The 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour North America Stage 2 Challengers playoffs start Thursday, with eight teams fighting for two spots for Masters 2 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Some familiar teams are competing from Stage 1 Challengers, including Masters 1 Champions OpTic Gaming. However, this time around, a lot of new faces are competing for their chance internationally. Here’s everything to know about the playoffs.
Here are the qualified teams for VCT Challengers NA Stage 2 Playoffs! #VCTNA
[ SEEDING PLACEMENT ]
1: @XSET & @OpTic
2: @GhostEsports & @FaZeClan
3: @100T_Esports & @EvilGeniuses
4: @NRGgg & @Luminosity pic.twitter.com/5kQheb14os— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) June 13, 2022
The teams in the Stage 2 Challengers playoffs
Here are the teams that qualified for the playoff section of Stage 2 Challengers in descending order based on their records:
- XSET (4-1)
- OpTic Gaming (4-1)
- Ghost Gaming (4-1)
- FaZe Clan (3-2)
- 100 Thieves (3-2)
- Evil Geniuses (3-2)
- Luminosity Gaming (3-2)
- NRG (2-3)
The notable misses in the playoffs include the Stage 1 Challengers champions The Guard and popular teams like Cloud9 and Sentinels. While The Guard and Sentinels just didn’t perform well enough to make it in, Cloud9 was a victim of their group.
With three teams above them finishing 3-2, they were knocked out despite having a better map differential and the same record as NRG. Alas, NRG won their final match against The Guard in a winner-goes-to-playoffs game to make it in from Group A.
The format and schedule
As for the format, NA VCT continue with the double elimination bracket. Also, like Stage 1 Challengers, the top seeds will get a bye past the first round, while the bottom seeds start in the lower bracket.
The event starts on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, with the match between FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves. After that is Evil Geniuses versus Ghost Gaming, which ends the first day. The second day introduces the lower bracket teams, facing off against the losing teams from the first day.
The third day introduces the top seeds of OpTic and XSET, facing off against the day one victors. Then, as both brackets continue, whoever makes it to the finals gets their ticket to Masters 2 in Copenhagen.
How to watch the VCT 2022 NA Stage 2 Challengers playoffs
As per usual, the main three ways to watch the VCT 2022 NA Stage 2 Challengers playoffs are on the official VALORANT esports website, Twitch and on YouTube. The playoffs will last until June 26 at 4 p.m. ET, for the final.
Also, like the previous tournament, it is split into two weekends. The first covers the games until the upper bracket finals and lower bracket semi-finals. Those matches start the second weekend, leading up to the final.
Make sure to tune in on one of those three sites to see who makes it to VCT Masters 2 and a live audience for the first time in VCT history.
