At the “VALORANT Challengers Japan 2024 Split 1 Playoff Finals” held at Port Messe Nagoya on March 30th and 31st, 2024, FENNEL defeated REJECT with a map score of 3-2 and won. This is the second time in a year that they have won the No. 1 title in Japan following last year's Split 1.
FENNEL once lost to REJECT and was challenged from Lower Bracket, but in the Lower Bracket Final they defeated Sengoku Gaming with a map score of 3-2. FENNEL played a total of 10 maps in these two games, 5 of which were in overtime…and fought through 255 rounds.
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In the match against Sengoku, there was a 1v5 clutch by Xdll, and in the 4th map of the match against REJECT: Breeze, the round score was 18-20, resulting in a fierce battle between prides.
[FENNEL – REJECT] 1st: Bind 16-18 2nd: Sunset 13-3 Advertisement 3rd: Lotus 14-12 4th: Broads 18-20 5th: Icebox 13-9 Map score 3-2 |
In this article, we will present an interview with CLZ, the leader of FENNEL, who fought a fierce battle to become number one in Japan once again.
◆I almost lost to SG the day before, but I was able to play with confidence.
–Yesterday's Lower Bracket Final was also a tough match that spanned 5 maps, but what kind of preparations and discussions did you have as a team leading up to today's match?
CLZ:Yesterday's match was pretty close, but Sengoku was a very good team. So, I said that I wanted to take on the challenge with the mindset that “Even if I feel like I'm going to lose to Sengoku, I don't have to lose confidence.''
–Today's match was also very close, with 3 out of 5 maps going into overtime. What aspects of REJECT did you struggle with?
CLZ:The players, mainly Akame, have a good sense of kill and the ability to seize opportunities, and their level is high, so it is difficult to advance to the final stage without risk. I felt that this was REJECT's strength.
――REJECT was characterized by its unique composition, such as the neon lotus. How did you deal with it during the match?
CLZ:I think that unusual compositions are basically used to force a certain script on us, so at first we started out passively so that we could react to whatever was thrown at us, and then we started the game by putting together countermeasures.
–CLZ players have played various roles such as Yoru, Harbor, Sage, and Breach, but which agent do you enjoy the most?
CLZ:Harbor is fun to play.
–On the other hand, what's not so fun?
CLZ:It's “Bleach” (lol)
–Recently, Bleach has been increasingly used in various maps.
CLZ:Stun (fault line) is overwhelmingly strong compared to other skills, so I think it's suitable for team play in that sense.
◆Become stronger as a team for Split 2
――With the victory from Lower, the match started yesterday offline, but do you think this had a positive or negative effect?
CLZ:Well, I honestly don't know. Anyway, I was tired (lol) Even when I got back to the hotel yesterday, I couldn't sleep much because I was doing laundry, so I fell asleep after arriving at the venue (lol)
–Thank you very much for your hard work. There were many fans at the venue holding up signs supporting FENNEL.
CLZ:There was a lot of cheering, and I think there were more FENNEL fans than I've ever experienced offline. I was very moved by the number of support boards. Up until now, I've only seen one or two everywhere I look, but now I'm really happy that there are one or two everywhere I look.
–If you were to choose the MVP of this match among the CLZ players, which member would it be?
CLZ:Everyone was really good, but I think it was Xdll, including yesterday's game.
–Split 2 is a season in which the right to participate in Ascension is at stake. How do you want to grow your team?
CLZ:There were a lot of rounds where I was winning with individual skills, and there were a lot of matches where I could have easily lost, so I haven't been able to win in a way that gives me peace of mind. We want to aim to become stronger as a team.
–In that sense, did you find any corrections?
CLZ:Throughout, we made some mistakes that we shouldn't have made, such as not being able to make connections when we should have, and calls being so noisy that we couldn't hear them. I think I have to fix it.
–As the leader of FENNEL, please share your enthusiasm for Split 2.
CLZ:I'm relieved now that I won Split 1. However, if we are too complacent, we will lose again, so we will do our best to win Split 2 and win Ascension.
In addition to FENNEL, the best four teams from Split 1, including REJECT, Sengoku Gaming, and NORTHEPTION, will be seeded to Split 2. They will compete for the right to participate in the “Ascension Tournament,” which has been revealed to be held in Tokyo.