The first international VALORANT LAN of 2022 is right around the corner, with VCT Masters Reykjavík kicking off on April 10. The 12 best teams competing in VCT Challengers One events around the world will travel to Iceland to take part in a two-week-long event to crown the next international winner.
All three previous international event winners in Sentinels, Gambit (playing under the M3 Champions name), and VCT Champions Acend will not attend Reykjavík this year. All three squads fell short in their respective Challengers stages.
Here’s where each of the 12 teams will come from:
- EMEA Challengers One: First place
- EMEA Challengers One: Second place
- EMEA Challengers One: Third place
- NA Challengers One: First place
- NA Challengers One: Second place
- APAC Challengers One: First place
- APAC Challengers One: Second place
- Brazil Challengers One: First place
- LATAM Challengers One: First place
- Japan Challengers One: First place
- LATAM vs. Brazil Playoff winner
The second-place teams from Brazil and LATAM will face off in a single best-of-five playoff to determine the 12th and final participant at Masters Reykjavík.
Here are the teams locked in for Masters Reykjavík.
Fnatic
Fnatic look like the best team in Europe right now and might have a case to be considered the best in the world. The team signed Andrey “BraveAF” Gorchakov in January and the Sova main from Russia has provided a spark of energy since, going undefeated alongside Fnatic through the EMEA Challengers One group stage and the playoffs so far.
Boaster’s boys defeated M3C (aka Gambit) in a grueling playoff series, needing 10 overtime periods to close out the series on Split and secure their trip to Iceland. Both Derke and Mistic have been tremendous for Fnatic en route to qualifying.
G2 Esports
After a shaky start to the year in which they switched mixwell and keloqz in and out of the starting lineup, G2 saved their best performances so far for the playoffs.
After losing to Team Liquid in the first round of the playoffs, G2 rallied with two surprisingly one-sided victories over M3 Champions and Liquid, knocking out two of the historically best EU teams back-to-back to secure a spot at Masters.
Team Liquid*
Team Liquid will attend Masters Reykjavík in place of FunPlus Phoenix, who is unable to make it to Iceland due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as COVID-19. Liquid attended Reykjavík last year, finishing fourth, then reached the semifinals of VCT Champions.
OpTic Gaming
Surrounded by a stacked field of teams at the top of NA VALORANT, OpTic Gaming first emerged victorious out of Challengers One after three straight playoff wins.
OpTic have thrived with yay taking on more Chamber recently, and the team borrowed M3C’s Neon-driven comp on Split in their Masters-clinching victory on Split against The Guard.
The Guard
Speaking of The Guard, the fastest-rising team in North America’s miracle run will continue into Iceland after a stunning 3-0 victory over Cloud9 in the NA Challengers One playoff lower final.
The Guard have transformed from underperforming rookies to rising stars after the arrival of trent and the team’s move to a Texas boot camp. Now, they’re on the move again to Iceland, with no initial signs of slowing down.
DRX VS
An old power in Korea under a new name has risen through the playoffs. The roster formerly known as Vision Strikers, famed for their incredible undefeated run from 2020 into 2021, have only lost a single series out of 11 since switching to the DRX banner. Their trio of Rb, BuZz, and MaKo all finished in the top eight in ACS of players competing in Korea Challengers One.
Paper Rex
Paper Rex has been unstoppable during the first stage of VCT, winning 10 straight matches between Malaysia/Singapore Challengers and the APAC Challengers stage. During that streak of 10 matches, they only lost a single map to Indonesian roster Persija Esports during the group stage.
XERXIA
The former X10 roster (minus Patiphan due to his return to the Overwatch League) stayed together and formed the XERXIA lineup. They picked up right where they left off, securing the second APAC spot behind Paper Rex after breezing through the Thailand division. Since forming, they’ve only lost two series—one to Paper Rex and another via a forfeit due to tech issues.
ZETA DIVISION
During the offseason, ZETA DIVISION rebuilt the core of its roster with the additions of TENNN and SugarZ3ro from Northeption and Dep from REJECT. The team have been undefeated since these changes, capping off their upper bracket run in Japan Challengers One Playoffs with a win over Crazy Raccoon and breaking CR’s streak of representing Japan at every international event.
LOUD
The new Brazilian superteam, formed just less than two months before the Brazil Challengers One finals, looks head and shoulders above the other teams from their region. Led by an experienced duo in Sacy and Saadhak from Vikings, they’ve won all six matches they’ve played since forming, losing only a single map.
KRÜ Esports
The Latin American roster that captured the hearts of VALORANT fans worldwide during their miracle run at VCT Champions 2021 is back for the first international event of 2022. The mix of Chilean and Argentinian players were one of two LATAM South teams to reach the four-team playoff, but despite suffering an early loss to E-Xolos LAZER, they rallied in the lower bracket with wins over FUSION, E-Xolos, and finally Leviatán.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
At the end of 2021, NiP announced its plans to suspend its European VALORANT division and move to Brazil to follow in the footsteps of their world champion Rainbow Six Siege lineup. The relatively new roster of players from FURIA, KRÜ, and Gamelanders are on schedule towards global relevance, claiming the final spot at Masters Reykjavík via the LATAM vs. Brazil Playoff.
Published: Apr 2, 2022 09:54 am