Knights Arena reveal invited teams to NA Challenger leagues

To address the looming uncertainty regarding the Challengers scene in 2023, Knights Arena announced their partnership with Riot to host the series followed by the details regarding its schedule and format.

Format:

NA Challengers league will commence January 9 with the Open Qualifiers featuring 256 teams participating in a single bracket tournament until only 32 teams remain. Then the format will change to adopt a double elimination bracket with Best of three matchups to determine the top 4 teams that will qualify for the VCT 2023 - Challengers League North America - Split 1 . Although the Last Chance Qualifier will feature a similar format, only the top two teams will be given a spot at the main event. Qualified teams will be joined by the following six teams that have received a direct invitation:

• TSM
• Shopify Rebellion
• FaZe Clan
• G2 Esports
• The Guard
• M80

While most of these teams have finalized their roster and participated in off-season events, The Guard and FaZe are still a few men down, which means that they will likely announce their roster in the coming days. Each of these teams have previously competed in VALORANT events at a high level and have large fan bases rooting for them, which means that the Challengers circuit is going to be an entertaining watch despite the introduction of international leagues and franchised teams.

Schedule:

If you are looking to tune into the Challengers circuit, the events will be broadcast on Knights Arena’s twitch channel.

Open Qualifiers #1: January 9-13 with broadcast starting from January 10 onwards at 6 PM ET // 3 PM PT.

Open Qualifiers #2: January 17-22 with broadcast starting from January 18 onwards at 6 PM ET // 3 PM PT.

Challenger Split #1: February 1- March 17