The sun is shining on North American VALORANT. Eight teams have emerged in an intense open qualifier to reach the main event of NA VCT Stage Three: Challengers One. These teams will compete in a four-day double-elimination bracket, with the top four earning a spot in the NA Challengers playoffs in August. Challengers One will also feature a prize pool of $50,000.
In the open qualifier, there were several upsets in the final rounds of the bracket. Strong teams like TSM, FaZe Clan, Cloud9 Blue, NRG, and Immortals were all eliminated early on. This has led to the emergence of two unfamiliar teams, Rise and Kansas City Pioneers. Rise, made up of former Dignitas players, delivered a stunning 2-0 victory over C9 Blue in the final qualifier round. Kansas City and VIRTUOSO also had an impressive run, defeating Immortals and NRG, respectively, with the Pioneers qualifying just a week after forming.
Apart from the upset teams and the newcomers, the remaining field is familiar to NA VALORANT viewers. Both Masters representatives Sentinels and V1 secured their spots through byes, although Sentinels had to fight back after losing their first map to Soniqs. XSET won a hard-fought three-map series against DarkZero, who had just eliminated FaZe from the qualifier. Envy had to make a comeback after losing the first map to T1. 100 Thieves faced a tough challenge against an upset Noble team.
The qualifier showcased the increasing depth of the North American region and the added competition for the top teams. The teams that survived the qualifier will now move on to the main event.
Participating Teams:
– Sentinels
– XSET Gaming
– Team Envy
– 100 Thieves
– Version1
– Gen.G Esports
– Rise
– Kansas City Pioneers
Bracket and Schedule:
[Bracket Image]
July 8:
– Upper bracket quarterfinals: 100 Thieves 2-0 Version1, Team Envy 2-0 Kansas City Pioneers
– Upper bracket quarterfinals: XSET 2-1 Rise, Sentinels 2-1 Gen.G
– Lower bracket round one: Kansas City Pioneers 2-1 Version1, Rise 1-2 Gen.G
July 9:
– Upper bracket semifinals: 100 Thieves 2-0 Envy, XSET 2-1 Sentinels
– Lower bracket round two: Envy 2-0 Gen.G, Sentinels 2-0 Kansas City Pioneers
July 10:
– Upper bracket final: XSET 2-1 100 Thieves
– Lower bracket round three: Sentinels 2-0 Envy
– Lower bracket final: Sentinels 2-0 100 Thieves
July 11:
– Grand finals: Sentinels 3-1 XSET
[Embed youtube video of the grand finals]
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