Five players to watch at VCT NA Challengers 1

The North American VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers 1 begins Feb. 11 with multiple new teams joining in on the action VCT Challengers 1 action. Among these new organizations is a wide spread of new talent who are here to dominate the competition. Here are some of the names fans should be on the lookout for in the upcoming matches.

Alexander “Zander” Dituri

Version1’s latest addition to the team previously played for SoaR and comes into the VCT with a hunger to showcase what he is capable of. Zander already made an impression by helping his team make a flawless run through the open qualifier to make it to the Challengers 1 main stage. As the smoke player for Version1, his ability to control the map is what makes him and his team one to be feared.

Matthew “Cyrocells” Panganiban

Another young prodigy from SoaR joined the VCT on XSET, who came close to winning tournaments throughout 2021. Cyrocells led his team to a tournament win at the Nerd Street Gamers Winter Championship days before beginning his run at Challengers 1. As the new Jett player for the team, Cyrocells has the ability to pull his squad back in any situation with flashy plays.

Kelden “Boostio” Pupello

Evil Geniuses’ roster revamp was exactly what the organization needed to succeed. That included the addition of Boostio, who joins the team after bouncing around several tier-two organizations for a majority of his VALORANT career. Boostio plays a mixture of duelist and support for his team and is ready to showcase that his months of playing in tier two tournaments have prepared him for the main stage.

Adam “Ec1s” Eccles

While Ec1s isn’t new to the VALORANT competitive scene, he is new to North America. The import from EMEA made a name for himself as the in-game leader for both Team Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas, but never saw real success in 2021. He now joins the powerhouse team of 100 Thieves to lead them to new heights and hopefully more championships. The last time 100 Thieves won an event was First Strike with a completely different roster back in 2020.

Ha “Sayaplayer”Jung-woo

The former Overwatch player is back at it again on another team for the 2022 season. Sayaplayer now joins The Guard with high hopes to find success in North America. After having a lack of success on T1, Sayaplayer changed his name back to his former Overwatch name after being known as Spyder on T1. Now with a new name and new team, Sayaplayer looks to make his mark on the North American Challengers 1.