VALORANT Nerd Street Champs finals: What you should know

August 18, 2022

by Brian Bencomo

The summer season of VALORANT Nerd Street Champs concludes this weekend with the finals taking place at Localhost Philadelphia from Friday through Sunday. The Nerd Street Champs Last Chance Qualifier will take place Thursday to determine the eight teams that will join the 16 already qualified for the finals. The 16 already qualified teams were the top teams on Nerd Street’s leaderboard after several months of online qualifiers and regional LAN tournaments. The 24 teams will compete for a share of the $50,000 prize pool. To get you ready, here’s a primer on the teams competing, the schedule and format, and a breakdown of the field.

Nerd Street Champs finals qualifiers

Oxygen Academy
Zero MarksMen Black
ex-SoaR Gaming
TSM Academy
Cosmic Divide
Teal Seam
Lenny Time
Knights Academy
Nearest Airport
City Boys
Qor Red
N8V Black
Soniqs
HighRollers
DNADIFF
Virtuoso

Last Chance Qualifier teams

Why Do We Suck
Realism Esports
Wolfwood
I.C.U.P.
Guppies
Bkny Mist
RocketJeff E-Sports
Team ZA
Levitate
Nightblood Gaming
Ghost Gaming
Roy’s Kitten Shelter

Schedule and format

Thursday -- LCQ

Friday -- Groups Day 1

Saturday -- Groups Day 2

Sunday -- Playoffs

Eight teams will qualify out of the LCQ and join the qualified teams seeded No. 9 through No. 16 in groups. There will be four groups of four, and the top two teams from each group will advance to Day 2 of group play. The eight teams that advance to Day 2 will join the qualified teams seeded No. 1 through No. 8. Once again, there will be four groups of four, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs will consist of an eight-team single elimination bracket.

Photo credit: Nerd Street

Breaking down the field

LCQ contenders

The two teams to keep an eye on in the LCQ are Ghost Gaming and Roy’s Kitten Shelter. Ghost are the highest ranked team via VLR competing this weekend, not just at the LCQ but including the 16 already qualified teams. At No. 8 in North America, the team that was among NA teams competing in the VCT Stage 2 group stage is a real threat to win Nerd Street Champs.

Don’t be fooled by the name of Roy’s Kitten Shelter. This isn’t just some PUG team that came together for Nerd Street Champs. Roy is Roy Ahad, who also goes by StrongLegs and who used to play for Renegades and made some noise with a team called Girl Kissers during VCT Stage 2 qualifiers. This team also has former DarkZero player Kyle “Screwface” Jensen. Roy’s Kitten Shelter should make it out of LCQ and could make it all the way to the playoffs.

Top contenders

The top four teams to keep an eye on among the 16 qualified teams are Oxygen Academy, Zero MarksMen Black, City Boys and Soniqs. Oxygen Academy were one of the most frequent participants in the Nerd Street Champs qualifiers. They competed in several online opens and two LAN events. Oxygen won two of the online qualifiers and finished 3rd-4th at the two LANs. Zero MarksMen Black won two LAN events -- in Fullerton, California, and Chicago. These were the two biggest and most competitive LANs during this season of Nerd Street Champs, so it bodes well for their performance on LAN in Philadelphia this weekend.

City Boys are the roster that used to play for Akrew. They were stronger during the Nerd Street Winter Championship series, but are still a threat to win it all as the 15th ranked team in NA, according to VLR. Soniqs have not competed in many Nerd Street online opens but they are the 18th-ranked team in NA according to VLR. They recently beat Oxygen Academy and have also taken down Cloud9, Gen.G, SoaR and Nearest Airport in recent months.

Dark horse contenders

The four teams that can challenge the top qualified teams are Nearest Airport, Lenny Time, TSM Academy and SoaR. Nearest Airport are ranked 21st in NA per VLR and won two Nerd Street online qualifiers. Lenny Time picked up one online qualifier win during this Nerd Street Champs series. They rank No. 20 in North America by VLR. Lenny Time’s best wins over the past few months have been against NYFU, Gen.G and Soniqs.

TSM Academy are another strong team that played in many of the Nerd Street Champs online events. They are ranked No. 19 in North America by VLR. SoaR no longer appear in VLR’s rankings because the roster has been released by the org, but the roster will be competing this weekend. This team won a couple of online qualifiers, and they beat The Guard last month. That’s the best win any team has that will be competing this weekend.

Lead photo credit: Nerd Street