The North America VALORANT scene has found its champion. After the ten-day-long VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 North America Stage 1 Challengers Playoffs, The Guard grabbed the trophy in a fashionable way. Let’s get into the details.
Cloud9
Being one of the serious contenders for the prize, Cloud9 wasn’t able to achieve what it desired. Everyone expected the team to qualify for Masters Reykjavik, especially after finishing its group in the first place. However, things didn’t work out well in the playoffs. First, Cloud9 started the playoffs by taking over Knights as predicted. But the roster got its first loss right after against OpTic Gaming and made esports betting followers upset. Despite quickly recovering in the lower bracket, Cloud9 couldn’t defeat its strong opponent The Guard in the lower final and bid farewell to the tournament.
XSET
Once more, XSET wasn’t able to see the finish line. The organization had the same storyline as past year, not being able to attend an international tournament. Even though it put in convincing performances throughout the regular season, XSET dropped to the lower bracket in the first round after getting an L against OpTiC. Then, the squad managed to surpass Knights and Luminosity, but got upset versus Cloud9 and was eliminated.
Version1
The playoffs of VCT 2022 NA Stage 1 Challengers were a disappointment for Version1. Despite displaying the enormous form in the whole group stage, Version1 met its first loss earlier than expected against Luminosity in the first round and made the journey difficult for it. After that, the squad had no other option but to win. However, Cloud9 crushed Version1’s dreams and sent it home.
Knights
Knights was one of the weakest teams in the knockout stage. To be honest, nobody had high standards for the team or expected them to be an underdog. At the end of round 1, everyone realized how right they were as Knights wasn’t able to show any presence against Cloud 9 and XSET and got knocked out.
Sentinels
North America’s best team in 2020 and 2021 experienced a disastrous season in 2022. Regardless of qualifying for the playoffs, Sentinels wasn’t as powerful as it used to be throughout the league. And this caused a short run in the playoffs. Sentinels didn’t meet a victory versus The Guard and Version1, and was out of the tournament surprisingly.
OpTic Gaming
OpTic Gaming was among the teams that managed to carry their performance last year into this year. Even though it struggled a little bit in the early days of NA Stage Challengers, the team accelerated while coming to the end. Starting the playoffs with a W against XSET, the team got consecutive triumphs vs Cloud9 and The Guard which put it into the grand final. But, OpTic wasn’t able to take the trophy as it lost to The Guard.
The Guard
The most famous name of 2022 put a wonderful end to its show. It was one of the favorites coming into this event, its taking loss against OpTic Gaming in the upper bracket final made everyone doubt. However, The Guard didn’t hesitate in the lower bracket, defeated Cloud9 first and then OpTic Gaming in the grand final with 3-2, making VALORANT betting fans happy.
Luminosity
Luminosity didn’t have big hopes for this tournament as it had hard times against stronger teams. The team couldn’t solve this issue before the playoffs. Although it got a triumph against Version1, the roster got upset in round 2 versus The Guard and XSET and put an end to its Stage 1 season.
The Guard and OpTic Gaming qualified for VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 Masters Reykjavik.
