Acend and Digital Athletics will meet in the first round of the group stage of VALORANT Challengers Ascension 2023: EMEA. I believe the European team are serious about this championship.
As for Digital Athletics, the same epithets that are sent out to other Turkish teams apply here. In other words, the Turks may compete, but I find it hard to believe that they will be able to fight for the title.
In general, the European team looks much more interesting, and during the season they have shown a really strong game, justifying the experience of their squad. So here I would lean on the Acend team to win.
Form Acend
The fifth team in the European rankings literally won VALORANT Challengers 2023 East: Surge Split 1 without a chance, where they rolled over their opponents.
From there, the European squad continued to build on their strengths, although they did not make any changes to their line-up (which was quite logical given the results).
In the end, Acend also won VALORANT Challengers 2023 East: Surge Split 2, showing once again their strength against their rivals in the not-so-weak regional division.
Acend's latest results:
- A 13-8 win over B8 Esports.
- A 1-13 loss to Cyber Wolves Esports.
- A 2-1 win over Enterprise Esports.
- Beat Diamant Esports 2-1.
- A 3-0 win over Enterprise Esports.
Acend's best scores:
- Bind - 100% wins.
- Haven - 100% wins.
- Ascent - 80% wins.
- Lotus - 80% wins.
- Split - 78% wins.
- Fracture - 75% wins.
- Pearl - 75% wins.
It's worth noting that the European squad is most often denied Fracture and Bind cards.
Digital Athletics form
The 21st-ranked team in Europe qualified for the VALORANT Challengers Turkey: Birlik - Split 1, but even in qualifying, the boys came in second.
As a result, the Turkish team failed in the same VALORANT Challengers Turkey: Birlik - Split 1, where they took only the seventh place with a mediocre performance.
Digital Athletics managed to surprise at the end of the main part of the season, however, as the team became champions of the second split of VALORANT Challengers Turkey: Birlik, something few expected.
Digital Athletics' latest results:
- A 1-2 loss to SuperMassive Esports.
- A 2-0 win over Fire Flux Esports.
- 2-0 win over Galakticos.
- 3-1 win over Galatasaray Esports.
- Beat S2G Esports 3-0.
Digital Athletics top scorers:
- Lotus - 83% wins.
- Split - 80% wins.
- Pearl - 67% wins.
- Fracture - 60% wins.
- Haven - 58% wins.
In turn, the Turkish team does not risk showing up on the Bind map.
Acend - Digital Athletics encounter statistics
The teams have not met before.
Prediction for the match Acend - Digital Athletics
Nothing to say about Digital Athletics, as the team got here by some miracle, being far from the strongest in their region. As for Acend, the team is considered one of the favourites to move up.
In general, the European team showed with their play last season that they're pretty good at TIER-2. Moreover, against Digital Athletics, the team looks ahead and much more stable.
Therefore, in this case, I would recommend betting on Acend's victory.
