VCT North America Stage 2 Viewer’s Guide

After two exciting and grueling weeks of Open Qualifiers, the much-awaited VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 2 - Main Event is set to kick off tomorrow. The 12 biggest names in North American VALORANT will compete over two months for not just a $200,000 prize pool, but also a ticket to VCT 2022 - Stage 2 - Masters Copenhagen. From recent Masters Reykjavik winners OpTic Gaming to the old guard of Sentinels and the explosive resurgence of FaZe Clan, this is all you need to know to about the next stage of NA Challengers.

Event Format

Stage 2 Challengers will be played in two stages: the Group Stage, followed by the Playoffs. In the former stage, the 12 teams are divided into two groups of six and will play each other once. The top four teams from either group will then advance to the playoffs, which uses a double elimination bracket to determine the two best teams that qualify for Masters.

Group A

• 100 Thieves
• Ghost Gaming
• NRG Esports
• TSM
• The Guard
• XSET

Group B

• Cloud9
• Evil Geniuses
• FaZe Clan
• Luminosity Gaming
• OpTic Gaming
• Sentinels

Our Teams to Watch

The Guard remain the pick of the lot from Group A and there is no reason to believe they cannot perform domestically despite their disappointment at Masters Reykjavik. Barring a dramatic drop in form, the Matthew "mCe" Elmore-led roster will have gained crucial experience from their time in Europe and are expected to be back to their dominant form again.

Alongside them, NRG Esports have looked really good in the first Open Qualifier, completing a clean run which saw them 2-0 the likes of Pittsburgh Knights and a weakened Version1. The addition of Ethan "Ethan" Arnold seems to have worked out well and they look poised to do some real damage to their group counterparts.

Over in Group B few people will be betting against OpTic Gaming, the titans fresh out of an international win at Iceland. Hopefully Pujan "FNS" Mehta and co. can stay a step ahead of the stiff competition around them, unlike Stage 1 Challengers where the squad just about qualified on the last week of groups.

While Cloud9 remain another contender to win the group, the red hot form of FaZe Clan cannot go unstated. Andrej "babybay" Francisty looked far and away the best player in the Open Qualifiers and the roster is playing an exciting brand of VALORANT built around the star man. It is now up to him to maintain that level of dominance against the elite teams in the region, and if they can pull it off, it will be an amazing story to follow.

Opening Weekend Schedule

Friday, May 13th

The Guard vs 100 Thieves at 10:00 PM CET / 1:00 PM PDT

Luminosity Gaming vs Sentinels at 1:00 AM CET / 4:00 PM PDT

Saturday, May 14th

OpTic Gaming vs FaZe Clan at 10:00 PM CET / 1:00 PM PDT

XSET vs Ghost Gaming at 1:00 AM CET / 4:00 PM PDT

Sunday, May 15th

NRG Esports vs TSM FTX at 10:00 PM CET / 1:00 PM PDT

Cloud9 vs Evil Geniuses at 1:00 AM CET / 4:00 PM PDT

Follow the games live at the official VALORANT Twitch channel and the rest of the matches on the VCT North America Stage 2 event page.