The VCT NA Challengers League promises to be a mouth-watering competition with several big names in attendance. Find out which teams have already announced their rosters for the tier-two Valorant event.
With only five NA organizations making the VCT Americas league, there remains an ample amount of talent for other teams to work with. The NA Challengers League, Valorant’s tier-two competition, is shaping up to be an exciting tournament as a host of talented players and big organizations look to secure promotion to the international league.
The NA Valorant Challengers League will begin with two series of open qualifiers in January. Up to six teams will receive direct invitations to the league, so fans will have to wait until late January or even February before they can watch some of these tier-two Valorant sides in attendance.
The top teams from the NA Challengers League will attend the Americas Ascension Tournament, where they will be joined by representatives from Brazil and LATAM. In the end, the winner will secure a two-year stay in the VCT Americas league.
Big-name organizations like G2 Esports, TSM, and The Guard have already confirmed their rosters for the Challengers League. More announcements are expected in the coming weeks as we approach the open qualifiers, scheduled for January 9-13 and January 17-22.
Below is a rundown of all the big teams announced for the VCT NA Challengers League. The article will be updated as more teams are announced or reported on.
VCT NA Challengers League 2023 teams:
G2 Esports
G2
Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan
Michael ‘dapr’ Gulino
Erik ‘penny’ Penny
Maxim ‘wippie’ Shepelev
‘OXY’
G2 Esports didn’t give up on North American Valorant after being snubbed for a slot in the VCT Americas league and built a strong-looking roster for the Challengers League headlined by former Sentinels duo Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan and Michael ‘dapr’ Gulino.
They are joined by the former Version1 pair of Erik ‘penny’ Penny and Maxim ‘wippie’ Shepelev. The former was part of the Version1 team that finished 5th-6th at VCT 2021 Stage 2 Masters Reykjavík. (wippie missed the event due to visa issues.)
The final member of the team is ‘ONYX’, a rising star that was praised by head coach Ian ‘Immi’ Harding. “OXY seemed like the guy that was ready, he had a lot of good comms and he had a good agent pool,” Immi said. “It made sense to go with him.”
TSM
James ‘hazed’ Cobb
Johann ‘seven’ Hernandez
Anthony ‘gMd’ Guimond
Corey ‘corey’ Nigra
Nicholas ‘NaturE’ Garrison
Shortly after Riot Games revealed the names of the ten partner teams for the VCT Americas league, Dominic Kallas, TSM’s VP of Esports, stated that, while “disappointed” at not making the cut, the organization remained committed to Valorant and would build a competitive roster for 2023 and beyond.
There are several familiar faces on TSM’s roster as the organization retained the services of Johann ‘seven’ Hernandez, Anthony ‘gMd’ Guimond, and Corey ‘corey’ Nigra. Veteran James ‘hazed’ Cobb returned to TSM after a spell with NRG to lead the team in the Challengers League. Former Immortals and Gen.G player Nicholas ‘NaturE’ Garrison is the final piece of the puzzle.
The Guard
Lance Skundrich/Riot Games
Trent ‘trent’ Cairns
Jonah ‘JonahP’ Pulice
Michael ‘neT’ Bernet
Jacob ‘valyn’ Batio
Ian ‘tex’ Botsch *
The Guard were one of the biggest surprises of 2022 in North American Valorant. At the start of the year, they came out of relative obscurity with a young roster and won the VCT Stage 1 Challengers to qualify for the Masters event in Reykjavík, where they finished 7th-8th.
Despite failing to make the partner league, The Guard managed to keep the majority of their roster, only losing duelist Ha ‘Sayaplayer’ Jung-woo (T1) and head coach Matthew ‘mCe’ Elmore (Cloud9). The former is reportedly being replaced by Ian ‘tex’ Botsch, who is out of NRG’s roster after almost two years with the organization.
M80 Esports
Alexander ‘Zander’ Dituri
Daniel ‘eeiu’ Vucenovic
Mohamed ‘johnqt’ Amine Ouarid
Gianfranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio
Marc-Andre ‘NiSMO’ Tayar
M80 Esports is a brand new esports organization launched by XSET co-founder Marco Mereu, who has assembled an interesting cast that includes former players of NRG (Daniel ‘eeiu’ Vucenovic), Version1 (Alexander ‘Zander’ Dituri), and Ghost Gaming (Mohamed ‘johnqt’ Amine Ouarid, Gianfranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio, and Marc-Andre ‘NiSMO’ Tayar). The team will be coached by Gunter, who was an analyst for Ghost Gaming.
This may be a new face in Valorant esports, but the organization is confident that it can vie for promotion, as evidenced by their slogan, ‘All roads lead to Ascension’, in a reference to the tournament run by Riot Games.
Oxygen Esports
Oxygen Esports
Mitch ‘mitch’ Semago
Josh ‘pwny’ VanGorder
Logan ‘skuba’ Jenkins
Devon ‘randyySAVAGE’ Bréard
Andrew ‘Verno’ Maust
Yassin ‘Reduxx’ Aboulalazm (substitute)
After fielding a Turkish team and a North American academy lineup, Oxygen Esports have put together their most ambitious roster yet, headlined by former Cloud9 player Mitch ‘mitch’ Semago and ex-T1 player Josh ‘pwny’ VanGorder.
Logan ‘skuba’ Jenkins (Pioneers and Knights) and Devon ‘randyySAVAGE’ Bréard (Renegades) were also signed by Oxygen Esports, who promoted two players from the academy team to finalize the squad: Andrew ‘Verno’ Maust and 15-year-old Yassin ‘Reduxx’ Aboulalazm.
Note: The asterisk next to a player indicates a potential transfer that has been reported on but has not been officially confirmed.
Keep up to date with all the transfer activity in the Valorant scene with our free agency live tracker.
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