Version1 falter qualifiers, 100T & Ghost succeed – Valorant VCT NA

The VCT 2022 North America Stage 2 Open Qualifier 2 has ended. All 12 teams that will take part in the main group stage are currently determined, and Version1 is not among them.

Better luck in Last Chance Major Qualifiers

Version1 falters in open qualifiers

It may surprise many people that Version1 were hanging around in open qualifiers. The team had a great start to Stage 1, winning all their matches in the group stage, yet could not maintain this performance in the Playoffs. After being pushed out of the tournament, they lost their place in Stage 2 and had to go through qualifiers.

Everyone expect their qualifier run to be a breeze, and we were in for a real surprise. First up, despite making it to the last stage in the first qualifying round, the roster wasn’t able to win the last match against NRG and left everything to the 2nd Qualifiers. It was clear that Version1 didn’t quite reflect their game when things got hot. However, they were seen among the teams that will be successful in the 2nd elimination.

When it rains, it pours

The second qualifier started well and everyone expected, Version1 would stop EG and later Knights or DarkZero and make it through. However, Girl Kissers a mix of former Renegades/Basilisk players had other plans. They sent V1 to the lower bracket, where Complexity finished the job.

Suddenly, one of the best teams in North America finds themselves out of the VCT Challengers circuit.

100 Thieves & Ghost breeze through

After the end of Stage 1, 100 Thieves went through a big change. The team, which could not get the desired results and started to stay out of international tournaments, first changed its technical staff. The organization brought the names which are known well by the community. Sgares to as the head coach, Mikes to the role of assistant coach and ddk to as the general manager.

These were only the first steps of the alteration, as roster changes followed shortly thereafter. First, veteran player Hiko, who has been part of the team since day one, announced his retirement. Then, it was announced that Ethan and jcStani parted ways. The new coaching staff kept both Asuna and bang from the old roster. Then, Derrek completed the squad with the transfer of Steller and Will.

Although 100 Thieves performed quite well in the 1st Open Qualifier with their renewed roster, they lost their chance to advance to the main stage by losing to TSM in the last match. They were the roster among the favorites of the 2nd Qualifiers, and they delivered in style. No lower bracket shenanigans just win after win and an easy mode entry into Challengers.

Ghost Gaming was on a similar path to Version 1, and pretty much achieved what V1 couldn’t. After losing to EG, they went on a lower bracket run, beating Complexity, NYFU, BBG and Knights to make it into Challengers. This was the same path Version1 would take if they beat Complexity in the previous duel.

Alex “aproto” Protopapas is the winning roster signing that pushed Ghost forward. Something clicked with this roster after hey got signed, and they are looking superb coming into Stage 2