VCT Stage 1 Challengers NA main event schedule and matches to watch

Riot Games has revealed the five-week schedule for the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 1 Challengers main event for North America. With 12 teams competing and two matches every day from Friday to Sunday, there are 30 matchups to look forward to. Matches begin at 4 p.m. ET every day of competition. After five weeks there will be a couple weeks of playoffs to determine NA’s two representatives at Stage 1 Masters in April. Below is the NA VCT schedule followed by a breakdown of 10 must-watch matches.

Schedule

Feb. 11-13

Friday

• Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves
• Version1 vs. Knights

Saturday

• Sentinels vs. NRG
• The Guard vs. Luminosity

Sunday

• OpTic vs. Rise
• XSET vs. Evil Geniuses

Feb. 18-20

Friday

• Knights vs. Sentinels
• Evil Geniuses vs. Luminosity

Saturday

• XSET vs. Cloud9
• Rise vs. Version1

Sunday

• NRG vs. OpTic
• 100 Thieves vs. The Guard

Feb. 25-27

Friday

• Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses
• Knights vs. Rise

Saturday

• Sentinels vs. OpTic
• The Guard vs. XSET

Sunday

• Luminosity vs. 100 Thieves
• Version1 vs. NRG

March 4-6

Friday

• Rise vs. Sentinels
• Evil Geniuses vs. The Guard

Saturday

• Luminosity vs. Cloud9
• NRG vs. Knights

Sunday

• 100 Thieves vs. XSET
• OpTic vs. Version1

March 11-13

Friday

• Cloud9 vs. The Guard
• NRG vs. Rise

Saturday

• Sentinels vs. Version1
• 100 Thieves vs. Evil Geniuses

Sunday

• OpTic vs. Knights
• XSET vs. Luminosity

10 matches to watch

Cloud9 vs. 100 Thieves (Feb. 11)

The schedule-makers gave us all a gift in having Cloud9 face off against 100 Thieves to kick off the main event. C9 eliminated 100T during the North American Last Chance Qualifier last year, which prevented 100T from going to Champions despite a strong performance at Masters: Berlin. These are two of the best orgs in NA and two of the most popular, so this one will be fun to watch.

OpTic vs. Rise (Feb. 13)

OpTic (formerly known as Envy) and Rise have never faced each other. On one side you have one of the best NA VALORANT teams in 2021, and on the other you have an emerging organization that was on the cusp of reaching Champions last year with hopes of breaking through in 2022.

Evil Geniuses vs. Luminosity Gaming (Feb. 18)

This is the Diondre "YaBoiDre" Bond revenge match. YaBoiDre achieved reasonable success in 2021 with LG as the team was a consistent contender throughout the Challengers circuit. Now, he has helped lead EviL Geniuses to their most significant competition yet. With C9, 100T and XSET in their group, whoever wins this matchup will have a better chance of making it out of group play and into the playoffs.

XSET vs. Cloud9 (Feb. 19)

XSET are another team Cloud9 eliminated at the NA LCQ last year. XSET were consistently one of the best NA teams last year but just came short when it came to qualifying for international events. Beating C9 would go a long way in proving that they’re even better this year and ready to represent NA on the international stage.

Sentinels vs. OpTic (Feb. 26)

Do you know which team is the only one to have beaten Sentinels more than once over the past year? If you guessed Envy, you’re right. And if you guessed OpTic, well, you're right too, since that's how they'll be known going forward. While no other team has managed to beat them more than once, OpTic defeated Sentinels three times, including on LAN in the quarterfinals of Masters: Berlin. It’s not like they have dominated Sentinels, because Sentinels have also beaten OpTic three times since January 2021. Both rosters are largely unchanged over the past year, so most of the players have been around for all six matchups. This is the best and most competitive rivalry among Tier 1 teams in NA VALORANT.

The Guard vs. XSET (Feb. 26)

This is an emerging rivalry between two teams that look to be the best outside the four main event invitees. XSET beat The Guard to qualify for the main event in the first Challengers open qualifier, but The Guard got their revenge with a 2-0 victory over XSET in the Nerd Street Winter Championship Finals on Tuesday. The first map was a thrilling 19-17 overtime win, while the second was a 13-4 stomp. Their next meeting (which might actually be in the Winter Champs grand final tonight!) is bound to be exciting.

Version1 vs. NRG (Feb. 27)

Besides XSET and The Guard, these were the other two teams that reached the main event via the first open qualifier, though did not face each other in that tournament. Both teams beat Rise decisively to qualify, so it’ll be interesting to see which team has the edge here. The last time these two teams faced each other was in April when Version1 beat NRG en route to a second-place finish and a ticket to Masters: Reykjavík.

NRG vs. Knights (March 5)

This is shaping up to be a top tier rivalry among two of the best up-and-coming NA VALORANT teams. They have faced each other twice in the past couple weeks. NRG beat the Knights in the first open qualifier and again at the Nerd Street Winter Championship Finals earlier this week. However, both of those were single maps, so this will be the first time the two teams face each other in a best-of-three.

100 Thieves vs. XSET (March 6)

XSET have had a hard time beating 100 Thieves. Over the past 10 months, XSET lost three times to 100T and only beat them once. One or two more map wins against 100T and XSET might have represented NA at an international event or two last year. When these two teams meet again they’ll be facing off with slightly different rosters, so keep your eyes on how they matchup now.

Sentinels vs. Version1 (March 12)

This matchup hearkens back to last year when both of these teams represented North America at Masters: Reykjavík. They actually didn’t face each other in Iceland, and the last time they met was in the grand final of Stage 2 Challengers Finals, which was a 3-0 victory for Sentinels. Other than Alexander "Zander" Dituri now playing for Version1 instead of Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, both teams’ rosters are unchanged since then.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games