After nearly two weeks of qualifiers, the two LATAM Challenger Leagues — LATAM North and LATAM South — have finalized their list of participants. Both leagues are scheduled to kick their regular season off on February 27.

CLOSED QUALIFIER | Lower Bracket 🔻

Tenemos a los últimos 2 equipos clasificados desde el Closed Qualifier.
¡Bienvenidos @ebrogaming y @retaesports a la Liga Challengers Latam! 💚
22:20 PM · Feb 2, 2023 ·
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As has been the case since the early days of the VCT, Latin America was subdivided into the North and South. Both subregions hosted their tournaments on the same dates and with the same format, a single-elimination open qualifier and an eight-team double-elimination closed qualifier. Both will also begin league play at the same time.

Neither open qualifier featured many notable upsets; most teams were newly-formed or hadn't participated in notable LATAM competition prior to the VCL qualifier. One exception came in the North, where newcomers ILLICIT ILLICIT Latin America North Rank #8 beat out Ryze Gaming Ryze Gaming Inactive lacho freizydeuS DEMONN NavĨ Maugu (13-4), who have three top-five finishes in the VCT to their name.

In the North's closed qualifier, Skull Cracker Skull Cracker Inactive nate Nathanael Miles prask Mike Cortbani Xhowi Luis Enmanuel Corcino Garcia MiniNiwde Lenin Mateo Guga Emil Bournigal nolan Nolan Martinez swept through the competition, dropping just one map in wins over Making It Look Easy Making It Look Easy Inactive Gera Caz Jose Hernandez GeneralSteak otaQ , Border Monsters Border Monsters Latin America North Rank #8 KODA Gerardo Sepúlveda k1yo Ángel Xool mNo Tendux mega , and RETA Esports RETA Esports Latin America North Rank #4 Tacolilla Vicente Compagnon suther Tomás Zurita on their way to the VCL. While Skull Cracker were busy returning to high-level competition for the first time since April 2021, Chivas Esports Chivas Esports Latin America North Rank #7 nAvarro Oswaldo Navarro pompZ E13 Hadaaa Adair Álvarez Javiierh Javier Castro Alcantar were piecing together a lower bracket run.

Team Cruelty Team Cruelty Inactive HellFull Andres Vallejo GabZ Gabriel Andrade , previously a third-place finisher in LAN's Stage 2: Challengers, first knocked Chivas down with a 2-1 win. The Mexican squad kept their heads down in the lower bracket and ran through Illicit, upset Border Monsters Border Monsters Latin America North Rank #8 KODA Gerardo Sepúlveda k1yo Ángel Xool mNo Tendux mega , and got revenge over Team Cruelty to reach the lower final. RETA Esports put an end to Chivas' run, securing the final LAN slot with a 2-1 victory.

In the South, Optix Optix Inactive ganter Bastian Eduardo Reinoso Fross Fernando Gallagher D1E Diego Contreras Tio Carlos Swing gio Giovani Cristobal Lainati Ruz carried over their strong form from 2022. After finishing fourth in both LAS Challengers events, they managed a flawless run in the closed qualifier that kept them firmly in LATAM competition. Their final match was against Newstar Newstar Inactive LeoZ Feysend Felipe Sánchez 1kuzohh raizen Alejandro Mezcua kynsinho Carlos Soto , who had previously beat Optix 3-0 in the Fibra Pro Shot tournament in September.

The lower bracket was filled with lesser-known names whose first big showing was this qualifier. EBRO Gaming EBRO Gaming Inactive Kardash Mateo Verni Liu Haitam pepzet CrayZ nachitt Juan Ignacio Palesi , who had been relegated by Newstar, rematched with them in the lower final to decide the final LAS VCL slot. EBRO got the upper hand this time, biting back with a 2-0 victory that placed them into the LAS VCL.

LATAM

While Latin America typically hosts separate tournaments for the North and the South, the best teams from both subregions usually clash to decide which teams will reach international events. Information regarding the Americas Ascension tournament isn't yet known.

Like in EMEA and the Pacific, the best teams from each VCL in the Americas will fight amongst themselves in the Ascension tournament, which will give one team the chance to participate in the VCT Americas League, where they'll be able to fight for spots at Masters and Champions events.