
<p>The second week of the <a href="https://rib.gg/events/vct-north-america-2022-stage-1-challengers/1140?stage=1286" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">North American Stage 1 Challengers Main Event</a> is complete. Huge matches led to huge victories and the representatives for NA at Masters 1 have been decided. OpTic Gaming confirmed their spot in Iceland by defeating The Guard. The Guard then fought back through the Lower Final to meet OpTic once more in the Grand Final, but with their tickets booked to Reykjavik as well.</p>



<p>It was the Grand Final <a href="https://rib.gg/article/upper-final-set-and-first-two-teams-eliminated-in-na-vct" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that Run It Back predicted</a>. Read ahead for a look at the weekend&#8217;s results and to see how Masters 1 is shaping up.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-na-stage-1-challengers-main-event-week-2-overview">NA Stage 1 Challengers Main Event Week 2 Overview</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class=" embed-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="ca" dir="ltr">North America&#39;s representatives headed to Reykjavík:<a href="https://twitter.com/OpTic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OpTic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheGuard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheGuard</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VALORANTMasters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VALORANTMasters</a></p>&mdash; VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/ValorantEsports/status/1507860312271118336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
</div></figure>



<p>The bracket is completely filled in and the competition is over. The second weekend of Main Event action saw the following series take place:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/luminosity-gaming-vs-xset/26474" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lower Round 2: XSET defeats Luminosity Gaming</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/cloud9-vs-version1/26475" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lower Round 2: Cloud9 defeats Version1</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/optic-gaming-vs-the-guard/26469" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Upper Final: OpTic Gaming defeats The Guard</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/xset-vs-cloud9/26654" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lower Round 3: Cloud9 defeats XSET</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/the-guard-vs-cloud9/26669" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lower Final: The Guard defeats Cloud9</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/series/optic-gaming-vs-tbd/26670" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Grand Final: OpTic Gaming defeats The Guard</a></li></ul>



<p>The matches went how many expected. The biggest surprises came from the Upper Final and the Lower Final. It isn&#8217;t a shocker that OpTic Gaming beat The Guard in the UF, but a two map sweep was slightly unexpected. When it comes to the Lower Final, no one thought The Guard would turn it up to beat Cloud9 three-maps-to-none in a best-of-five. </p>



<p><a href="https://rib.gg/article/the-guards-trent-on-the-team-only-getting-better-over-time" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We spoke to Trent &#8220;<strong>trent</strong>&#8221; Cairns</a> after losing in the Upper Final. He said the team will only get better over time and was confident the team would win the Lower Final game, no matter how nervous the young players were. He was right.</p>



<p>TG got their revenge on C9 from the Group Stage and were ready to do the same against OpTic in the Grand Final. It was another best-of-five series that saw both teams give it their all. The series went the distance with every map being fairly close aside from <a href="https://rib.gg/series/optic-gaming-vs-tbd/26670?match=59338" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a <strong>13:2</strong> beatdown by The Guard on Breeze</a>, the third map. </p>



<p>A marathon match up went in favor of the young up and coming stars from The Guard, giving them a free pass through the Group Stage of Masters 1 while OpTic Gaming will have to start their journey through the tournament earlier with many more potential roadblocks in front of them.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Current VCT 2022 Masters 1 Outlook</h2>



<p>As of writing this, all but two teams are locked in for Masters 1 of the 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour. The LATAM Challengers tournament still needs to wrap up and then a final spot will belong to the winner of the LATAM vs. BR Playoffs. The level of competition coming to the most important tournament of the year thus far is astounding.</p>



<p>Here are all of the current teams lined up for the event:</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/funplus-phoenix/17?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FunPlus Phoenix (EMEA)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/g2-esports/194?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">G2 Esports (EMEA)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/fnatic/1625?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FNATIC (EMEA)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/drx/286?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DRX (Korea)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/optic-gaming/6426" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpTic Gaming (NA)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/the-guard/5201?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Guard (NA)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/paper-rex/184?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paper Rex (APAC)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/xerxia-esports/5903?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">XERXIA (APAC)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/zeta-division/611?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ZETA DIVISION (Japan)</a></li><li><a href="https://rib.gg/teams/loud/6344?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LOUD (Brazil)</a></li></ul>



<p>Right now, the Grand Final of LATAM Challengers will send either <a href="https://rib.gg/teams/kru-esports/976?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KRÜ Esports</a> or <a href="https://rib.gg/teams/leviatan/738?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leviatán</a> to Masters 1. Whoever losses that meeting will take on <a href="https://rib.gg/teams/ninjas-in-pyjamas-br/5750?section=roster" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ninjas in Pyjamas</a>, the runners up of Brazil Challengers, for the final Masters 1 spot by way of the LATAM vs. BR Playoffs. Soon enough, we will know every region&#8217;s representatives and can start dreaming of the amazing matches that will happen in Iceland.</p>



<p>Stay tuned to <a href="https://rib.gg/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Run It Back</a> for more VALORANT Champions Tour coverage as Stage 1 begins to wind down!</p>


OpTic Gaming and The Guard will represent NA at Masters 1

Huge matches led to huge victories and the representatives for NA at Masters 1 have been decided. Congratulations to OpTic Gaming and The Guard.

OpTic Gaming and The Guard will represent NA at Masters 1 - Run It Back - Valorant News

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Brandon is a long time gamer with a passion for writing. Combining the two has been a dream come true. He was Run It Back's official correspondent for First Strike NA and looks forward to covering the North American Valorant scene for a long time.

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