SAW and Acend will meet on the final matchday of the VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA group stage. The Portuguese have already guaranteed participation in the play-offs, while Acend are still struggling.
Obviously, the European squad only need to win, otherwise there is a high probability of rounds being counted. And yet SAW have already proved that they are strongly prepared for the championship, so they are unlikely to play a giveaway with their opponents.
All in all, even without that, Acend seem to be slight favourites, but on play the Portuguese team can show themselves again. Therefore, I'd lean on three points here.
SAW form
The second team in the European rankings was the winner of the long-running VALORANT Challengers 2023 Portugal: Tempest Split 1, during which they suffered only one defeat.
The Portuguese side also recently won the VALORANT Challengers 2023 Portugal: Tempest Split 2, qualifying for Ascension.
SAW took on Digital Athletics, CGN Esports and Dsyre in the group stage of the VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA and secured a place in the play-offs.
Latest SAW results:
- A 2-0 win over GTZ Esports.
- Victory over GTZ Esports by a score of 3-0.
- A 2-1 win over Digital Athletics.
- Beat CGN Esports 2-1.
- 2-1 win over Dsyre.
Top SAW scores:
- Ascent - 100% wins.
- Lotus - 100% wins.
- Haven - 89% wins.
- Pearl - 67% wins.
- Fracture - 50% wins.
- Split - 50% wins.
It's worth noting that the Portuguese team doesn't usually appear on the Pearl map.
Form Acend
The sixth European ranked team confidently won the VALORANT Challengers 2023 East: Surge Split 1, during the course of which they rolled over their rivals.
They would go on to clinch the VALORANT Challengers 2023 East: Surge Split 2 at the end of the regional season, again leaving no chances for their rivals.
And in the group stage of the VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA, Acend managed to beat Digital Athletics and CGN Esports, but were unexpectedly edged out by Dsyre.
Acend's latest results:
- A 2-1 win over Diamant Esports.
- A 3-0 win over Enterprise Esports.
- A 2-0 win over Digital Athletics.
- Beat CGN Esports 2-1.
- A 1-2 defeat to Dsyre.
Top scores for Acend:
- Fracture - 100% wins.
- Haven - 86% wins.
- Lotus - 83% wins.
- Split - 82% wins.
- Pearl - 80% wins.
- Bind - 75% wins.
- Ascent - 73% wins.
In turn, the European team has so far given up on the Ascent and Lotus cards.
SAW - Acend encounter statistics
The teams have not yet met in the current line-up.
Forecast for the match SAW - Acend
The Portuguese side can yet be called the league opener, somewhere on a par with Gentle Mates. On the other hand, Acend initially seemed to be the favourite, so it remains to be seen.
If you look back at the game, SAW has been relaxed at times, but on the whole has been pretty evenly matched. Still, the Portuguese should cling to the map as well as Acend will dictate their playing conditions.
Therefore, in this case, I would recommend betting on Total on mapm 2.5 more.
