The third week of the VALORANT Champions Tour North America Challengers in 2022 has arrived. One major tournament has concluded, and the gap between the top and bottom teams has grown even wider.
Three teams have already qualified for the playoffs, thanks to their 3-0 records, respectively —Cloud9, Version1, and The Guard
Teams with a 0-3 record aren't yet eliminated, but they'll need to win and gain some help from other outcomes if they want to make the playoffs.
Results & Standings
Here’s the current power rankings after the conclusion of week 3’s matches:
| Group A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The Guard | 3-0 |
| 2. | Cloud9 | 3-0 |
| 3. | Luminosity Gaming | 2-1 |
| 4. | XSET | 1-2 |
| 5. | 100 Thieves | 0-3 |
| 6. | Evil Geniuses | 0-3 |
| Group A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Version1 | 3-0 |
| 2. | OpTic Gaming | 2-1 |
| 3. | Sentinels | 2-1 |
| 4. | Rise | 1-2 |
| 5. | Knights | 1-2 |
| 6. | NRG | 0-3 |
Schedule & Predictions
You can click on the dates to take yourself directly to the match page. Teams highlighted in bold have the odds in favour.
- Rise vs. Sentinels (March 5, 2022 - 00:00 UTC+3) 2.70 vs. 1.40
- Evil Geniuses vs. The Guard (March 5, 2022 - 03:00 UTC+3) 3.10 vs. 1.32
- Luminosity Gaming vs. Cloud9 (March 6, 2022 - 00:00 UTC+3) 4.40 vs. 1.17
- NRG vs. Knights (March 6, 2022 - 03:00 UTC+3) 1.75 vs. 1.95
- 100 Thieves vs. XSET (March 7, 2022 - 00:00 UTC+3) 2.10 vs. 1.65
- OpTic Gaming vs. Version1 (March 7, 2022 - 03:00 UTC+3) 1.85 vs. 1.85
Analysis
Below is a quick preview of how teams are performing up until now.
Rise, Knights, NRG, 100 Thieves, and Evil Geniuses
Below is a quick preview of how teams are performing up until now.
Rise, Knights, NRG, 100 Thieves, and Evil Geniuses: The clubs in this group aren't yet dead, but you'll most likely find the four teams who didn't make the playoffs in this group.
Thinks to an outstanding Jett game from Boostio, EG grabbed a map from Cloud9, but they couldn't stop C9's mitch and leaf and lost against their opponents.
NRG is 0-3 right now, but with wins against Sentinels and V1, they could easily be 2-1 if just a handful of rounds from their week one and week three matchups went their way. With a heroic effort on Jett and Chamber, S0m almost brought NRG to an upset against V1, and he'll be relied upon again in their next two games as they frantically strive to make the playoffs.
Knights and Rise faced off this week, with Knights emerging victorious and putting up their greatest performance to date in a 2-0 win. Both teams are now 1-2, and they will meet NRG in the following two weeks. Assuming both teams win, it will come down to who performs better against Sentinels and Knights vs OpTic.
OpTic, Sentinels, XSET, Luminosity
Unless anything goes significantly wrong in the next two weeks, OpTic, Sentinels, XSET, and Luminosity should comfortably secure playoff positions.
Sentinels and OpTic battled it out in a fantastic series this week, with OpTic taking the series in three maps thanks to a commanding performance on Bind. While neither club is in the same unstoppable form as they were last year, they've done enough to earn a decent 2-1 record. Over the following two weeks, both teams will face a threatening V1, but Sentinels and OpTic should be able to secure their playoff berths by defeating Rise and Knights.
It's taken a few nail-biting maps to get to this point, but Luminosity is looking good with a 2-1 record. Even if LG loses their next two matches, they are unlikely to miss the playoffs with 100T and EG tied at 0-3 and have to face each other. Almost everyone on LG has contributed in some way throughout the team's two victories, and they hold the NA VCT's sixth-best team Average Combat Score (ACS).
XSET is 1-2, but that's after losing a tight three-map series against our No. 1 and No. 2 teams. For the following two weeks, they have a lighter load, with matches against LG and 100T on the horizon. A win against both would guarantee XSET a berth, but with the round-differential tiebreaker, only one win should be enough.
Top dogs: Cloud9, The Guard, Version1
With two more group round matches remaining, three clubs have clinched 3-0 records and hence a berth in the playoffs.
C9 and The Guard have dominated the remainder of Group A, finishing in the top three for team ACS throughout the group stage. While C9 and The Guard both lost a map against EG and XSET, the maps they did win were by an average of nearly nine rounds. With games against LG and Rise coming up next week, C9 and The Guard may easily meet in the last week for a chance to go 5-0.
This week, Version1 had their most difficult test yet against NRG, with all three maps decided by barely two rounds. In the late rounds of Fracture and Icebox, however, the leaders of Group B held strong owing to heroic efforts by Zellsis, wippie, and, in particular, TOTW member pennies. However, with both OpTic and Sentinels ahead of them, Version 1 has an uphill struggle.
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