Both VALORANT Champions Tour Masters 2: ReykjavÃk European representatives, Team Liquid and Fnatic bowed out of Stage 3 Challengers 1 without qualifying for EMEA Challengers Playoffs. Both teams were the last two out of the playoffs, as Liquid fell to FunPlus Phoenix and Fnatic lost to G2 Esports in two lower bracket sweeps.
The top four teams from VCT Stage 3 Challengers 1 will earn an invitation to EMEA Challengers Playoffs and a chance to qualify for Masters 3 in Berlin. Team Liquid and Fnatic have one more chance to qualify for the EMEA Challengers Playoffs at Challengers 2. That event, however, will only invite the top two teams in the tournament. But, neither team will have to play through an open qualifier, earning a Challengers 2 invitation since they already qualified for Challengers 1.
The Stage 3 Challengers 2 main event starts July 28 with Fnatic, Team Liquid, Team BDS and Rix.GG Thunder already qualified.
 How Team Liquid and Fnatic lost their first chance at playoff qualification
So tweeting doesn’t work and not tweeting doesn’t work either…
GGs @FPX_Esports
— Team Liquid Valorant (@LiquidValorant) July 8, 2021
Fnatic fell 2-1 to Guild Esports in the upper semifinals in their first game of the day. Fnatic took the first map on Ascent in a close 13-11 game. They then lost the next two maps to a clinical Guild side, 13-6 on Icebox and 13-9 on Haven. In the lower bracket, Fnatic matched up with G2 Esports after losing to them in the closed qualifier just a week ago. G2 took the first map, Icebox, 13-9 and then both teams went the distance on the second map. On Haven they went into quadruple overtime, with G2 securing the win 17-15. Oscar “Mixwell” Cañellas led the server with 49 kills across both maps on Viper and Killjoy.
For Team Liquid, the blue horse fell into the lower bracket on the first day of the main event thanks to Fnatic. Liquid lost 2-1, winning on Fnatic’s best map Bind, and losing on Breeze and Haven. In the lower bracket, Liquid defeated Team BDS, and then faced FPX after the team lost to Acend. FPX swept Liquid on Haven and Ascent, both maps ending 13-9.
Both teams will have one more shot at EMEA Challengers Playoff qualification in the Challengers 2 main event starting on July 28. If qualified, the two Masters 2 representatives will play a gauntlet of EMEA teams from Europe, Turkey and the CIS region. The top four teams from playoffs will represent EMEA at Masters 3 in Berlin.
