The first North American Challengers event is still ongoing, but we now know the four teams heading to the Challengers Final for a spot at Masters Two. These teams will face off against four more teams to be determined for one of two NA spots at the first international VALORANT LAN in Reykjavík, Iceland.
NA fans will recognize a few of the teams that have qualified, but many might be meeting a new one for the first time.
100 Thieves
The champions of First Strike have cleaned off the rust, and are thriving after some more time practicing with their newest addition Ethan. After their run at Masters One fell apart after consecutive losses to Sentinels and Gen.G, 100T came back firing in the second stage. Throughout the qualifiers and main event of Challengers One, they’ve yet to drop even a single map—let alone a series.
Asuna is on an exceptional run right now, averaging a 1.47 KD and an ACS of 289.5 (sixth highest in the entire field of players from qualifiers and the main event). The team is thriving with nitr0 back on Omen while Ethan takes on Sage’s duties, and both steel and Hiko are still thriving at their respective positions.
Team Envy
Outside of dropping a map to both Version1 and Ghost Gaming, Team Envy haven’t lost a step and still look like one of the best teams in all of North America. They’re playing some of their best VALORANT when it matters. In both the series that went to three maps, they won decisively: 13-4 vs. V1 on Ascent and 13-1 vs. Ghost on Haven.
Victor may have dropped the name “food,” but he’s just as hungry for kills and wins. His stats have even outshined Asuna’s: a 1.61 KD and an ACS of 294.6 (fifth highest in the field). The most electric duelists in North America, and maybe even in the world, will meet in the Challengers One upper bracket finals in what will surely be an explosive battle.
XSET
XSET had the most to prove of the teams that competed in the first Masters event after being swiftly eliminated via two 2-0 losses to both FaZe and Gen.G. But so far, the team has proved that making Masters was no fluke, and now they have a chance to do it again.
Built By Gamers came into Challengers One with a lot of momentum and hype after their dominance over Sentinels, but they were quickly humbled by XSET. XSET found themselves in trouble however, after a 2-0 loss to Envy, then a thrashing on Bind via Immortals (13-1) to send that series to a third map. On the brink of elimination, XSET put on their own dominant display, taking Split 13-3 to secure their Challengers Final spot. They still struggle against the top-tier NA teams but now have a lot of time to practice.
Version1
Version1 is a relatively new face to VALORANT but is made up of players fans should already be familiar with. Both PLAYER1 and effys were part of the original Gen.G VALORANT roster, and the V1 core consists of some big names from NA Counter-Strike: vanity, Zellsis, and penny. This team turned heads with their 2-0 victory over FaZe to reach Challengers One.
At Challengers One, V1 have been competitive in each of their three series, with each going to a third map. A spectacular Phoenix game from Envy’s Victor sent them down to the lower bracket, where they rallied to win two three-map series against both BBG and Cloud9 Blue. Zellsis was unstoppable in the series against BBG, while the entire ex-NA CS trio turned up against C9 Blue. V1 capped off that win with a massive one-vs-three clutch from effys late in map three. After failing to make any Challengers events in stage one, Version1 have already made the stage two Challengers Final and are two wins away from Iceland.
The Challengers One final is still ongoing, with Envy facing 100T in the upper bracket, and Version1 taking on XSET in the lower bracket. Andbox, Built By Gamers, Cloud9 Blue, and Immortals will qualify for the Challengers Two main event automatically. The rest of the Challengers Two field will be determined by open qualifiers, which will feature the likes of Sentinels, FaZe Clan, Gen.G, TSM, Luminosity, T1, and others.
