XSET Dephh hopes to face OpTic again after loss at Masters: Copenhagen

July 16, 2022

by Sage Datuin

No two teams have been as consistent in North American VALORANT as OpTic Gaming and XSET. Yet, both teams went into the VALORANT Champions Tour’s Masters: Copenhagen with varying levels of expectations and levels of international experience heading into their head-to-head matchup on Friday.

While Masters: Copenhagen has been all business for OpTic Gaming, who are looking to win their second consecutive Masters tournament, XSET were going to play in their first international LAN event. Immediately, things were different for XSET compared to what they had been accustomed to.

XSET have LAN experience domestically, but Friday’s match against OpTic Gaming felt different than other LAN tournaments they have been to. For head coach Don “Syyko” Muir, that difference manifested itself in things that a viewer from home won’t notice.

“There’s definitely some differences,” XSET head coach Syyko said when asked about playing at Masters: Copenhagen. “It’s hard to see, but there’s hundreds and hundreds of Riot employees working their asses off here just doing the most to make this a really good show, so it’s definitely different.”

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Overall, XSET looked noticeably different compared to their masterful run through VCT NA Stage 2 when they took down OpTic 3-1 in the grand final. It was a dominant series from the side of OpTic Gaming, who took the match 2-0 over XSET this time around. For XSET, the biggest difference between last time and this time all came down to a struggle to adapt.

“The big thing for today was just getting settled in on the stage,” Syyko said during the postmatch press conference. “We didn’t get started quick enough, we didn’t settle in quick enough, and we didn’t adapt quick enough.”

XSET ready to brush aside loss to make lower bracket run

Photo credit: Riot Games

For XSET, their loss to OpTic Gaming drops them down to the lower bracket where they will need to win four consecutive matches in order to reach the VCT Masters: Copenhagen grand final. Their run through the lower bracket will begin with a match against Latin America’s first seed Leviatán on Saturday.

“There's a lot of good teams in the playoffs and they [Leviatán] are the No. 1 seed in the region for a reason,” Jordan “Ayrin” He said about Leviatán before continuing. “But we are as well. We think it's going to be a good matchup. We’re gonna go over some small things tonight, but overall, we’re just going to treat them like any other opponent.”

For Leviatán and XSET, Saturday’s match will decide which first seed is the first sent home at Masters: Copenhagen while the other will move one step forward in the lower bracket. Although the entire team was in agreement of Leviatán’s strength, XSET have faith that their preparation will serve them well.

“We know what they are capable of, where their strengths or weaknesses lie,” Syyko said. “Our analyst [Drew "DrewSpark" Spark-Whitworth] has been really going in-depth with all these teams and giving us a lot of information to know what we can expect when we go up against them.”

The pressure is on for XSET as the team looks to establish themselves as a contender to win Masters: Copenhagen.

“We have only had one match to find our footing here, and now it’s do or die,” Syyko said. “I feel like the team with the experience that we have and the reps that we’ve gotten, we’re ready to really establish ourselves now and come back tomorrow strong.”

Will there be an XSET-OpTic rematch?

Photo credit: Riot Games

As for OpTic Gaming, they will now move forward into the upper bracket semifinals against Korea’s DRX. That matchup will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. While both teams have already secured their place at VCT Champions 2022, it’s a matchup that OpTic Gaming are excited about because it will be the best indicator of their chances to win Masters again.

“I think DRX is the toughest opponent because of their style,” head coach Chet “Chet” Singh said in response to which teams he thinks will give him the toughest match. “They just improved a lot from the last series, so similar to Iceland, if we beat them, I think we have a very good chance to make the repeat and win again.”

When asked about XSET, Chet shared his uncertainty about the team, but did not rule out a possible rematch later in the tournament. This is something that XSET in-game leader Rory “dephh” Jackson will be working toward.

“We just have to run the lower bracket now, and hopefully we will get to meet OpTic again,” Dephh said.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games