It has been an interesting third week of the VCT NA Challengers 2 Group Stage. Just when we thought things were slowly settling down on the leaderboards, week 3 threw a whole bunch of surprises at us.
Group B’s favourites, Sentinels and Cloud9, both suffered devastating losses and now occupy the last two spots in the group. Sentinels lost their third match in a row and will most likely leave another VCT Challengers esports tournament empty-handed.
To everyone’s surprise, Ghost Gaming secured their second victory in week 3 and now find themselves leading the pack in group A. They’ve displayed some incredible skill and confidence, which bodes well for their next two matches.
The Underdog Week
This past week has been an exciting one for the North American Valorant fans. Several underdog teams managed to beat the Valorant odds and pushed forward in the overall group stage standings.
The Guard, despite being the VCT Challengers 1 champions, have been struggling in the current tournament. Finally, they managed to stave off potential disaster and emerged victorious in their match against TSM. After taking an easy 2 – 0 victory, The Guard improved their chances of surviving the hectic group A, but still on the very brink of elimination.
Evil Geniuses also secured their first victory against Luminosity Gaming. Luminosity’s performance was a far cry from their previous two weeks. Evil Geniuses perfectly controlled the match and executed their strategy flawlessly. A well-earned 2 – 0 victory for EG.
Ghost Gaming, one of the biggest surprises in this tournament so far, have managed to secure their second victory and moved to the first place in group A. They defeated NRG in a quick 2 – 0 sweep, completely stomping them. Ghost Gaming are looking in excellent shape and will be a real threat to 100 Thieves and TSM in the coming weeks.
FaZe Secure Their First Victory
The match between FaZe Clan and Cloud9 was one of the most interesting ones in this third week of the Valorant Champions Tour NA Challengers. Cloud9 suffered a loss to OpTiC in the previous week, so they were looking to bounce back. Meanwhile, FaZe were struggling to get the ball rolling and suffered two unfortunate losses in this tournament. They, too, really needed this win.
When the match began, it seemed as if Cloud9 had things under control, despite FaZe’s early lead. However, as the match progressed, it became evident that this was a losing battle for Cloud9.
The main reason FaZe won in such a convincing manner was none other than babybay, FaZe’s star carry. Despite being a well-respected Jett player, babybay played both maps as Neon and completely dominated. Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without the rest of the squad providing support and enabling babybay to go all out like this, so props to them as well.
The Most Consistent NA Team
The current North American Valorant region is in a strange spot. Nothing is set in stone and almost everyone can beat everyone. This also complicates things for anyone willing to do some Valorant betting. However, one team has remained consistent throughout the two years of Valorant Champions Tour and that’s OpTiC Gaming.
These guys have just won their third match in the VCT NA Challengers 2 and are heading towards a perfect 5 – 0 finish, by the way things are looking. If you’re not convinced, check this out.
They have recently won the first VCT Stage 1 Masters in Reykjavík, beating LOUD by 3 – 0 in the grand final. Prior to that, they landed in the grand final in the first VCT NA Challengers, where they stumbled and lost to The Guard. Since then, they’ve had a rematch and OpTiC settled the score.
All in all, they’re the most reliable team in North America right now. As such, they also have the highest odds of winning this tournament and even some of the VCT tournaments that are to come. They’re currently sitting with 750 VCT Circuit Points, which is a massive lead compared to the 2nd place The Guard, who only have 200.
Love them or hate them, OpTiC Gaming are here to stay.
www.esportsbets.com
