VALORANT Challengers Americas Ascension: M80, The Union and more aim for VCT

June 27, 2023

by Brian Bencomo

After months of VALORANT Challengers League competition in North America, Brazil and Latin America, we’re down to six teams competing in the Americas Ascension tournament to determine who will join the VALORANT Champions Tour Americas league next year. Two teams from North America, two from Brazil and one each from Latin America North and South have qualified for the Ascension tournament that will take place in Sao Paolo, Brazil, starting Friday, June 30. The tournament continues through July 9.

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Only one team will join LOUD, Evil Geniuses, NRG, Sentinels and the rest of the VCT Americas teams in 2024 and 2025. To get you ready for the most important competition of the year for the Americas VALORANT Challengers scene, here’s a primer on the schedule and format and a little bit about each of the six teams.

Schedule and format

The group stage of Americas Ascension begins June 30 and continues through July 2. The six teams have been divided into two groups of three.

Group A

M80
The Union
Fusion

Group B

The Guard
00Nation
9z Team

The teams in each group will play each other team once. M80 and The Union kick off the competition Friday at 1 p.m. PT in a matchup between arguably the two strongest teams in the tournament. The key matchup in Group B should be between The Guard and 9z on July 2 at 4 p.m. PT.

The standings of each group will determine the seeding for the playoffs stage, a double elimination bracket that runs from July 3 to 9. The top teams in each group will begin in the upper semifinals, while the second- and third-seeded teams will begin in the upper quarterfinals. The grand final will be July 9.

Teams

M80

North America

Photo credit: David Patlut / Nerd Street

M80 is the favorite from North America and probably the favorite overall to win Ascension and qualify to compete in VCT Americas each of the next two years. The team only lost twice across two splits and two tournaments this spring in North America. The core three of Marc-Andre "NiSMO" Tayar, Mouhamed "johnqt" Ouarid and GianFranco "koalanoob" Potestio were part of a really good Ghost Gaming squad that improved across 2022 and won the Nerd Street Summer Championship. They were among the best North American teams that didn’t get picked by Riot as a partner team for the Americas league. M80 recently added Don “Syyko” Muir as VP of esports. Given his track record of steering XSET, a small NA org, to the top of North American VALORANT last year, he might be the finishing piece in M80's quest to join VCT.

The Guard

North America

Photo credit: Riot Games

The Guard were one of the top North American teams in 2022, as they qualified for Masters Reykjavík as NA champions last spring. They were one of two teams who beat M80 this year. The Guard had a strong first split in the NA Challengers League but had their run in the Mid-Season Invitational cut short of the final. They came back stronger in the second split and made a run to the split 2 final where they lost to M80. Although they weren’t quite as good as M80 this year, the potential of this team is very high. Four of the five players on last year’s team are still on this roster -- Jacob "valyn" Batio, Michael "neT" Bernet, Trent "trent" Cairns and Jonah "JonahP" Pulice. Unlike any of the other teams in this Ascension tournament, this team does have international stage experience, which could be a slight edge for them when they take the stage in Sao Paolo.

The Union

Brazil

Photo credit: Riot Games

The Union were as dominant in Brazil as M80 were in North America. They are the team outside of North America that has the best chance to join the VCT Americas league next year. They only lost twice across two Brazilian Challengers splits and won both playoff tournaments following each split. Ilan “havoc” Eloy was the top player in both rating, ACS and K/D during the first split of Brazil’s Challengers League. However, he did not re-sign with The Union in the middle of split 2, according to journalist Bruno Povoleri. The report indicates he might be entertaining an offer from LOUD for next season. Even without him, The Union still won split 2, which speaks to how good they are as a team. Havoc’s replacement as primary duelist was Askia, who was tied for second in K/D during the second Challengers split.

00Nation

Brazil

Photo credit: Riot Games

It’s somewhat surprising that 00Nation were the second Brazilian team to qualify for Ascension, especially after a poor first split. 00Nation went 2-4 and missed the playoffs of the first split and had only a 9-10 record overall this year. However, with a stronger second split, they made it all the way to the split 2 final where they lost to The Union. The key for 00Nation was finally beating Keyd Stars in the split 2 playoffs after losing to them twice before. At least a couple of players on this team will be familiar to VALORANT fans who have been watching VCT the past few years. Gabriel “shion” Vilela was on the Havan Liberty team that qualified for Masters Reykjavík in 2021. Alexandre “xand” Zizi has spent time with FURIA, Ninjas in Pyjamas and most recently with KRÜ earlier this year.

FUSION

Latin America North

Photo credit: FUSION

FUSION had a great season in the LATAM North Challengers League. The majority Colombian roster only lost twice across two splits and two playoffs -- both times to Six Karma, who was their biggest rival this year. FUSION lost to Six Karma in the split 1 final, but they beat them in the split 2 final to ultimately qualify for Americas Ascension. They lost a seeding match against 9z Team from Latin America South and will enter Ascension as LATAM’s second seed. Luis “Mited” Gutierrez and Sebastián “Darker” Castro Cicuamia were top two in both rating and K/D during the second split of the year.

9z Team

Latin America South

Photo credit: 9z Team

Like all the other top teams in their respective Challengers regions, 9z lost only twice this season over the course of two splits and two playoff tournaments. They beat FUSION from Latin America North to claim the LATAM top seed in Ascension. It’s not too surprising that the Argentine team came out on top considering all the best LATAM VCT teams the past two years have been majority Argentine or Chilean rosters like KRÜ and Leviatán. David “david” Olivares was the standout player on 9z this season. He was top three in rating and K/D during split 1 and split 2, and he wasn’t even the team’s primary duelist. He played mostly controller agents, including Astra, Omen, Brimstone and Harbor.

Lead photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games