Omega bracket of VCT: LOCK//IN starts today, what to expect!?

Greetings readers! Welcome back to another article from OwlDroneMedia. Today, we are going to be talking about the second half of the group stages of VCT : LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, which has also been named as the Omega bracket, which starts tonight. 

So, as what happened in the Alpha bracket, we will have 8 matches in the Q16 part of the Omega bracket, and the matches go as follows : 

Team Liquid vs Team Secret
Natus Vincere vs KRU Esports
Leviatan vs ZETA Division
Team Vitality vs Global Esports
FUT vs RRQ
100 Thieves vs Edward Gaming
Sentinels vs FNATIC
T1 vs FURIA 

The first match of this bracket, which is Team Liquid vs Team Secret is a rivalry which dates back to 2021. Hence, it will be fun reliving this past moment, and seeing both these top notch teams fight it out in the opening match of the Omega Bracket. 

Next up, we have Natus Vincere vs Kru Esports. This match, in my opinion, is an S tier match in itself. Not only did Navi acquire the core of the top 4 team in VCT Champions 2022 (FPX), but they also added cNed, who is hands down one of the best players in the entire world, making NAVI one of the top teams for the 2023 season, and top contenders for winning this tournament.

KRU Esports, are another opponent to fear, because not only did they highly place at Valorant Champions 2021, but they also have a track record of attending every Official LAN event since the game's inception, and as they belong from South America, and this event being held in Brazil, the crowd is surely going to be on there side.

With the crowd on KRU's side, but NAVI being the fan favorites to win this tournament, how will this match fair out?

The 3rd match for this tournament, is Leviatan vs Zeta Division. This match, is another battle between 2 fan favorites. Zeta Division, being the Japanese representatives in this tournament, have the biggest Valorant fanbase backing them up, while Leviatan, who are playing in there home ground, South America, will have the crowd backing them up, who will emerge as the victor here? 

Regardless of what the outcome of this match has to say, what we feel, is that we should see a rematch between Leviatan and Zeta Division in Masters Tokyo, where Zeta Division will have the home crowd advantage. 

Next up, we have the match, that Indian fans are most excited about, not just because Global Esports, the Indian representatives are playing, but also for the fact that SkRossi, Indian Pride, will also be playing here. Global Esports will be facing of Team Vitality. As fate would have it, Team Vitality and Global Esports, have a history dating back to 2019, where an investor denied funds for Global Esports, because he had already invested in Team Vitality, and now, 4 years later, life has come around a full circle for them, where they face of Team Vitality in there first big international appearance. 

We, as fans of both Global Esports and Team Vitality, are super excited for this matchup. We believe that Team Vitality might have an upper edge in this matchup, because they have been practicing since 4 months, and have also played Redbull Home Ground, another LAN tournament prior to VCT LOCK//IN, while Global Esports, had to sub out one of there prime players WRONSKI, because of some out of game issues. Regardless, this match shall be a treat to watch!

Next up, we have FUT Esports fighting it out against RRQ. This match, has not had much excitement built up since the brackets were announced, part of the reason being that most fans are sleeping on both of these teams, but regardless, we feel that this match should be quite exciting, as both teams look to be equally strong. 

Now, for the next match, we have two fan favorites, 100 Thieves going up against Edward Gaming. Not only did 100 Thieves place exceptionally well in Champions 2022, after a past roster change, they are looking strong as ever. Although, the same can be said about Edward Gaming, who recently added another young prodigy to there roster, making it even more power packed. While this match might sound boring to some, we feel that this match is between two teams of equal caliber, and that it will be a toe to toe competition between both of them. 

Next up, we have, one of the most anticipated matchups in the history of Valorant Esports, SENTINELS vs FNATIC. Both of these teams, have also had a rivalry which dates back to 2021, where in Masters Iceland, Sentinels beat Fnatic 3:0, and without dropping a single map, won the entire tournament. Since then, this is the first time both these teams will be facing off against each other.

Sentinels, have a very promising roster, fusing the mechanically gifted TenZ, with Championship winning players Sacy and pAncada, along with Dephh and Zekken who were previously in XSET, who also placed high in VCT Champions 2022. 

FNATIC meanwhile, seem to have found the perfect mixup, mixing the big brain IGL Boaster, along with Chronicle who is top support player from EMEA(ex M3C/GMB), and the mechanical skill from Derke and Alfaejr, along with the support from Leo, making it another top notch roster to look out for. 

For the final matchup of the Q16 part of the Omega bracket, we have T1 vs FURIA. Another one of those matchups on which the crowd has been sleeping, finding it to be very boring and mid, while we, disagree. T1, before this tournament, also played in the Ludwig Invitational tournament. There, they put up a tough fight against The Guard and TSM, with so much little of practice. Although they seem to be the favorites for winning this match, we should not forget that they are up against FURIA, who are playing in there home ground, granting them the crowd's support, which might give them the edge over T1.

This, is it for this article, and we hope you enjoyed it if you read thus far! We have posted our predictions on twitter, so make sure to check them out and give your opinions!