LATAM teams who have advanced to Stage 1 Challengers (North and South)
Brandon "Mothman" Moore
01/31/2022
The 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is officially in full swing. Every region is seeing competitive action that is rivaled only by the VCT of 2021. They all have their own formats and tournaments to overcome for a chance at Masters and eventually a spot at Champions in 2022. When it comes to LATAM, it is split into two sub-regions, the North and the South.
Both of their Stage 1 Challengers Open and Closed Qualifiers have been completed. Soon, eight teams in the North and eight in the South will battle it out to determine the four teams to make Challengers Playoffs. From there, one LATAM representative will head to Masters 1.
Here are the teams who have qualified alongside their invited counterparts.
LATAM North qualifying teams
Invited Teams
Infinity and Six Karma went to war several times throughout 2021. Both performed admirably throughout last year’s VCT, netting several first and second place finishes between the two teams. Their top tier gameplay secured them the invite to LATAM North Challengers where they will take on the four teams that advanced through the Closed Qualifier.
Qualified Teams
FUSION is a fairly new team who is already making incredible strides by being the first team to qualifier in the North. Made up of players from various teams, including LAZER, now known as E-Xolos LAZER, FUSION didn’t drop a single map.
E-Xolos LAZER put together a brand new roster to kick off 2022 with players from the likes of Infinity and Border Monsters. The organization competed strongly to end 2020 and throughout the first half of 2021. As the second team to qualify, they are looking to mirror that success with this new iteration.
Border Monsters absolutely rolled through the Tier 2 scene to end last year. That followed a solid showing in the LATAM North VCT. With a couple new additions to the team, their only loss of the year thus far has been to E-Xolos LAZER in the Closed Qualifier. This team has just as much a chance as anyone to get to Challengers Playoffs.
The last team to qualifier for LAN Challengers was Ryze Gaming. Like so many other teams in VALORANT, they made some significant changes once 2022 began. Two new players joined and it was off to the races. They fell to Border Monsters in the Closed Qualifier Quarterfinals, but bounced back with two victories in the Lower Bracket to advance.
LATAM South qualifying teams
Invited Teams
Will anyone from LATAM be able to stop KRÜ Esports? This team represented the region in every international VCT event in 2021. Their underdog tale saw them put on the show of all shows during Champions and fans want to see more of that with the new circuit starting.
On the flip side, we have Leviatán. They brought on a brand new set of five in November and immediately took first place at VALORANT Defenders LAS 2021. They’re clearly a strong team if they got an invite to sit out the qualifying tournaments, but there is still some mystery to them. It will be exciting to see how they perform.
Qualified Teams
It is easy to assume that LATAM South, and the region’s Masters team, will be KRÜ Esports and nothing but. There are some tough teams they’ll need to get through, though. Take a look at Optix. They beat two of the other teams that qualified alongside them in the Closed event. The majority of the roster that ended 2021 is intact and their cohesion could make a huge difference.
9z Team is a staple of LATAM South. They entered VALORANT in August 2020 and have gotten top three in every major event the team has been a part of. 9z is very familiar with the teams they will go up against at Stage 1 Challengers and should have no problem making the Grand Final. The other teams will need to play their hearts out to ensure the finale isn’t 9z Team vs. KRÜ Esports.
Up next is Meta Gaming. They added a few new pieces to the roster back in October and it paid off. They had a strong presence in the LAS side of the 2021 VCT, but were never able to go deep into a Challengers Main Event. The improved roster looks primed to give these other teams hell if they so much as even hear the words “underestimate.”
Rounding out the LATAM qualifying teams is EBRO. EBRO is brand spanking new, with the Open Qual and Closed Qual the only official matches they have played. The players are just as shiny with Danilo “UNNSTO” Pilarche having the most experience from his year-long stint with 9z Team. A lot of them are seeing their first bits of competitive VALORANT here and it will be amazing to see what they can do against these more seasoned teams.
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