete this Sunday, just before the EWC grand final, in a third-place match in this VALORANT tournament.

In the day’s first semifinal, Paper Rex started strong, finishing their attacking half 8-4, thanks to a sharp performance from Jason “forsaken” Susanto on Omen. Fnatic managed to regain some control after switching sides, but couldn't stop the PRX machine and eventually let the first map slip away to the Indonesian club. However, that second half marked the beginning of a strong momentum shift for Jake “Boaster” Howlett and his teammates, who went on to crush their opponents on Ascent. A swift 13-3 victory allowed the British team to tie the series and fight for a spot in the EWC grand final on Split.

Tight matches today

The third map was led by Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski, Fnatic’s Duelist, who ended with 29 kills and just 11 deaths, an unstoppable force against Paper Rex. Thanks to him, FNC took a commanding lead in the first half, heading into the break up 9-3, and eventually closed out the map on their defensive side to win 13-8 and secure their spot in the final. With this victory, the VCT EMEA squad also got their revenge after the recent loss to these same opponents in the Toronto Masters grand final. Paper Rex, on the other hand, will now have to settle for the third-place match on Sunday.

In the second semifinal of the Esports World Cup, Team Heretics opened the scoring by taking the first map of the series against Gen.G. A blazing-fast attacking side on Ascent allowed the Spanish club to go into halftime with a two-round lead, before completely dominating the defensive phase. Led by their Lithuanian Duelist Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukaševičius on Yoru, TH rolled over the South Korean players. On Haven, however, it was the teamplay of the VCT Pacific representatives that allowed them to bounce back and take the lead. Despite Mert “Wo0t” Alkan’s standout performance on Iso, Gen.G came out on top in their defensive half. Once on attack, Kim “t3xture” Na-ra sealed the deal, crushing any hopes of a 2-0 victory for the Europeans, who had to concede the point, forcing a deciding map.

The first half of Lotus was much closer, with both teams trading rounds until halftime, where the score stood tied at 6-6. The side switch didn’t lower the intensity, as both teams had their sights set on the grand final. It took overtime to separate Gen.G and Team Heretics, but in the end, it was the latter who managed to clinch the win in a nail-biting finish (16-14). The European players will now face Fnatic in the grand final this Sunday, following the third-place match between Paper Rex and Gen.G Esports.