The Guard vs Oxygen Esports Preview and Predictions VCL NA Mid-Season Face Off
| Tags: Valorant
| Author Thealchemist
Get ready to witness one of the most exciting matchups of the Mid-season Face Off as The Guard vs Oxygen Esports sets up for a spot at the upper finals
The Guard vs Oxygen Esports ticks all the boxes to be considered a potential barn burner. Both teams are on a hot streak of wins and showing flawless gameplay. Unlike The Guard, Oxygen was nowhere near on the favorites list before the start of the tournament. But after their recent performance, it would be foolish to suggest that The Guard will just stomp past them.
Contents
The Guard
Keeping up with the performance from the group stage, The Guard played some fantastic Valorant and made short work of FaZe Clan, beating them 2-0 in the first match of the playoffs bracket. All the members of the roster look to be in form, especially trent and the IGL, valyn. Trent’s switching to a more flexible role is doing wonders for the team. The 18-year-old prodigy is putting on incredible performances in every agent he plays. Oxygen must find a way to minimize trent’s impact in-game to succeed in the match.
Players
Jacob “valyn” Batio
- Role: IGL, Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.17
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 214.7
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.16
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 77%
- Average Damage per Round: 135.3
Jonah “JonahP” Pulice
- Role: Initiator
- VLR Rating: 1.1
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 204.8
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.08
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 78%
- Average Damage per Round: 131
Trent “trent” Cairns
- Role: Flex
- VLR Rating: 1.22
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 234.5
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.29
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 79%
- Average Damage per Round: 158.3
Michael “neT” Bernet
- Role: Sentinel
- VLR Rating: 1.09
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 207.1
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.22
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 78%
- Average Damage per Round: 139.8
Ian “tex” Botsch
- Role: Duelist
- VLR Rating: 1.12
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 217.8
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.27
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75%
- Average Damage per Round: 144.5
Player to Watch
Do not let trent’s clutches or tex’s flashy plays distract you from the ridiculous stats that valyn is putting on despite being the team's in-game leader. Valyn is arguably the best-fragging IGL in the NA region, and he is our player to watch on The Guard for this matchup.
Oxygen Esports
Starting as a tournament underdog, Oxygen Esports have already exceeded everyone’s expectations in this event. Following repeated impressive performances in the open qualifier and the split 1 group stage to qualify for the Mid-season Face Off, Oxygen has caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, beating G2 Esports 2-1 in the upper quarterfinals of the playoffs bracket. While he might not be the fragger valyn is, mitch’s IGLing was top-notch throughout the tournament. How he managed to keep the team's composure during the games was remarkable.
Players
Mitch “mitch” Semago
- Role: IGL
- VLR Rating: 0.94
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 170.8
- Kill-Death Ratio: 0.77
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 77%
- Average Damage per Round: 114.9
Logan “skuba” Jenkins
- Role: Controller
- VLR Rating: 1.13
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 205.9
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.21
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 78%
- Average Damage per Round: 132.4
Joshua “pwny” VanGorder
- Role: Duelist
- VLR Rating: 1.06
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 244.8
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.08
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 73%
- Average Damage per Round: 153.2
Devon “randyySAVAGE” Bréard
- Role: Sentinel
- VLR Rating: 0.79
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 166.2
- Kill-Death Ratio: 0.74
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 65%
- Average Damage per Round: 112
Andrew “Verno” Maust
- Role: Initiator
- VLR Rating: 1.14
- Average Combat Score (ACS): 221.7
- Kill-Death Ratio: 1.21
- Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75%
- Average Damage per Round: 152.3
Player to Watch
Although pwny has been fragging quite well throughout the tournament, his overall impact as the primary duelist of the team could be better. But even so, we believe he will be the difference maker in this series.
The Guard vs Oxygen Esports Predictions
Both teams are on a 3-match winning streak. But if we were to dig deep and check the quality of the gameplay, The Guard are ahead in most aspects. Hence, we are going with The Guard to win the series 2-1.
Maps
Ascent and Lotus will surely be there, considering both teams are quite comfortable on those maps. As for the third, it will likely be Split.
Score
Map 1: The Guard to win with Oxygen >10
Map 2: Oxygen Esports to win with The Guard < 8
Map 3: The Guard to win the Oxygen < 8
Series MVP
Watching trent’s performance in the recent matches, we find it hard to bet against him.
The Guard vs Oxygen Esports Match Link
Keep an eye on the official YouTube and Twitch channels of VCT to catch everything from the match. The Guard vs Oxygen Esports is scheduled to start at 19:00 ET/ 00:00 CET/ 16:00 PT.
Make sure to check out our site for more previews, recaps, and guides related to Valorant.