Things to know about the tournament
Knights and Riot Games organised the VALORANT Challengers 2023: North America Split 1 which commenced on 1st February 2023. The tournament is sponsored by eBay and invstr and it holds a prize pool of $50,000. The tournament follows the patch of 6.01 and is an online type event which features a total of 12 teams from the North American region. The tournament holds a two-stage format which is Group Stage and Playoffs and will go on till the 17th of March. A total of 8 teams will be making their way to the Mid-Season Invitational. As of now, the tournament has reached the Week 2 of the Group Stage and the opening matches were played out. Oxygen Esports and The Guard won their respective games.
A quick recap of Week 2 opening fixtures
Fans witnessed a total of two matches on the opening of Week 2. The games that were played are of the Best of 3 game series. The first game of the day was a fixture between Group A teams and the second game of the day was from Group B. The matches that were played are –
- Shopify Rebellion vs Oxygen Esports
- The Guard vs OREsports
Let’s head towards the detailed scrutiny of the matches –
Match 1: Shopify Rebellion vs Oxygen Esports
(Best of 3 game score: 1-2)
- Map 1: The game began on Bind Map where these teams met. Shopify Rebellion selected an agent lineup of Brimstone, Skye, Raze, Viper and Sage. Oxygen Esports picked Yoru, Neon, Viper, Brimstone and Breach. The first-half score remained 6-6 and later a 7-3 second-half domination from Shopify Rebellion made them claim the game by 13-9.
- Map 2: The second map of the game was Haven. The Agent lineup for Shopify Rebellion was Jett, Breach, Skye, Killjoy and Omen. Oxygen Esports picked Breach, Jett, Killjoy, Omen and Sova. Oxygen Esports made it 3-9 in the first half and later and 3-4 finish led them to a victory by 6-13.
- Map 3: Ascent was the decider map for both teams. Shopify Rebellion picked Omen, Fade, Sage, Killjoy and KAY/O. Oxygen Esports picked KAY/O, Jett, Killjoy, Omen and Sova. The first-half score of the game remained 5-7 and a 6-6 draw in the second half led Oxygen Esports to a win by 11-13.
Match 2: The Guard vs OREsports
(Best of 3 game score: 2-0)
- Map 1: Both teams headed for the Pearl map. The Guard picked Killjoy, KAY/O, Sova, Jett and Astra. OREsports picked Breach, Fade, Killjoy, Astra and Raze. The first-half score remained 11-1 with total domination from The Guard. A 2-2 finish led them to a victory by 13-3.
- Map 2: The game began on the Bind map. Agent lineup for The Guard remained as Skye, Viper, Sage, Raze and Brimstone. OREsports picked Skye, Sage, Viper, Brimstone and Raze. The first-half score remained 10-2 and a 3-2 second-half finish led to a 13-4 victory.
The standing after Week 2 opening matches
From Group A we can see G2 Esports leading followed by BreakThru and Shopify Rebellion in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively and Oxygen Esports is in 4th position. From Group B we can see The Guard leading the table with M80 in the second position, TSM and MAD Lions in 3rd and 4th position respectively.
Two more matchdays are left as of now, in Week 2 which are scheduled for today and tomorrow. After that, the tournament will advance to Week 3. The top 4 teams from each group will head for the Mid-Season Invitational.
