Upstart rosters continue to find success in North American Challengers 1

Top-flight North American competition, and the qualification for VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - North America Masters, continued this week with VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - North America - Challengers 1. 8 teams had progressed through the open qualifiers, and clashed in what was essentially a closed qualifier with a $50,000 prize pool to determine which four teams would be skipping the next open qualifier and going straight to VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - North America - Challengers 2. We’d already seen many traditional top teams felled in the open qualifier, and Challengers 1 was no different. The new teams on the block are here to stay.

Immortals have to be the biggest story coming out of the event. They looked great in the open qualifiers once we got to see them, but how seriously those seeding matches were being taken is very up for debate - let’s not forget Cloud9 won one of those seeding brackets in First Strike qualification. But Immortals proved beyond a doubt that their success was no fluke, defeating the other massive upstart team, Luminosity Gaming, as well as another top four finisher in XSET on their way to securing 2nd place. Rhett "Kehmicals" Lynch and Nicholas "NaturE" Garrison seem to have meshed with the team perfectly, and the latter’s shotcalling seems great as well, especially considering he’s a teenaged former duelist player. Immortals have massive potential. With Luminosity still surging, Sentinels still at the very top, and 100 Thieves likely coming back into the picture, they’ll have plenty of challengers - but they’re one of the best teams in North America right now. For a roster as new as this, that’s truly incredible.

However, let’s not let Immortals’ success take away from Luminosity. LG have picked up right where they left off after their NSG 2021 Winter Championship victory, continuing to tear through some of NA’s best. With victories over Sentinels and Envy, they’ve certainly faced a high calibre of opponent. Alex "aproto" Protopapas and Brady "thief" Dever have continued to evolve into absolute stars for LG, and with some time to put together strategies - unlike their previous upset win - LG have kept looking better and better.

The third big team rising up is, of course, XSET. This roster continues to be one of the most exciting and creative teams North America has. There’s hardly a map they look bad on, with Matthew "Wedid" Suchan’s absolutely stellar Viper enabling them to find comfort wherever they play. Some nasty aimers to complete the roster means XSET are almost the complete package. They’re not quite at the very top of NA, but given how far they’ve already come and how long there is to go until Masters, I doubt that bothers them too much.

Finally, you just can’t keep Sentinels out of the top in North America it seems. The ever-solid Sentinels are still a force to be reckoned with. Michael "dapr" Gulino’s clutching, Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan’s ability to IGL while also consistently fragging, Hunter "SicK" Mims’s flexibility, we know what this team brings. We’ve seen it for a long time now. And with them putting together a late push to beat every other top four team and secure first seed, it’s still far from over for them.

Finally, four teams, despite their best efforts, could not overcome their opponents and will be heading back to the open qualifiers for a longer route to Challengers 2. NYFU, Gen.G Esports, NRG Esports, and Envy all showed good things this event, and will certainly be favourites to make it back for another round.

Gen.G and Envy both won matches this event, and look like near-locks to be back in Challengers 2. Gen.G have made big strides already, and some more time to jell with Kenneth "koosta" Suen should keep them at the top for some time to come. Envy, on the other hand, continue to be very consistent, and some big moments from Austin "crashies" Roberts this event always kept them in it.

Finally, we come to Andbox and NRG. NRG I still don’t want to fault too much, this roster still seems to be on the come-up and destined for some big things. Andbox, however, seem to have stagnated in their place. Bradley "ANDROID" Fodor is still an absolute star, but some of the other members aren’t showing up like they used to and the team is beginning to fall behind. Maybe some adjustments need to be made heading into the next round of Challengers to keep them in competition for the top.

Final Standings for North American Challengers 1:

1. Sentinels - $20,000 + bye to NA Challengers 2 2. Immortals - $10,000 + bye to NA Challengers 2 3. Luminosity - $7,000 + bye to NA Challengers 2 4. XSET - $5,000 + bye to NA Challengers 2 5-6. Envy - $3,000 5-6. Gen.G - $3,000 7-8. NRG - $1,000 7-8. Andbox - $1,000