The first round of the Esports World Cup playoffs took place on Friday, July 11, in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Paper Rex, Fnatic, Gen.G, and Team Heretics emerged victorious in the quarterfinals and will now move on to the semifinals starting this Saturday. The grand final will take place on Sunday, alongside a third-place match between the two semifinal losers.

2-0 or nothing

Sentinels kicked off the day by facing Paper Rex, the recent Masters Toronto champions, seeking revenge just three weeks after PRX’s title win. Unfortunately for the American team, PRX's collective power proved far too strong on Icebox, the first map of the series. Despite a solid performance from Marshall “NARR4TE The VCT Pacific squad kept up their momentum on Sunset, crushing the attacking phase, slightly relaxing after the side switch, but still managing to close the series with a 2-0 win.

Paper Rex will now face Fnatic in the opening match of the ultimate day of the VALORANT tournament at the EWC, following the English organization’s victory over Karmine Corp in the second quarterfinal. It took all of Austin “crashies” Roberts' talent on Sunset, the first map of the Bo3, for FNC to overcome the Blue Wall in overtime (14-12). Jake “Boaster” Howlett and his teammates then carried their momentum into Ascent, dominating on attack and ultimately securing the series win to advance to the next round.

In the second matchup between VCT EMEA teams, it was Team Heretics who crushed the Turkish club BBL Esports. After a 13-3 defeat on Ascent, BBL simply couldn't find their rhythm, getting outplayed by Mert “Wo0t” Alkan, who was unstoppable on Jett. He finished the map with 23 kills and only 10 deaths. On Haven, the Turkish Duelist kept up the show, this time on Iso. A 13-5 victory interrupted by a long technical pause turned out to be nothing more than a prolonged agony for BBL, who couldn’t find answers in this quarterfinal.

In the semis, the Spanish club will face Gen.G, after the South Korean squad swept aside NRG, the last remaining North American representative. With Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom in top form, the VCT Pacific team managed to string together seven straight defensive rounds on Sunset, ending the half 7-5. Their attacking side went similarly, with Gen.G taking six of the next seven rounds to secure the first map. Icebox saw a more balanced battle, but it too eventually fell to the South Korean organization, which continues its run in this EWC.