With surprises and successful returns — the first week of VCT EMEA Stage 2 lived up to expectations. The race to qualify for Champions Paris is well underway, and some teams will already have no room for error as early as next week, risking being backed into a corner with two losses. As for the three teams that took part in Masters Toronto, they all kicked things off with flawless performances, a solid warm-up in their bid to qualify.

For Stage 2, the VALORANT VCT EMEA is split into two groups of six teams. Only the top four from each group will advance to the playoffs, while the bottom two will see their season come to an end. It's worth noting that the fourth-place finisher in each group will start in the lower bracket of the playoffs, while the top three move into the upper bracket.

The action began on Wednesday with Natus Vincere and Apeks in a chaotic Bo3 opener. The Ukrainian squad took the first map on Icebox, dropping only four rounds. Apeks bounced back on Sunset, conceding just six rounds, but then collapsed on Corrode (13-3), allowing NAVI to take the series. In the second match of the day, GIANTX defeated Team Vitality in the only 2-0 sweep of the week — despite another solid showing from Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev, who posted a +11 KDA. With 13-10 and 13–11 wins, the close series went to the Anglo-Spanish organization, which badly needs wins if it hopes to reach Champions in two months.

Heretics had a close call

Day two started much like the first, with a wild match between FUT Esports and Gentle Mates. The Turkish side struggled on Bind (7-13), then took Sunset convincingly, conceding only five rounds. It all came down to overtime on Icebox, where FUT achieved a remarkable comeback — saving six match points to eventually win 16-14 and snatch the win from M8. The best way to celebrate the return to competition of Mehmet "cNed" Yağız İpek.

Also Read: Gentle Mates miss six match points and fall to FUT in VCT EMEA

In the second match on Thursday, July 17, Team Liquid logically came out on top against KOI. After dominating Bind, they let Icebox slip away before closing things out on Lotus. English flex player Georgio “Keiko” Sanassy was the standout performer of the series, with an impressive +25 KDA (66 kills for 41 deaths) and nearly 293 ACS — well ahead of both teammates and opponents.

On day three, BBL came close to pulling off an upset against Team Heretics, the recent Esports World Cup champions. The Turkish team started strong on Icebox with a 13-5 win, but the Spanish squad responded on Haven. With the series tied, it took all the talent of Mert “Wo0t” Alkan on KAY/O for Heretics to clutch the win on Sunset (13-11).

To wrap up the first week of Stage 2, it was Fnatic versus Karmine Corp. After losing on Bind (7-13), KCorp bounced back on Lotus (13-10) to level the Bo3. The decider on Icebox ended in a narrow 13-11 victory for Fnatic, despite a stellar performance from Hazem “Avez” Khaled, who posted 28 kills for 17 deaths on the final map.