Valorant: FaZe babybay not worried ahead of The Guard clash in NA VCT LCQ
Andrej “babybay” Francisty from FaZe Clan is confident in his team’s chances against The Guard for the upper bracket finals of the North America Valorant Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier.
The FaZe Clan is coming off their win against the 100 Thieves after a comeback victory, and babybay was key in their victory as he was responsible for single-handedly taking down multiple enemies and adding to FaZe’s winning streak.
FaZe is now only one series away from qualifying for the most prestigious Valorant tournament of the year. However, The Guard isn’t any slouch either. The team has stuck with the exact same lineup since the beginning of the year and were the winners of the North America Valorant Champions Tour Challengers One.
The Guard’s consistent, strong performance with a long-standing solid roster is also a sharp contrast to FaZe Clan, who rebuilt its roster recently. Despite all that, babybay is positive about FaZe’s chances of winning as he believes his teammates have enough experience in both online and LAN events to have the edge.
“This isn’t LAN. They’re not going to play like noobs — no offense to how they played. They didn’t have a lot of LAN experience,” babybay said in an interview with Upcomer. “Of course we’re going to win. I think we’re gonna be in the finals. I think this is our year,”
Babybay’s conviction can be attributed to his performance in the match against 100 Thieves. He had a 312 average combat score with a 1.6 kill/death ratio, and his explosive plays, as well as good aiming, allowed FaZe to recover from a six-game deficit in the first half and finish on a high note.
These are the same two factors that make him particularly crucial for FaZe, as the team would usually have a solid first half but otherwise fail to convert the momentum into cleanly closing out their matches in the second half — which explains their inconsistent placements in tournaments.
About the Valorant Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier
The Valorant Champions Tour Last Chance Qualifier, as the name implies, is a tournament where teams compete to enter the Valorant Champions tournament. The LCQ is divided into NA, APAC, East Asia, EMEA, and South America. Eight teams enter, but only one winner can qualify for the next stage except for South America, which will have two teams able to qualify this year.
Teams will find themselves under more pressure than usual, as failing to win the tournament’s grand finals means they will walk away with nothing. Most of the matches in the tournament are in a best-of-three format except for the grand finals and the lower bracket finals, which are in a best-of-five format.
The face-off between FaZe Clan and The Guards for a slot in the grand finals will happen on August 13, 2022. The eight teams participating are The Guard, FaZe Clan, NRG, Shopify Rebellion, Cloud9, 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses and Sentinels.
Currently, Evil Geniuses and Shopify Rebellion are in 7th and 8th place, with the remaining placements to be determined from August 12 to August 15 as teams battle it out in the Lower Bracket Finals and Semi-Finals.
