The VALORANT Champions Tour ends its 2022 year with Champions Istanbul, featuring sixteen international teams. Of these teams competing, three will represent the North America, with two of the slots already taken. OpTic Gaming and The Guard have secured the top two seeds due to past performances and VALORANT Circuit Points. Eight teams will fight for the last remaining spot to represent North America at Champions Istanbul. Here are the opening matchups in the North America LCQ Bracket.
[Related: Who are the NA LCQ Teams that have Qualified?]
Circuit Point Standings
Circuit Points were awarded throughout Stage 1 and 2 of the 2022 VCT, including points earned at international Masters Events. Masters 1 Reykjavík saw The Guard and OpTic Gaming as the number one and number two seeds representing North America. In the Playoffs, OpTic would beat The Guard 2-1 in Round 1, where The Guard would then drop out at seventh place to a 0-2 defeat from Paper Rex. OpTic would go on to win the entire event, earning them 750 points for first while The Guard earned 200 points. Masters 2 Copenhagen saw XSET as first seed, with OpTic representing again as second seed. XSET would end as seventh place, earning 250 points for their performance. OpTic would earn third place, for another 500 points.
OpTic Gaming and XSET claimed the two North America slots decided by Circuit Points. Third through tenth place earn a spot in the NA LCQ, where the winner claims the last seed for North America at Champions Istanbul 2022.
Bracket Matchups
The opening matchup for the NA LCQ will feature The Guard (#1) against Sentinels (#8) on August 4, followed by FaZe (#2) against Evil Geniuses (#7). Previously, The Guard 2-0’ed Sentinels in the Stage 1 Challengers Playoffs, with the stakes raised for the rematch. The Guard have only won one game since Stage 2, making their return game a very important series. For Sentinels, they have recruited both Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro from Version 1 and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek. August 5 then has Shopify Rebellion (#4) against Cloud9 (#5) and NRG (#3) versus 100 Thieves (#6). The North America LCQ Bracket is double elimination, allowing for teams to lose one series without being eliminated. The tournament will run from August 4 to August 14, with the only prize going to first place: a spot at Champions 2022 Istanbul.
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