Dark horse team SUMN FC pulled off a perfectly conceptualized Viper play in their first quarterfinal match against the Purples Cobras in First Strike EU.
SUMN FC have been turning heads in First Strike EU, becoming favorites of analysts in the tournament. A relatively new and unknown team, SUMN FC picked a no-duelist lineup with James “Mistic” Orfila on Viper. Analysts pointed out that Viper is an uncommon and unusual choice, even in professional settings.
Mistic’s Viper was highly praised for being creative, and for how the rest of the team built their movement around the agent to maximize utilities. In one play in round 11, Mistic used the Toxic Screen to cut the A site in half, isolating the attacking Cobras to eliminate them one by one.
Toxic Screen was also used to block movement into the teleports, confusing the Cobras yet again. To top it off, SUMN FC used well-choreographed movements and good skill utilization from all members to claim an easy round.
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According to Moe40 of SUMN FC, their team captain Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett came up with the idea for the Viper play. In a post-game interview, he told ONE Esports that they’ve been practicing with Viper even before they were an official team.
“It’s probably a relief to [Boaster] that Viper actually works on Bind, because he’s been planning it for so long,” said Moe. “So to finally see it in an official game, and to beat Cobras with ease with Viper is just a nice feeling.”
The Purple Cobras had nothing but praise for SUMN FC.
“They obviously did their homework, they did a lot of research and preparation for the games,” Purple Cobras coach Sam “Fields” Greenfield told ONE Esports. “Big respect to Boaster and their coach, Mini, as well for doing that. They’ve improved so much from the last vods I’ve watched to today, in just two weeks or so.”
SUMN FC closed the quarterfinal series with a 2-0 score, and has since beaten FunPlus Phoenix, 2-1, in the First Strike EU semifinals. The unlikely contenders are now set to face off against Team Heretics for the First Strike EU title.
The grand finals of First Strike EU goes live today at 11:30 p.m. (GMT+8) on Valorant Esports EU’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
READ MORE: How to watch Riot’s European Valorant First Strike tournaments
