Teams qualified for the 2022 NA VCT Stage 2 Challengers main event

May 2, 2022

by Brian Bencomo

Updated May 8

The VALORANT Champions Tour continues in North America this month with qualifiers for the Stage 2 Challengers main event ongoing. The top four teams from Stage 1 have automatically qualified for the main event, and another eight spots are up for grabs to round out the 12-team group stage. Four of those eight qualified during the first open qualifier, and the final four teams will be determined in the second open qualifier.

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The main event group stage begins May 13 and will be followed by a playoff stage to determine the two NA teams that will be going to the next Masters tournament. To get you caught up, here’s a primer on all the teams that will be competing in the NA Stage 2 Challengers main event.

OpTic Gaming

Invited team

After being crowned the best team in the world at Masters: Reykjavík, OpTic Gaming will have a few weeks off before competing against NA’s best again. OpTic didn’t look too impressive during the Stage 1 main event, but that’s because they were experimenting with new comps and strats, including utilizing Neon. We’ll see what in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta & Co. have up their sleeves for Stage 2. OpTic have managed to remain among the best teams in NA since the middle of last year, so they will likely maintain a high level of play for the next stage of the VCT season.

The Guard

Invited team

Photo credit: Riot Games

The most surprising team from Stage 1 will begin Stage 2 as one of the favorites. The Guard went all the way from being an open qualifier to beat OpTic Gaming to win first-place in the Stage 1 playoffs. They followed that up with a disappointing 0-2 performance at Masters. LAN jitters were a factor in Iceland, but now that they’re back in NA and online for Stage 2, The Guard should once again be a strong contender for qualifying for the next Masters.

XSET

Invited team

Like The Guard, XSET went from being an open qualifier in Stage 1 to finishing top four in the playoffs. That top four finish means they didn’t have to go through open qualifiers this time around and are automatically qualified for the Stage 2 main event. During the break between the end of the Stage 1 playoffs and the start of the Stage 2 main event, XSET won the Nerd Street Summer Champs Philadelphia LAN. Not only did the team pick up some valuable LAN experience but they also won $5,500.

Cloud9

Invited team

Photo credit: Riot Games

Cloud9 have not competed since their 3-0 loss to The Guard in the Stage 1 playoffs. They were one of the best teams during the Stage 1 main event and a favorite to qualify for Masters: Reykjavík, but fell just short. Their only two losses were to the two teams that ultimately went to Iceland. They’re still a very strong team and likely to be extra motivated to do well in Stage 2 and qualify for the next Masters

NRG

First open qualifier team

After going 1-4 during the Stage 1 main event, NRG are back for Stage 2 after a flawless 4-0 record during the open qualifier in which they didn’t drop any maps. It’s not like they just beat lower ranked teams, NRG beat both Knights and Version1, two teams that were also in the Stage 1 main event. Their notable move between Stage 1 and Stage 2 was benching Bradley "ANDROID" Fodor and adding former 100 Thieves player Ethan "Ethan" Arnold. NRG are one of the few teams that used Neon during the open qualifiers, so perhaps they are trying to emulate OpTic Gaming who used the agent very successfully in their run to Masters.

FaZe Clan

First open qualifier team

Photo credit: Activision Blizzard

With a fun roster composed of primarily former Overwatch players led by Andrej “babybay” Francisty, FaZe Clan reached their apex as a roster early last year when they faced Sentinels in the NA Stage 1 Masters grand final. With disappointing performances ever since then, the roster eventually was dismantled. Now, FaZe have broken through to the VCT NA Stage 1 main event with a roster still led by babybay but now infused with two former Rise players: Phat "supamen" Le and Kevin "poised" Ngo. They didn’t lose any matches in the open qualifier, beating Sentinels and TSM to cap off their run.

TSM

First open qualifier team

TSM are back! Maybe. Qualifying for the main event is certainly a huge step for the ever-popular but chronically underperforming org. From having the team move to Texas to focus on VALORANT to dropping fan-favorite Matthew "Wardell" Yu, TSM’s moves over the past couple months appear to be paying off. Their most notable wins in the open qualifier were over Luminosity Gaming and 100 Thieves, twice. Beating 100T might have been a little sweeter for Johann “seven” Hernandez who was formerly a sub with 100T and has stepped into the Chamber role formerly occupied by Wardell.

Luminosity Gaming

First open qualifier team

Luminosity are back in the main event. They haven’t made any changes between Stage 1 and Stage 2 so it’ll be the same lineup led by in-game leader Will "dazzLe" Loafman and Brandon “bdog” Sanders doing damage on the Jett and Chamber. Luminosity were knocked into the lower bracket by TSM during the open qualifier but then beat Sentinels and Version1 to reach the main event.

100 Thieves

Second open qualifier team

Photo credit: Riot Games

It was an ugly Stage 1 for 100 Thieves after they went 1-4 in the main event. Ahead of Stage 2 qualifiers, the team underwent a roster rebuild that saw team veterans Spencer "Hiko" Martin and Ethan "Ethan" Arnold leave and Derrek "Derrek" Ha, Brenden "stellar" McGrath, William "Will" Cheng and Sean "bang" Bezerra join. Plus, the org brought in two of the brightest minds in VALORANT, Sean “sgares” Gares and Daniel “ddk” Kapadia, to coach and manage the team, respectively. Now, the team seems to be clicking on all cylinders after an undefeated run during the Stage 2 second open qualifier. They had a good first open qualifier run too, only losing to TSM twice. Not to be forgotten, Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk -- the last remaining player from the roster that won First Strike in 2020 -- had himself an incredible match in the team’s qualifier against Akrew. Asuna put up a 356 ACS with 44/16 K/D and eight first kills with only one first death.

Evil Geniuses

Second open qualifier team

Evil Geniuses had an even worse Stage 1 than 100 Thieves, losing all five of their matches. Like 100T they made some changes ahead of Stage 2 but not quite as drastic. Former in-game leader Mike "pho" Panza was moved to inactive and Diondre "YaBoiDre" Bond was dropped. In their place, EG brought in former Akrew player Corbin "C0M" Lee and former Renegades player Vincent "Apotheon" Le. After losing to Version1 and 100T in the first open qualifier, they had a 4-0 run in the second open qualifier to reach the main event, with the final win coming over the Knights.

Ghost Gaming

Second open qualifier team

Arguably the most surprising team to make the Stage 2 main event is Ghost Gaming. This is the org’s best accomplishment in VALORANT; Ghost didn’t make it past any of the VCT open qualifiers last year. The move that appears to have gotten Ghost over the hump was the addition of former Luminosity Gaming player Alex "aproto" Protopapas. The team had a long journey through the second open qualifier, beginning in the Round of 128 and getting knocked into the lower bracket by Evil Geniuses in the Round of 16. From there they won five matches in a row, topping it off with a victory over the Knights to qualify for the main event. Overall they went 8-1 and played 404 rounds, the most of any team in the second open qualifier.

Sentinels

Second open qualifier team

Photo credit: Riot Games

Rumors of Sentinels’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. Sentinels might not be the dominant team they were a year ago, but they’re still among the top 12 teams in North America and have a chance to qualify for the next Masters. Despite being knocked into the lower bracket early on in the second open qualifier by Akrew, they won five straight matches to qualify for the Stage 2 main event. The fifth win was revenge against Akrew who not only saw another chance to qualify for the main event slip away but saw former teammate Eric "Kanpeki" Xu beat them in the process. Between Stages 1 and 2, Sentinels added Kanpeki in place of Jared "zombs" Gitlin in the org’s first roster move since adding Tyson “TenZ” Ngo over a year ago.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games