North American Teams Impress at VALORANT Champions 2022
The North American teams competing in VALORANT Champions 2022 have already surpassed the performance of last year’s championship. XSET and OpTic have secured their spots in the playoffs by claiming top seeds in the group stage. Additionally, 100T may join them in the playoffs with a repeat victory over Fnatic.
Wake-up Call for North America
As other regions began to emerge and improve during Champions 2021 and the 2022 VCT season, North America started to decline. However, according to Jordan “AYRIN” He from XSET, this decline has served as a wake-up call for the region and for the XSET team in particular.
Renewed Hunger and Talent
“I just think NA was on a tear [last year]. Sentinels won Masters Reykjavik, [Envy] did really well, they were the trailblazers,” AYRIN said after XSET’s victory over FPX. “After that performance, other regions started catching up, but now I think everyone on this team and everyone representing North America is more hungry than ever. We’ve had enough.
“With the new talent coming in this year and people working harder and harder, it just goes to show that this game is evolving at a rapid rate, [and] people are just more hungry than ever before. And so are we; we’re here to prove we’re one of the hungriest.”
XSET’s Rallying Effort and Promising Results
Heading into Champions 2022, expectations for North American teams were not as high. OpTic was the only team consistently considered a top contender throughout the year. However, even OpTic showed signs of slowing down at Masters Copenhagen. The other two teams that accompanied OpTic to Masters events, The Guard and XSET, did not perform well despite their direct byes to the playoffs.
XSET, although happy to secure a spot at Champions, had less than two months to prepare for the more challenging competition. With the help of Coach Don “SyykoNT” Muir, they addressed their stage comfortability and confidence issues from Masters and worked on developing new protocols and practices to improve their performance.
Through two series, the results of their practice are promising. The young player zekken, who appeared nervous on stage in Copenhagen, has become more comfortable in Champions and is currently one of the top entry players in the tournament. Cryocells and BcJ are providing steady production for XSET, and OpTic’s superstar yay has avoided a slow start like in Copenhagen. 100T also looks to be in excellent form, with duelist/Chamber superstar Will making a strong impression in his LAN debut.
Potential for All-NA Final
If 100T secures another victory against Fnatic, all three North American teams will qualify for the playoffs. However, 100T would face XSET in the first round. Nevertheless, having all three NA teams reach the playoffs would be an accomplishment for the region and increase the likelihood of an all-NA final.
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