It’s no exaggeration to say that the North American VALORANT Challengers League is stacked with talent. With the “top tier” shrinking down to just five NA rosters in the VCT league, the pool of available players for Challengers instantly became deeper.
In addition to a wealth of player talent, NA’s tier-two division features some of the biggest esports brands in the world, including G2 Esports, TSM, and FaZe Clan. While Riot’s goal is for VALORANT to continue growing, especially in North America, it’s hard to imagine a future Challengers league bigger than this one.
Fans who watched NA VCT last year will instantly recognize some of the bigger names: former Sentinels stars Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan and Michael “dapr” Gulino now with G2 and longtime FaZe focal point Andrej “babybay” Francisty, among others.
But among the certified star power sits a handful of players ready to take the next step upwards. Here are some potential breakout stars to watch for when NA VALORANT Challengers League play starts on Feb. 1.
Clear (Disguised)
Joseph “clear” Allen earned himself some praise after Disguised’s triumphant run through the Challengers qualifiers, but not solely for his play. On the server, he was one of the most impactful players of the tournament, putting together several different dominant games on Jett and Raze. During Disguised Toast’s co-stream, the streaming star and team owner also revealed that clear actually turned down a “tier-one” offer to stay with Disguised. So far, that dedication has paid off.
V1c (Shopify Rebellion)
The Shopify Rebellion team is already packed with proven talent, featuring the majority of the same core that started last year under Luminosity. But former T1 Academy and SoaR product Victor “v1c” Truong could be the one who elevates them to another level. Raw fragging skill, clutch playmaking ability, and extensive agent diversity, v1c has it all and will be an incredible asset to Shopify Rebellion’s push toward Ascension.
Penny (G2 Esports)
While the former Sentinels signings certainly turned the most heads toward G2, the team also brought in a mechanical superstar in Erik “penny” Penny. After two years of action with Version1, penny has proved he has the raw talent to be one of the most dangerous Jett players in all of North America, let alone just the Challengers League.
Trent (The Guard)
The 18-year-old Trent “trent” Cairns is a tremendous talent, one who raised The Guard from an underperforming tier-two squad to the top echelon of North America in just a few months. While he already qualified as a breakout star last year during VCT, he appears poised to take another step forward after a tremendous showing at the Ludwig x Tarik Invitational on LAN.
Brawk (BreakThru)
BreakThru has the distinction of being the first team to break through (this joke will not get old) the open qualifier, and the players capped off their run with a comeback win over The Nation despite losing their map pick of Fracture 13-1. Brock “brawk” Somerhalder, formerly of Ghost, was the consensus top player of the entire open qualifier, finishing top two in ACS, K/D, and damage per round amongst players from all top 32 teams, according to stats site VLR.gg.
As the final teams qualify for the NA VALORANT Challengers League, we’ll look at more players who could have a breakout year in 2023.
