Out of a total of 128 teams that competed in the VCT Stage 2 Open Qualifier 1, only four made it out alive and secured early spots in the upcoming VCT NA Challengers 2. The four qualified teams are NRG, FaZe, TSM, and Luminosity Gaming.
The four teams faced some tough opponents in the Top 16 bracket, but somehow managed to survive and successfully navigate the tournament until the very end. They can finally breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy their well-earned rest until the main event begins.
The Upper Bracket
NRG and FaZe Clan qualified through the Open Qualifier 1 Upper Bracket. There, they faced some of the toughest opponents and still managed to overpower them.
NRG first took down Zero MarksMen Black in round 1 and followed it up with another 2 – 0 sweep against Knights in the Upper Bracket round 2. Their round 3 match was against none other than Version1, one of the strongest squads in the region. Against all Valorant odds, NRG persevered and took yet another clean 2 – 0 win and ended their flawless run. They’re looking far better this time.
When it came to FaZe, they had a bumpier road but survived nonetheless. The first match was against VIRTUOSO and here’s where FaZe initially looked really shaky. They lost Bind, but then quickly turned the tables and secured two consecutive maps, ending the series with 2 – 1.
Just when it seemed they were out of the woods, the next challenger appeared, and it was Sentinels. Both teams secured one map each and proceeded to fight on Haven, a map that would decide the fate of the two teams. After a lot of back and forth action, FaZe managed to seal the deal and ended the match with 13 – 11.
The final test for FaZe was TSM, a team that climbed the bracket and took down both Luminosity and 100 Thieves. Their match against FaZe turned out much closer than initially expected. Both teams had some strong moments but it ultimately boiled down to the final map on Haven where FaZe claimed victory through overtime.
The Lower Bracket
Both TSM and Luminosity ended up in the Lower Bracket following their unfortunate losses.
TSM had an arguably easier time as they immediately jumped into the round 4 match after losing to FaZe. To their delight, they faced 100 Thieves who they successfully defeated a few matches earlier. And just like last time, TSM claimed yet another 2 – 1 win and crushed any hope 100 Thieves might have had up to that point.
Here are your Week 1 qualified teams for the Stage 2 #VCTChallengersNA Main Event. Tune in starting Thursday to see who qualifies in OQ Week 2! pic.twitter.com/3E1SlSaNBr
— VALORANT Champions Tour NA (@valesports_na) May 2, 2022
Luminosity had a much tougher job on their hands. Built By Gamers Academy fell first in the Lower Bracket round 2. It was a relatively easy match and a great warm-up for what was to come next. Sentinels successfully defeated NYFU and ended up fighting Luminosity. It was a heated battle in the first two maps, but then Sentinels simply fell apart on Split and gave Luminosity a free pass to the next challenger.
Version1 was the final obstacle in Luminosity’s way. Version1 suffered a terrible loss against NRG and they weren’t looking to make the same mistakes. Unfortunately for them, neither were Luminosity. Luminosity secured the first map and established some early pressure that would eventually snowball into a 2 – 1 victory on Breeze.
Difficult Valorant Region
The North American region has some of the best Valorant teams in the world, but the only problem seems to be the absolute lack of consistency when any of them are concerned. Yesterday’s winners are today’s losers or vice versa.
It’s a highly unpredictable region, especially for those willing to place some Valorant bets. Some of last year’s titans like Sentinels or 100 Thieves seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel in 2022. At the same time, some of the previous underdogs now seem to be dominating.
In any case, it’s still one of the most entertaining Valorant regions and the NA teams steal the majority of the fan hype and they get the most exposure. Nothing is over yet. VCT Stage 2 Challengers 2 will begin on May 13th, and there’s also a second Open Qualifier where another four spots will be decided, so we still might see some of these top names in the main event.
