The Guard became the champion of VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers

VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers has come to an end. At the championship, which was held online from March 11 to 27, twelve North American teams competed for a prize pool of $200,000, as well as two tickets to the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022: Masters Stage 1 in Reykjavik. The winner of the tournament was the team The Guard, which in the grand final was stronger than OpTic Gaming with a score of 3:2 (Ascent - 9:13; Icebox - 13:9; Breeze - 13:2; Split - 7:13; Haven - 13: eleven).

The tournament for the future winner started with a confident performance in the group stage, during which The Guard won four victories and also lost to Cloud9 (1:2).

In the playoffs, the team confidently outplayed Sentinels (2:0) and Luminosity Gaming (2:0) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, thus reaching the final. However, here The Guard failed to cope with OpTic Gaming (0:2) and fell into the lower bracket. Nevertheless, the team confidently outplayed Cloud9 (3:0) and made it to the grand final, where they took revenge on OpTic Gaming (3:2).

The current roster for VALORANT Champions Tour 2022: Masters Stage 1 - Reykjavík is as follows: FunPlus Phoenix, Fnatic, G2 Esports, OpTic Gaming, The Guard, XERXIA, Paper Rex, ZETA DIVISION, DRX and LOUD.

Results of VCT 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers

• 1st place: The Guard - $50,000 + slot at VCT 2022: Masters Stage 1 - Reykjavík.
• 2nd place: OpTic Gaming - $32,000 + slot at VCT 2022: Masters Stage 1 - Reykjavík.
• 3rd place: Cloud9 — $26,000 + 55 points.
• 4th place: XSET — $20,000 + 50 points.
• 5th-6th place: Version1 — $14,000 + 45 points.
• 5th-6th place: Luminosity Gaming — $14,000 + 45 points.
• 7th-8th place: Sentinels — $10,000 + 40 points.
• 7th-8th place: Knights — $10,000 + 40 points.
• 9th-12th place: Evil Geniuses — $6,000 + 35 points.
• 9th-12th place: Rise — $6,000 + 35 points.
• 9th-12th place: NRG — $6,000 + 35 points.
• 9th-12th place: 100 Thieves — $6,000 + 35 points.