VALORANT fans were left wondering why The Nation, Stewie2K’s star-studded new team, are playing as an orgless lineup in the VALORANT Challengers North America open qualifier that kicked off on Jan. 9.
The Nation features famous players such as Stewie2K, brax, and WARDELL, in addition to Daniel “Rossy” Abedrabbo and Tanner “TiGG” Spanu. They are also undefeated in the open qualifier and reached the upper quarterfinals following victories over ODU Monarchs, StarlessGG, OTF, DMG, and Dark Ratio.
Related: Who are The Nation, Stewie2K’s VALORANT team?
Stewie2K took some time during his latest stream to explain why he and the rest of The Nation players chose to stay independent for now rather than join an organization for the open qualifier and potentially the last chance qualifier.
“The majority of players are looking for contracts,” Stewie2K said. “Yeah, we have offers, we have all that stuff, but I don’t think it’s a good idea… I’m saying this because you don’t know if you’re going to qualify for Ascension, you don’t know how far you are going to make it. People are so caught up with the short-term stuff that they’re not thinking about the long run. I don’t think jumping to an org and trying to collect short-term money is a big thing.”
Stewie2K explained The Nation could be left in a bad spot if they signed a contract but don’t reach Challengers. This could lead the organization to keep them tied to a contract or drop them immediately.
The Nation will play The Silk Road today at 5pm CT in the upper quarterfinals of the VALORANT Challengers North America open qualifier. The open qualifier has four spots up for grabs, while the last chance qualifier (Jan. 17 to 22) will offer two spots for NA Challengers One.
