VCT 2022 Stage 2 Challengers NA and EMEA: Format, teams and schedule

Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) continues with the second Challengers stage of the 2022 season. The regional tournaments in North America and EMEA will run between May 13 and June 26, featuring 12 VALORANT teams in each region and  $200,000/€200,000 prize pools. Here’s all there’s to know about the event.

Format

Both North American and European competitions will see a round-robin group stage followed by double-elimination playoffs. While only six teams in the EMEA will advance to the playoffs, the NA event will see the top four teams from each group advancing. 

Besides money, the teams are also fighting for VCT circuit points needed for entering the season-concluding VCT Champions event. Moreover, the best-placed teams will earn a seed into the VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters. 

Teams: 

EMEA

Group A: 

• G2 Esports
• Fnatic
• FunPlus Phoenix 
• Acend
• OG LDN UTD
• Fokus

Group B: 

• Guild Esports 
• Team Liquid 
• M3 Champions
• Natus Vincere
• BBL Esports
• BIG 

Last year, FunPlus Phoenix was the team that dominated the VCT in Europe and continued to do so at the beginning of the 2022 season. However, due to the war in Ukraine, the team wasn’t able to participate in the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík. As a result, the team received additional 200 circuit points. This time around, FPX will undoubtedly do everything in their power to secure a spot at the second VCT Masters event of the season. Thus, the upcoming matches are set to show if FPX kept their shape or if someone else will take the title of regional dominators. 

NA

Group A: 

• The Guard
• TSM
• XSET
• NRG 
• Ghost Gaming 
• 100Thieves

Group B: 

• OpTic Gaming
• Cloud9
• Sentinels
• FaZe Clan
• Luminosity Gaming 
• Evil Geniuses

The NA roster is full of eminent esports organizations. The matches of Group B are worth watching especially because of the concentration of the region’s top teams such as OpTic Gaming, the champions of the Masters event in Reykjavík, as well as Sentinels and Cloud9. 

Schedule

Starting tomorrow and finishing at the end of June, the VCT 2022 Stage 2 Challengers matches will be played each Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The starting time for the EMEA event will stay consistent throughout the competition — the preshow begins at 3:30 pm CEST and matches at 4:00 pm CEST.  

• Week 1: May 13 – 15
• Week 2: May 20 – 22
• Week 3: May 27 – 29
• Week 4: June 3 – 5
• Week 5: June 10 – 12
• Playoffs: June 17 – 26

Fans can watch the competition on official Valorant Twitch channels in 11 languages. 

Image credit: Riot Games