VCT Stage 2 — Challengers North America Primer

With Masters 1 in the rearview, North America’s best VALORANT teams will set their sights on Reykjavik, Iceland, the first international LAN in VALORANT esports history. Only two teams from North America will qualify, a process that will take place over the next five weeks during the region’s VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2021 VCT Stage 2 — Challengers North America:

Stage Overview

The VALORANT Champions Tour is a year-long global circuit featuring three tiers of competition (Challengers, Masters, and Champions) across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The VCT consists of three stages, the first of which has been completed by each region. We are now entering VCT Stage 2, which will conclude during May’s international VCT Stage 2 — Masters tournament held at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavik, Iceland.

North American teams will begin their journey to VCT Masters 2 through Challengers Weeks 1 and 2. Each Challengers tournament will consist of a 128-team Open Qualifier and Main Event. For Challengers Week 1, the top eight teams from Open Qualifiers will advance to the Main Event. Of those eight teams, the top four will be seeded into the Challengers Playoffs, and the bottom four will receive direct invites to the Challengers Week 2 Main Event. They will be joined by the top four teams from the Challengers Week 2 Open Qualifiers. The top four teams from the Challengers Week 2 Main Event will advance to the Challengers Playoffs. The champion and runner up of the Challengers Playoffs will represent North America at VCT Stage 2 — Masters.

Both Challengers Open Qualifiers will be single elimination tournaments featuring best-of-three matches. Challengers Main Events and Challengers Playoffs will be double elimination tournaments with best-of-three matches, transitioning to best-of-fives for each grand final.

Broadcast Schedule

VCT Stage 2 — Challengers NA — Week 1

Open Qualifiers: 4/1 - 4/4
Main Event: 4/8 - 4/10

VCT Stage 2 — Challengers NA — Week 2

Open Qualifiers: 4/15 - 4/18
Main Event: 4/22 - 4/25

VCT Stage 2 — Challengers NA — Playoffs

4/29 - 5/2

You can find all VCT Stage 2 — Challengers NA Main Events and Playoffs streaming on twitch.tv/valorant_esports_NA.

Check out @valesports_NA for regular updates and nerdstgamers.com/riot for more info. And, to catch up on all the latest action, standings, and best plays from the VCT, make sure to check out The Headshot on Youtube!