Team Falcons and Gentle Mates will meet in the first round of the group stage of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA. To be honest, I don't expect much success from the Saudi team, but the lads will definitely struggle.
What's more, I wouldn't call Gentle Mates such a tough team that I'd be willing to believe in a landslide victory. I will say this, Team Falcons could surprise Europe unpleasantly, as the team demolished everyone in their region.
In general, the French team seems to be the favourites, but in this case Gentle Mates will clearly have to sweat. So here I would go with the map from Team Falcons
Team Falcons uniform
The first team from the Middle East came in second at the VALORANT Challengers 2023 MENA: Resilience Split 1 - GCC and Iraq, failing PDS FPS Elite 1 in the process.
However, the Saudi team was then able to get back into contention by winning VALORANT Challengers 2023 MENA: Resilience Split 2 - GCC and Iraq and VALORANT Challengers 2023 MENA: Resilience - LAN Finals.
On the other hand, Team Falcons recently participated in the Saudi eLeague 2023: Season 1, but dropped out of the play-offs to go to Berlin.
Team Falcons' latest results:
- A 2-1 win over Team RA'AD.
- Victory over Team RA'AD 3-2.
- 2-0 win over Twisted Minds.
- Beat The Ultimates 2-0.
- Technical defeat for RevSol Esports.
Team Falcons top scorers:
- Ascent - 94% wins.
- Lotus - 83% wins.
- Fracture - 80% wins.
- Haven - 64% wins.
- Split - 60% wins.
- Pearl - 50% wins.
It is worth noting that the Saudi team has consistently banned the Bind card.
Form Gentle Mates
The tenth team in the European ranking went through VALORANT Challengers 2023 France: Revolution Split 1 quite confidently, winning the championship with only a few losses in the regular season.
What's more, the French team also won the VALORANT Challengers 2023 France: Revolution Split 2, once again showing a solid performance against their rivals.
Still, I don't think Gentle Mates will be able to claim much success in Berlin, as the team doesn't have the most balanced squad in the table.
Recent results for Gentle Mates:
- A 13-5 win over Solary.
- A 14-12 win over WYLDE.
- A 4-13 loss to Mandatory.
- 3-1 win over WYLDE.
- 3-2 win over Mandatory.
Gentle Mates' best scores:
- Haven - 100% wins.
- Split - 86% wins.
- Fracture - 80% wins.
- Ascent - 69% wins.
- Lotus - 56% wins.
In turn, the French team usually does not appear on the Pearl map.
Team Falcons - Gentle Mates encounter statistics
The teams have not met before.
Team Falcons - Gentle Mates forecast
There will be a purely personal preference here, as Gentle Mates does not appear to be a team that will rip apart Ascension. For their part, we can expect surprises from Team Falcons as who knows what the boys have in store.
All in all, either way, the match promises to be The International heresy, especially as the Saudi team is quite good in terms of numbers. Therefore, in this case, I would recommend betting on the Forum on map (+1.5) for Team Falcons.
