Europe Challengers 1 Closed Qualifier invited teams revealed

The invited teams for VCT Stage 3: EMEA - VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Europe - Challengers 1 - Closed Qualifier have been revealed today, most notably featuring Fnatic and Team Liquid who placed 2nd and 4th respectively at the recent VCT 2021 - Stage 2 - Masters Reykjavík.

The full list of invited teams for the VCT Stage 3: Europe Challengers 1 Closed Qualifiers is as follows:

• Fnatic
• Team Liquid
• FunPlus Phoenix
• Acend
• Guild Esports
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team BDS
• Team Vitality

Fnatic and Team Liquid headline the event, having made it to the finals and semifinals respectively at Masters Reykjavik, but the bitter taste of defeat against their North American rivals remains fresh. Fans will also be closely following Guild Esports’ journey, considering they parted ways with star player William "draken" Sundin a couple weeks ago, and who they bring in to replace him so close to the start of the tournament. Acend and FunPlus Phoenix will no doubt be itching to return to their former glory, with both having VCT Stage 1: Europe VCT 2021 - Stage 1 - Europe Masters and VCT Stage 2: EMEA VCT 2021 - Stage 2 - Europe - Challengers 1 wins under their belt respectively. Despite only being a qualifier, the event already features many of Europe’s top teams and has a number of storylines to boot.

The invited teams will face off against the top 8 teams from VCT Stage 3: EMEA - VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Europe - Challengers 1 - Open Qualifier in this closed qualifier, which starts on June 30th. The 8 best teams from here will make it to the prestigious VCT 2021 - Stage 3 - Europe - Challengers 1 which is scheduled to start July 7th.