2023 Valorant Challengers North American Teams

Here’s a list of the Valorant teams that qualified through open qualifiers:

BreakThru
● Brady “thief” Dever
● Brock “brawk” Somerhalder
● Alex “aproto” Protopapas
● Xavier “flyuh” Carlson
● Tyler “sym” Porter

Disguised
● Damion “XXiF” Cook
● Amgalan “Genghsta” Nemekhbayar
● Drake “Exalt” Branly
● Joshua “steel” Nissan
● Joseph “clear” Allen

Ovygen Esports
● Josh “pwny” VanGorder
● Andrew “Verno” Maust
● Logan “skuba” Jenkins
● Devon “randyySAVAGE” Bréard
● Mitch “mitch” Semago
● Yassin “Reduxx” Aboulalazm (substitute)

Dark Ratio
● William “Will” Cheng
● Adam “Ange” Milian
● Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro
● Justin “Trick” Sears
● Taylor “drone” Johnson

Squirtle Squad
● Jack “Add3r” Hayashi
● Peter “Governor” No
● Mohammed “Harmful” Choudhary
● Anthony “Okeanos” Nguyen
● Matthew “Wedid” Suchan

OResports
● Jonard “Jonaaa6” Penaflor
● Dayton “Lebar”Akau
● Vincent “PureVNS” Nguyen
● Chase “nillyaz” Linder
● Elijah “Zeldris” Hawkins

Here’s a list of the team that was invited for the Valorant Challengers North America:

M80
● Alexander “Zander” Dituri
● Gianfranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio
● Daniel “eeiu” Vucenovic
● Mohamed ‘johnqt’ Amine Ouarid
● Marc-Andre “NiSMO” Tayar

FaZe Clan
● Andrej “babybay” Francisty
● Kevin “poised” Ngo
● Xavier “flyuh” Carlson (inactive)
● Quan “dicey” Tran (inactive)
● Phat “supamen” Le (inactive)

TSM
● James “hazed” Cobb
● Johann “seven” Hernandez
● Corey “corey”Nigra
● Anthony “gMd” Guimond
● Nicholas “NaturE” Garrison

Shopify Rebellion
● Adam ‘mada’ Pampuch
● Brandon “bdog” Sanders
● Kaleb “moose” Jayne
● Victor “v1c”!Truong
● Will “dazzLe” Loafman

G2 Esports
● Michael “dapr” Gulino
● Erik “penny” Penny
● Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan
● Maxim “wippie” Shepelev
● Francis “OXY” Hoang

The Guard
● Trent “trent” Cairns
● Jacob “valyn” Batio
● Jonah “JonahP” Pulice
● Michael “neT” Bernet
● Ian “tex” Botsch

All of these teams will face off in a group stage and then proceed to the playoffs, after which the team with the most points will progress to the second split. The 2023 Valorant Challengers’ first split is already scheduled to kick off on February 1, which is just one week away.

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G2 Esports, TSM and FaZe Clan, three fan favorites in the region, have received direct invitations to compete in the Challengers event and will not have to qualify through the open qualifiers, which begin on January 9th. These teams have all proven themselves as formidable competitors in the Valorant scene and their presence at the Challengers event is sure to make for some exciting matches. They will be joined by Shopify Rebellion, The Guard, and newcomers M80.

All of the directly invited teams, with the exception of M80, did not succeed in securing partnerships with developers and tournament organizers Riot Games in order to compete in the North American international league, which is set to begin in February with a kick-off tournament.

The Valorant Challengers circuit will feature a number of good teams from across the globe, all vying for a chance to prove themselves on the competitive stage. The tournament will kick off with a series of online qualifiers, with the top teams advancing to the main event.

The invited teams will be joined by six teams, four of which will be qualifying for the league through the open qualifiers, set to take place from January 9th to January 13th. Another two teams will earn a spot through the last chance qualifier, set to take place on January 17th and conclude on January 22nd. The first split of the Challengers league will begin on February 1st and conclude on March 17th.

A number of teams were not directly invited to the Challengers league. One such team was Dark Ratio, which had previously been linked with MAD Lions but ultimately did not receive an invitation. Additionally, Valorant streamer Disguised Toast’s Challengers team will also be required to compete in the open qualifier for the possibility of making it to the main event.

At the end of the season, two teams will qualify for the Ascension tournament through the Challengers playoffs, which are scheduled to take place from May 31st to June 10th. These teams will then have the opportunity to compete against the top teams from other Challengers regions for a chance to earn a spot in the Americas international league in 2024.

The Valorant Challengers event is just the latest in a series of major Valorant tournaments, with more on the horizon for the rest of the year. The competitive Valorant scene is heating up, and with top teams like G2 and TSM in the mix, fans can expect some thrilling matches and nail-biting finishes in the coming weeks. Esports betting sites are yet to reveal betting odds for the tournament as the complete number of teams are yet to be attained.
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In recent days, there has been a surge of viewers on Twitch tuning in to watch Arteezy’s much-anticipated Twitch live stream. While the stream has been entertaining for viewers, Arteezy has been extremely dissatisfied with the caliber of ranked games in his professional competition region of North America (NA).

Arteezy reported that a number of the games he live-streamed during the initial two days had been ruined by “griefing.” He pointed out that it would be difficult for aspiring players to grind pubs in North America due to the unpleasant experience.

He expressed his frustration with the state of ranked games in the North American Dota 2 scene. He was visibly upset as he spoke about these issues, describing how his opponents were “griefing” by running down lanes and being AFK, which was ruining the experience for everyone.

“Throwing games, throwing games, I wonder if this will change anything if Valve will do something,” Arteezy said.

“So far, in two days I have streamed, it’s been seven games that have been griefed, legitimately some guy just running down a lane, or randoming and AFKing or buying Midas or hitting Neutral creeps.”

After a brief pause, Arteezy spoke about the difficulties aspiring Dota 2 players in North America face when playing ranked games in the region. He also emphasized the importance of playing pubs as it has become a necessity in Europe.

“I mean it’s pretty depressing if you are an aspiring NA pro and you are grinding and grinding and you play these pubs every single day, must be f**king awful. You have to play Europe,” he continued.

Recently, many professional Dota 2 players have voiced their concerns about the decline of the North American Dota 2 scene. Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, who spent his entire six-year career playing in North America before moving to Gaimin Gladiators in Europe, even went as far as to say that the region was “dead” and it was the worst of all. Callahan believes that unless larger teams invest in the region, the Dota 2 scene decline will only continue.

In recent months, the gaming community has viewed North America as a subpar region for both professional and casual gaming. Additionally, the impressive showing at The International 11 (TI11) has brought significant attention to South America (SA) in the past half year, causing Evil Geniuses, a North American organization, to also move to SA.

It is uncertain if the current situation will improve, and only time will reveal if North America can reverse its fortunes.

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Valorant continues to rise in popularity and it appears that there is nothing that can slow it down. While League of Legends remains the top esports Riot Games globally, the company is clearly working towards making its tactical first-person shooter the leading esports in North America.

Before the start of the 2023 esports season, Riot Games announced significant changes to their schedule, including the VCT Americas league taking the prime time spot on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm CT, as well as Mondays at 2 pm CT. This slot was previously occupied by the LCS, but the decision to give it to the VALORANT league in North America, Latin America, and Brazil shows a shift in focus and priority for Riot on the western side of the Atlantic.

According to data from Esports Charts, Valorant has seen an increase in viewership between 2021 and 2022, with eleven out of the top fifteen Valorant events in terms of total hours watched taking place in 2022. Additionally, the year-end Champions event for 2022 has seen significantly higher hours watched and peak viewership compared to other events.

Also, according to SullyGnome, Valorant’s viewership has also seen significant growth on Twitch. In 2022, it was the third most-watched game with approximately 1.16 billion hours watched, while in 2021 it was fifth with 950 million hours watched. Many top streamers, such as Tarik “tarik” Celik and fps_shaka, predominantly played VALORANT throughout the year.

In North America, the professional esports of VALORANT and League of Legends are experiencing opposite trends in popularity. The NA Challengers and LCQ events for 2022 saw a significant increase in viewership compared to the previous year, while the LCS has seen a decline in viewership since 2020. It is expected that the schedule changes, which moved the LCS to Thursday and Friday at 2 pm CT, will further widen the gap between the two major Riot-managed esports in North America.

However, its growth has not been limited to just numbers. In recent years, Valorant has received better treatment in North America compared to League of Legends. Feedback from fans and players seems to be more influential.

When the initial plans for the VCT-partnered league included only eight teams per league and no promotion opportunities, Riot took into account the opinions of fans and increased the number of teams to 10 per league, including Ascension, and also plans to gradually increase the league size over the years. The LCS Arena, now renamed the Riot Games Arena, will also feature a dedicated space for Valorant.

Furthermore, Riot has likely taken into account the importance of international competitiveness. No LCS team made it to the knockout stage at the most recent Worlds tournament held in North America. In fact, only one LCS team has advanced to the knockout stage in the past four years – Cloud9 in 2021.

North American Valorant teams have proven to be highly competitive on the international stage during the 2021 and 2022 VCT seasons. They have won two of the four international Masters events held (Sentinels at Reykjavik 2021 and OpTic at Reykjavik 2022) and placed in the top three at the other two Masters events. In addition, while only one team from North America reached the top eight at Champions 2021, two teams finished in the top six at Champions 2022, with OpTic narrowly missing out on winning the world championship.

Despite its impressive achievements, North American Valorant must continue to look ahead as it enters the partnership and international league era. However, these accomplishments and ambitious future goals make it clear that Valorant should be the new center of North American esports, and Riot seems determined to make this happen.

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As a result of an official statement by the Rainbow Six Esports North America account, it has been confirmed that the company is actively addressing its strategies for the North American Challengers League. This may mean that teams competing in the Challengers League will have an easier time gaining promotion to the North American League the following season.

The organization is now deciding whether the finalists will be given a place in the North American League for the next season or whether they will be awarded another form of remuneration instead. The declaration also reaffirms the importance of developing players from the amateur level all the way up to the professional ranks and offering opportunities for athletes to compete in various stages of the competition.

A publicized note on the update of the North American Challenger League reads:
“As we are currently discussing our plans with partners and participating organizations for our Rainbow Six Esports programs next year, similar to the European Challenger League, we are evaluating how to promote the North American Challenger League winners to the top level of competitive play. As such we are assessing whether this year’s North American Challenger League will grant a spot in the North American League next season, or if the winners’ reward will take another form. ”

The message also addressed the league’s mission to provide players the opportunity to contest in different levels of the competition. The organization also looks to create more interaction among the challenger, amateur and pro teams.

“Continuing to nurture our path to pro and providing opportunities for players to play in different levels of competition remains a priority for us as we move into the upcoming seasons in Rainbow Six Esports. We will be sharing more details on how challenger and amateur teams will interact with the pro levels of competition later on.”

There is no assurance that the top Challengers team will be promoted to the North American League as a result of this, but there is a possibility that they will. Spectators could be allowed to see a team battle their way through the Challengers League and gain a position in the pro league, which would create fantastic narratives and give fans the opportunity to watch talent develop and progress.

There is a widespread sentiment among supporters that less renowned clubs should be given more exposure, and that this modification would make it easier for teams to climb the standings. However, the statement is not specific and does not disclose any precise facts about the award, which has led to some individuals feeling upset due to the absence of details.

Additional info for fans on how challenger and beginner teams will engage with the professional levels of competition will likely become available shortly.
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?Alliance successfully fought their way into the top league with a runner-up finish in the lower division. But even though Alliance deserve to compete at the top level, this team is not good enough to contest the DPC WEU title.

As seen in the first DPC Tour of the season, Alliance were no match for Europe’s top squads, and without any roster changes, it’s doubtful that Alliance will fare any better this time out. Moreover, Nikolay “CTOMAHEH1” Kalchev and co. have played just seven games since the start of March and have not won a single game since April 16.

Their next opponents, Tundra Esports, won bronze at ESL One Stockholm 2022 a couple of weeks back, further proving that they’re one of Europe’s top Dota 2 esports teams and, without question, significantly better than Alliance. Expect a very one-sided affair and a convincing victory from Tundra Esports.

?Felt enter the final DPC Tour of the season with a new-look roster, featuring two new players in Aslan “paradise” Vadilov and Mykyta “Shoe” Zagrebin, who joined the team at the end of May. This puts us in a tricky spot trying to figure out how good felt are, although it’s not like the team lost much quality with the recent changes.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to expect the international roster to achieve much against Wildcard Gaming, who is one of the region’s strongest Dota 2 teams – behind only TSM, Evil Geniuses, and Quincy Crew, who are in a class of their own. But, there’s always a chance that the favourites will slip, especially early into the new tour and against an unknown opponent.

Wildcard Gaming should win, but at the offered Dota 2 esports betting odds, felt with a map advantage offers far more value. Wildcard Gaming were solid in the previous tour, but they also lost against Nouns (0-2) and Team DogChamp just last week, which is concerning.

?BOOM Esports did not quite live up to the expectations at ESL One Stockholm 2022, where they placed ninth-12th, with five draws and two defeats against Tundra Esports and the eventual champions OG. So even though BOOM failed to make a deep run, they deserve some slack since their defeats came against some of the best teams at the tournament.

Moreover, their lack of success on the international stage does not change the fact that BOOM Esports are one of the top teams in their region. Team SMG are not even close to being regarded as such, and the recent departure of Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr. doesn’t help either.

Team SMG looked solid back in January-February when they placed third in DPC SEA Tour 1 Regional Final, but they have since achieved nothing. They finished sixth in DPC SEA Tour 2 Division I, just a couple of wins safe from relegation, and it’s hard to expect SMG to achieve much more this time out. This is BOOM’s game to lose.

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On map one, Fracture, C9 sought to change the roles of Rahul “curry” Nemani and Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, reverting the IGL to the controller (Brim) and bringing curry to the initiator via Breach.

LG’s attack was not slowed by the shift, with Kaleb “moose” Jayne making major winning plays throughout crucial full buy rounds and C9 tossing away several rounds late to go down 8–4 at halftime. Despite this, C9 managed to stage a comeback on the attack side, and the game was tied at 11–11.

LG, on the other hand, held off two consecutive A smashes to win the game 13–11.

C9’s enthusiasm following their comeback attempt carried across to Icebox, who got off to a strong start on attack. Early on, C9 thrived at gaining map control and getting entry kills, but LG were able to recoup owing to great playmaking and retaking spearheaded by Tanner “TiGG” Spanu (Sova) and Adam “mada” Pampuch (Jett), giving LG a 7–5 halftime advantage.
?
C9 came back with some big rounds to grab a brief lead, but LG closed out the series with a 13–9 triumph on Icebox due to a run of solid attack rounds.

Luminosity announced their plan?to exit?VALORANT for the “foreseeable future” just days before the commencement of the group stage’s fourth week of matches, ahead of the?Riot-run partnered VCT system, which is expected to begin in 2023. The organization stated that the roster would continue playing?under LG still?for the duration of the stage and that it is proactively looking for a new home for the players. The LG players qualified for the playoffs with a 3–1 record, and if they defeat OpTic next week and Evil Geniuses lose, they could claim the Group B first seed.

C9 are out till the Last Chance Qualifier after losing their last three games since?giving Son “xeta” Seon-ho to T1 in a VALORANT?trade that netted them curry.

NA VCT Stage 2 playoffs set up with 12 teams

With OpTic Gaming’s victory at VCT Masters Reykjavik, all eyes are on North America, which won its second international VALORANT LAN title in Iceland. The main event of the NA VCT Stage 2 Challengers is set up, with 12 teams competing in a round-robin group stage before a double-elimination playoff bracket.

With only two stages scheduled for the 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour, everything is on the line for these teams hoping to compete at the Masters and Champions at the end of the year.

The 12 teams competing in the main event of the North American VCT Stage 2 Challengers are as follows: OpTic Gaming, The Guard, Cloud9, XSET, NRG Esports, FaZe Clan, TSM, Luminosity Gaming, 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses, Ghost Gaming, Sentinels.

After finishing in the top four in NA VCT Stage 1, OpTic, The Guard, Cloud9, and XSET were invited to the main event. NRG, FaZe, TSM, and Luminosity came through the first open qualifier, while 100T, EG, Ghost, and Sentinels emerged from the second.

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?Brazen come into the ESL Challenger League after going through the ESEA Premier Season 40 relegation and finishing in 5th-6th back December of 2021. Brazen are an unranked team out North America and they are competing in their second event this year. The ESL Challenger League is a step up for Brazen and with the amount of very good rosters that are competing in this year’s edition, we predict that Brazen will struggle against most teams.

ATK have played four games so far in this seasons ESL Challenger League compiling a 1-3 record which has them sitting in fifth place behind three of the teams they have lost to and the team they beat. ATK’s only win came against the first place Gaimin Gladiators, which is also Gaimin Gladiators only loss, but ATK has lost to all of paiN Gaming, TeamOne and GODSENT who are in second, third and fourth. ATK will need to win their next few games to stay in touch with the top four.

In this best-of-three we should be seeing a win for ATK, but we won’t be suggesting to take them at the short odds of $1.07. Instead, we like the rounds handicap of -10.5 for the favourites.

?Mythic enter their third match of the ESL Challenger League still looking for their first win. So far the boys from Mythic have lost 0-2 to both BHOP and Carpe Diem with a -29 round difference over the two series. Since they came up from the ESEA Advanced Season 40, this league is a step up for them so they will need to try and get a win over in their next couple or be faced with almost certain relegation.

Party Astronauts won their only series that have played so far against BHOP 2-0. The 44th ranked team in the world will be one of the two North American favourites with Gaimin Gladiators to take it to the three strong Brazilian teams, GODSENT, paiN Gaming and TeamOne. Party Astronauts will be looking to continue their winning ways with a win over the bottom placed Mythic, a team that they have not faced in the last 12 months.

In this match we believe that Mythic will be better than their last two matches, and therefore we are backing the underdogs to keep it close. Take Mythic at the rounds handicap of +14.5, paying $1.90 with GG Bet.

?The all-Brazilian matchup sees paiN Gaming take on TeamOne with both teams sitting in the top four in Group A. TeamOne are the 48th ranked team in the world and they have won both of their games in this season’s ESL Challenger League. TeamOne have beaten ATK 2-1 and Unjustified 2-0 in their first two series with a +22 round difference. TeamOne historically have had a rough time against paiN, where they have lost their last five series against them, winning only one map in those series.

The 26th ranked team in the world, paiN Gaming, are currently in second place in the standings with a 3-1 record, at the time of writing. The Brazilians have beaten ATK 2-0, GODSENT 2-1 and Unjustified 2-1, but they have lost their one game to Gaimin Gladiators 0-2 last week. paiN Gaming are in strong form coming into the ESL Challenger League after they beat their Brazilian counterparts FURIA 2-0 in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown to make the 2022 BLAST Premier Spring Final.

TeamOne and paiN Gaming are both is good form in the ESL Challenger League, and therefore we think this match will go the distance. Over 2.5 total maps is the play.

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?Gaimin Gladiators won ESEA Cash Cup: North America – Spring 2022 #2 and added another title in the third Cash Cup at the start of the month, but besides those two titles, they have not achieved much. Even in the ESL Challenger League, the Gladiators have yet to show anything remarkable, with a narrow 2-0 victory against Unjustified and a 1-2 defeat against ATK (22-20, 7-16, 7-6).

It’s tough justifying a bet on Gaimin Gladiators to upset paiN Gaming, who are one of the top Brazilian CS:GO esports teams. And that tells a lot, considering the Brazilian scene is currently in a very good spot.

PaiN and Gladiators last met during Ace North American Masters Spring 2022, where paiN won 16-12. But paiN have since looked much better and even won BLAST Premier Spring American Showdown 2022 two weeks back, suggesting they should defeat Gaimin Gladiators with a bit more to spare this time.

?GODSENT and ATK have met twice since March. ATK won the first match 16-10, while GODSET secured a revenge win during IEM Dallas qualifiers with 2-0. Since then, GODSENT have played eight games and lost half of them, albeit against Complexity (twice), FURIA, and paiN Gaming.

Over the same stretch, ATK have played nine games and won just three against Detonate, BHOP Esports, and Gaimin Gladiators. Of the three wins, the one against the Gladiators is the most noteworthy, yet even that victory is hardly impressive.

ATK gave us nothing to be excited about, and that’s a problem knowing that GODSENT were one of the top-performing teams at IEM Dallas qualifiers, with wins against squads significantly stronger than ATK. As the latest CS:GO betting odds suggest, GODSENT should win with ease, and there is little to suggest they won’t.

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?SAW and AGO will meet in the first round of Group C at ESL Challenger League Season 41 Europe for the first time. SAW enter the match as $1.73 with esports betting sites, while AGO are priced as $2.03 underdogs, suggesting we are in for a close match that should favour the Portuguese squad.

A lot would confirm that, mainly SAW’s solid form and their achievements over the last month. Most notably, SAW came close to qualifying for 2022 PGL Major Antwerp but finished the European RMR in ninth place, with defeats against BIG, forZe, and Outsiders.

Since then, SAW have played just six official games, and even though they have won all but one, SAW haven’t faced any tough opponents. On the other side, AGO hold a 3-5 record from their last eight outings, which is far from great, but they had to face much tougher opponents, so we wouldn’t overreact to their lack of wins.

SAW seem like they’re better prepared, but this is a very winnable match for AGO. Admittedly, they are not the most consistent, but there is little to suggest that the Poles don’t possess the quality to come out ahead.

ATK and paiN Gaming last met at the start of May, when paiN Gaming won 16-14, adding to their success from early April when the Brazilian squad won 2-0 during the North American BLAST Premier qualifiers.

Even though ATK looked better in the rematch just over a week ago, it’s tough to find a good reason to side with the outsiders. They have achieved some solid results lately, but not enough to suggest that they can defeat paiN.

The Brazilians have lost just one of their last nine outings, which is impressive. Moreover, they won BLAST Premier Spring American Showdown, where paiN defeated Team Liquid, MiBR, FURIA, and GODSENT – all teams ranked inside the top-27 on the global ladder.

If ATK win, it will be a massive upset, but we wouldn’t count on it. PaiN should get it done with plenty to spare.

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