With the EMEA VCT postponed in the wake of the Ukrainian invasion, NA is now the biggest show in Valorant.
The top 12 teams in the region continue to battle it out against one another to solidify their start to 2022.
So far, the new year for NA is taking shape. We have some familiar names at the top, some falls from grace, and some underdogs rising up.
Here are the biggest storylines coming out of Week 3 in NA Challengers Stage 1.
100 Thieves in freefall
Sheesh. What an awful time to be a 100 Thieves fan.
The roster shuffle began ahead of Last Chance Qualifiers last year with the benching of Steel. Since then, 100T has been unable to find the right team to return to the top of the pack.
This was a do-or-die game for 100T against Luminosity, and they just couldn’t pull it together.
The matches were relatively close, but the rounds were always messy. You’d think that the old 100 Thieves would have made quick work of LG.
To be fair, this was a new composition. We’ll need to see more from them before we call it an L, but it’s not looking good.
The Green Wall stands strong
Outside of the 100T debacle, the biggest upset of the week was probably OpTic’s 2-1 win over Sentinels.
Envy has always been a top team in NA and the switch to OpTic did little to change that.
Although OpTic has the talent to beat any team in a given day, they proved that they’re securely at the top of NA with a win over Sentinels that included a 13-2 blowout on Bind.
Rise trending downward
Rise is one of the few teams participating in the event that is keeping the same roster that played together for the bulk of the previous year.
While this seemed like a huge plus going into Challengers now seems like a wash, as they’ve lost two straight to Version1 and The Knights.
With a win over OpTic on their record, Rise will need to win-out against Sentinels and NRG to make the playoffs.
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