The final week of the North America and EMEA Challenger 2 Group Stages are coming up soon. There exists only two VCT playoffs spots left: one in NA, and one in EMEA. Here are the three games to keep an eye on this weekend to see who locks in the final playoffs spots.
[Related: VALORANT Map Pitt Potentially Leaked as Next Map]
North America: The Guard vs NRG
The Guard have faltered ever since their return from Masters Reykjavik, and now face possible elimination in Challengers 2. Their opponents: NRG, a team that still seeks to make their first 2022 playoffs run. The Guard stand tall as the previous champions of Challengers 1, and seek to redeem themselves in making the playoffs. Star duelist Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo will be the player to watch on The Guard, following his underperformance against XSET. Finishing the 1-2 series at the bottom of the leaderboard with an average combat score of 150 will put all of the eyes on Sayaplayer to perform on Friday. On the other side of the coin, NRG had previously fallen short before in the Group Stage back in Challengers 1. Ethan “Ethan” Arnold is the focus of attention for the team, having only been acquired two months ago. This marks the first encounter ever between the two teams and will decide who moves on as the fourth seed in Group A.
(L-R) Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo, Trent “trent” Cairns and Jacob “valyn” Batio of The Guard pose for the VALORANT Masters Features Day on April 12, 2022 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)
EMEA: M3 Champions vs Team Liquid
M3 Champions has taken a tumble since Challengers 1, having lost both series in the playoffs 1-2 to Fnatic, then 0-2 to G2 Esports. Team Liquid has already locked their playoff position, but can serve as the first step to knocking M3C out of contention with a victory on Friday, June 10, 2022. This match will be especially volatile following the stepping down of Travis “L1NK” Mendoza from the active roster. Aurimas “Dreamas” Zablockis serves to replace his spot as Breach/initiator of the team. Dreamas currently has only one previous match with Team Liquid in their Week 4 win against Natus Vincere. The previous history between M3 Champions and Team Liquid has been one-sided, with M3 Champions winning handily 2-0 and 2-1. If M3C wants to secure the last spot for playoffs, they must repeat history and beat Team Liquid once more.
EMEA: BIG vs BBL Esports
Should M3 Champions lose their match against Team Liquid, BIG gains a chance at making playoffs on June 12, 2022. Winning against BBL would earn a playoffs spot for the Germans. The focus of attention falls to the star duelist Karel “Twisten” Ašenbrener, who stepped it up on Jett and Raze in their two map victory against M3 Champions. BIG had previously won the head-to-head matchup against M3 Champions, meaning they would automatically win the 2-3 tiebreaker record. A M3 Champions loss and a BIG victory in Week 5 will grant BIG the last VCT playoffs spot.
Stay Connected
You can find more pieces on VALORANT like “VCT Playoffs” and you can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Justin!
“From Our Haus to Yours”
