We Go Again: North America Valorant Challengers League Last Chance Qualifiers begin, Tournament Preview
Two Spots Remain
The conclusion of the NA Valorant Challengers Open Qualifiers has revealed the four teams joining the NA Challengers League. With a total of 12 teams competing in the league, 6 organizations/rosters were invited ahead of schedule. Four more have qualified through the Open Qualifiers, in a slugfest that included 256 teams. With that said, there are two final spots left in the league, and the Last Chance Qualifiers beginning on the 17th of Jan, is the last chance for the teams to compete and qualify for the NA Challengers League. Should they fall here, the teams will have to wait until 2024 for another chance at qualification.
The official list of teams competing in the NA Last Chance Qualifiers have not been released to the public, however, the tournament is slated to include 16 teams, likely to be the top 16 teams from the Open Qualifier. This is a full list of the teams in the top 16:
- The Silk Road
- The Nation
- OREsports
- Rat Attack
- Happy2BHere
- The Ganaccis
- Nearest Airport
- NSIC
- Moon Raccoons
- MCT Esports
- jiliboo
- 99 Strength
- Mochi Fanclub
- Soniqs
- where is Fullerton
- Team Reckaroo
Notable Contenders
Of these 16 teams, there are several who were just shy of qualifying, or else have the makings of a great team and were seemingly unable to perform. First up has to be The Nation. Having quickly become a fan-favorite for many North Americans, the roster is comprised primarily of former Counter-Strike veterans in Jacky “Stewie2k” Yip, Matthew “Wardell” Yu, and Braxton “brax” Pierce. Paired up with them, are young talents Daniel “Rossy” Abedrabbo, and Tanner “TiGG” Spanu. Despite the team not having gone in with high expectations, they managed to make top 6, missing out on qualification by a single series.
Both The Silk Road and OREsports had great showings as well, contending with some of the most-well known names in strong fashion. NSIC was one of the toughest teams on that side of the bracket, narrowly missing out. With big names such as Shawn “Shawn” O’Riley and Chad “Oderus” Miller on the roster, they’d be a strong horse to bet on in the tourney.
There are also several teams who might be dark horse contenders. Soniqs is a long-time name in the Tier 2 community as well, however are unlikely to perform over the other teams. That said, they have surprised in the past, and their roster has been competing together for a while. ‘where is fullerton’ is headlined by fan-favorite streamers Peter “Governor” No and Mohammed “Harmful” Choudhary. That roster has some potential to upset. Lastly is Rat Attack. This was the team that took down Version1, lending some credence to their status as catalysts for disruption.
The list of teams competing has not been officially confirmed as that has not been released. Version1 has also been rumoured to be competing, however, they fall outside the Top 16.
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