Apeks and Gentle Mates will meet in the grand final of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA. Let me remind you that the winner of the match will get a slot in the EMEA League for the next two seasons.
At the same time, the French team surprises quite a lot in the last two days, managing to outplay both SAW and Acend. Still, Gentle Mates certainly shouldn't be enough for such a match, as the team has gone too far.
Moreover, so far the Europeans are going with a 100% record, not losing to anyone at all. And it seems to me that nothing can stop them. So here I would bet on a win for the Apeks team.
Apeks' form
The second team of the European ranking had a solid regional season, winning both splits of the VALORANT Challengers 2023 Northern Europe: Polaris without a chance.
Moreover, Apeks played confidently in the group stage of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA, where they beat Case Esports, FOKUS, Gentle Mates and Team Falcons in turn.
As for Long Sogpeg in the play-offs, the European team first defeated SAW, and then beat Acend to advance to the Grand Final with an extra day to prepare.
Latest Apeks results:
- A 2-1 win over FOKUS.
- A 2-0 win over Gentle Mates.
- A 2-0 win over Team Falcons.
- 2:0 win over SAW.
- A 2:1 win over Acend.
Apeks' best results:
- Lotus - 100% wins.
- Haven - 92% wins.
- Ascent - 88% wins.
- Pearl - 83% wins.
- Split - 60% wins.
- Bind - 50% wins.
- Fracture - 50% wins.
We should not forget that the European team tries not to appear on the Fracture map.
Gentle Mates uniforms
The seventh team of the European ranking also won both regional splits of VALORANT Challengers 2023 France: Revolution, showing a very confident game at the season's distant stage.
Next, Gentle Mates played quite well in the group stage of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA, where they managed to beat Team Falcons, Case Esports and FOKUS, but also Ledgeila Apeks.
As for the performance in the championship play-offs, the French team failed to cope with Acend, but managed to shoot in the lower net, also outplaying SAW and Acend.
Gentle Mates' latest results:
- A 2-1 win over FOKUS.
- A 0:2 defeat to Apeks.
- A 0:2 defeat to Acend.
- 2:1 win over SAW.
- A 3:0 victory over Acend.
Gentle Mates' best results:
- - Split - 91% wins.
- - Haven - 86% wins.
- - Fracture - 83% wins.
- - Lotus - 62% wins.
- - Ascent - 58% of wins.
In turn, the French team usually does not appear on the Pearl map.
Statistics of meetings Apeks - Gentle Mates
In the current season the teams had one meeting - in the group stage of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA victory went to Apeks (2:0).
Prediction for the match Apeks - Gentle Mates
Last time the teams played on maps Haven and Ascent, which were "plus or minus" equal, but still Apeks dictated their terms the whole match.
And in general, I doubt that anyone is able to defeat this machine. We can say that Gentle Mates managed to accelerate, but so far the French are far behind even by names.
Therefore, in this case I would recommend to bet on the victory of the Apeks team.
