Teams qualified for the 2022 NA VCT Stage 1 Challengers main event

The 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour season for North America has kicked off with open qualifiers for Stage 1 Challengers. Two open qualifiers determined the eight teams that are joining four invited teams in a nearly two-months-long main event that begins Feb. 11. Four qualified via the first open qualifier that took place Jan. 27-30 and another four qualified out of the second open qualifier that happened Feb. 3-6. The 12 teams will compete against each other over the course of seven weeks to determine North America’s two representatives at Stage 1 Masters, an international LAN. To get you up to speed on who’s competing in the main event, here’s a primer on all 12 teams.

Cloud9 Blue

Invited team

Cloud9 Blue is one of the four invited teams for Stage 1 Challengers. They finished 2021 as the top team in North America and were the only NA team to reach the playoffs at Champions. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t make any moves in the offseason. They recently played in the Knights’ VALORAMPAGE tournament, C9’s first competition since Champions. The team finished first, beating NRG, Ghost Gaming, Akrew and Version1 in the playoffs of the event.

OpTic Gaming

Invited team

The team formerly known as Envy are another one of the invited teams, and they also have not made any moves in the offseason. They haven’t played in any tournaments since Champions. When they next enter the server for the main event, they’ll be running the same lineup we saw them with last year, led by IGL Pujan “FNS” Mehta and star duelist Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker.

Sentinels

Invited team

Like C9 Blue and Envy, Sentinels have not made any offseason moves. They also have not participated in any tournaments since Champions. When we see them next they’ll still feature the same core four lineup that has been together since the summer of 2020 and led by IGL Shahzeb “ShahZam” Khan, plus Tyson “TenZ” Ngo who has been with the team first on loan and then permanently since June 2021. Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty joined as coach just ahead of Champions last year and he is still with them.

100 Thieves

Invited team

100 Thieves are the only one of the four invited teams to have made any roster moves. They didn’t qualify for Champions so they have had a much longer offseason. Their last match was in October during the NA Last Chance Qualifier. Spencer “Hiko” Martin, Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold are now joined by Hunter “BabyJ” Schline and Adam “ec1s” Eccles, who is the team’s new IGL.

Version1

First open qualifier team

Version1 is back. After losing IGL Anthony “vanity” Malaspina and failing to make it far in the NA LCQ last year, this team was no longer considered one of the best teams in NA. They did some tinkering with their roster in the offseason before bringing in former SoaR player Alexander "Zander" Dituri to round out the roster. After winning six matches without dropping a map in the first open qualifier, V1 have proved that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the Stage 1 main event.

XSET

First open qualifier team

XSET were probably the best NA team in 2021 that didn’t qualify for any international events. They made one move in the offseason, adding former SoaR player Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban in place of Bryce "PureR" Lovell. They also played in one tournament in the offseason. They won one of the qualifiers for Nerd Street’s VALORANT Winter Championship. They only dropped one map in the VCT open qualifier en route to qualifying for the main event.

The Guard

First open qualifier team

The Guard are a relatively new organization that began play last fall. They’re owned by Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which is the same org that owns the Overwatch League’s Los Angeles Gladiators and Call of Duty League’s Los Angeles Guerrillas (as well as the Super Bowl-bound Los Angeles Rams). Fittingly, their roster features a former Overwatch player, Ha “Sayaplayer” Jeong-woo. They beat a revamped FaZe Clan in the open qualifier and only lost to XSET. Like XSET, they also won one of the Nerd Street VALORANT Winter Championship qualifiers during the offseason.

NRG

First open qualifier team

NRG were the fourth and final team to make it to the main event via the first open qualifier. Like The Guard, their only loss was to XSET. In the qualifying match, they beat Rise in dominant fashion, by scores of 13-3 in both maps. In the offseason they added former TSM player James "hazed" Cobb. NRG were fairly active in the offseason. They reached two finals, but lost to Cloud9 Blue in the Knights’ VALORAMPAGE tournament and to XSET in one of the qualifiers for Nerd Street’s Winter Championship.

Evil Geniuses

Second open qualifier team

Evil Geniuses broke through for their biggest win yet when they beat Rise to reach the main event. The team completely rebuilt their roster since last summer, adding Kelden "Boostio" Pupello in the fall and Jeffrey "Reformed" Lu, Alexander "jawgemo" Mor and Diondre "YaBoiDre" Bond in January. YaBoiDre was a star on Luminosity Gaming for most of 2021 and was briefly with 100 Thieves in 2020. He was among the top 10 players in ACS during the first open qualifier and led the team in kills and ACS in the deciding Map 3 against Rise while playing Sova and Chamber.

Knights

Second open qualifier team

In a battle between two Pennsylvania teams, the Knights beat the Soniqs to advance to the Challengers main event. They came close to qualifying in the first open qualifier, beating TSM and Soniqs and only losing to The Guard and NRG. In the second open qualifier, not only did they beat the Soniqs again, they also beat Built by Gamers. Their big offseason addition was former Immortals player Amgalan "Genghsta" Nemekhbayar.

Luminosity Gaming

Second open qualifier team

Luminosity had an impressive lower bracket run, beating Bait Academy, Pioneers and Soniqs to qualify. Despite letting go of YaBoiDre, who led Evil Geniuses to the main event earlier in the qualifier, LG’s offseason moves ultimately paid off. LG added former Andbox player Adam "mada" Pampuch and former TSM Academy player Brandon Michael "bdog" Sanders to an already strong roster that was competitive last year throughout the VCT season.

Rise

Second open qualifier team

Fourth time was the charm for Rise. They lost in an upper bracket qualifying match in both the first and second open qualifiers. In the first open qualifier, they also lost their lower bracket qualifying match, but they finally broke through in the second open qualifier with a victory over Built by Gamers. Rise hasn’t made any roster changes since last summer. Late last year they came within one win of winning the NA LCQ to go to Champions.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games