VCT NA Challengers Stage 1: Playoffs Bracket, Schedule, Matchups Preview

The 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) NA Challengers Stage 1 is ramping up with the playoffs stage featuring the top teams from the previous round. Four squads from each of two groups have qualified to the brackets stage, where they'll be competing in a double elimination format for a shot at heading to the first international Masters event of the year. The groups played out in a rather straightforward way with Cloud9 going undefeated—although we did see the uncanny losses from previous top NA squad Sentinels—but will the playoffs unfold in the same way? To make sure you don't miss any of the action, we've got the schedule and bracket down for you plus a preview of the teams competing in the VCT Challengers NA playoffs.

VCT NA Challengers Stage 1 Playoffs Matchups

VCT Challengers Playoffs Bracket and Schedule

After the group stage round robin, the top four teams from each group were seeded into the playoffs bracket according to their respective rankings or records from the previous round. Cloud9 (C9) Blue and Version1 topped Group A and B, respectively, and so will first face off against the opposite group's fourth place teams, Pittsburgh Knights and Luminosity Gaming.

In Group B, we had a tie between Sentinels (SEN) and OpTic (formerly Team Envy), NA's other representatives at Champions Berlin 2021, but because of round difference OpTic went on to get the second seed, pitting them against XSET who had a similar record. Meanwhile, SEN face a tough squad in The Guard, who went 4-1 in Group A.

The playoffs stage begins on Thursday, March 17, 2022, at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET, and the next series three hours later. This stage will only last for two weeks, as the series are squeezed into four broadcast days from Thursday through Sunday. That means that at the end of the first week, we would already know the teams who will compete in the Upper Finals, which will take place the week after on March 25, 2022, while lower bracket finals take place the day after. the Book your calendars, though, for Sunday, March 27, 2022, to make sure you don't miss out on the Grand Finals.

All series will be best-of-three except for the LB Finals and Grand Finals which are best-of-fives (yes, even the UB Finals will have just three games). The two squads that make it all the way to the Grand Finals will represent NA at VCT Masters in Reykjavik, Iceland, set to be played behind closed doors in April.

VCT Team Previews

Back in the group stage, four teams—Sentinels, OpTic, Cloud9 Blue, and 100 Thieves (100T)—had received direct invites to the main event for VCT Challengers Stage 1. These direct qualifications, where they bypassed the two Open Qualifiers brackets that over 100 teams had to battle through, were based on the results in the previous VCT season that pegged them as the supposed top four teams in NA.

Now, however, we're seeing that's not the case: 100 Thieves crashed and burned in the groups, managing only a 1-4 record, just above winless Evil Geniuses. Aside from that, Sentinels and OpTic had their share of struggles, both ending at 3-2 while the top team in their group Version1 went undefeated at 5-0. Only Cloud9 really lived up to their name as NA's best team, having also stood firm as the region's last representative at the VCT Champions tournament last year. They went unbeaten in Group A, pulling off a fantastic 2-1 series win over second seed The Guard during the final day—off the back of a 504-ACS leaf performance on Jett, no less.

Many fans will expect C9 to sustain their momentum. They're currently looking like the best team in the region, and if V1 keep up their spotless record, we might have our Grand Finals set in stone already. For now, though, the two top teams out of groups will start at opposite ends of the bracket. C9 will face off against Pittsburgh Knights first, while V1 takes on Luminosity Gaming in their quarterfinal matchup. The earliest that they can meet is the Upper Bracket Finals potentially if they win both their quarters and semis matches.

Meanwhile, 2021 Masters Reykjavik Champions Sentinels will be looking to punch their ticket back to Iceland and pull off a much better playoffs showing than their groups results. But they'll have to get through a formidable team in The Guard, who before falling to Cloud9 had been undefeated in their group as well. Given that it's a double elimination bracket, don't count anyone out just yet. C9 themselves would know best that the miracle of a lower bracket run, and considering that this is still stage 1 of Challengers, we could see some very volatile results unfold yet.

Catch all the VCT Challengers Playoffs action live as the games will be streamed via the official VALORANT esports Twitch and YouTube channels. You can also tune in to partner co-streams or watch parties with popular personalities around the scene.