The Challengers Leagues in Brazil and Latin America have concluded, and two teams from each region have locked in their spots for Americas Ascension.
Ascension is the annual clash between Challengers teams to claim one available spot in VCT Americas. In 2023,
The Guard
The Guard
Inactive
JonahP
Jonah Pulice
trent
Trent Cairns
neT
Michael Bernet
valyn
Jacob Batio
tex
Ian Botsch
(now
G2 Esports
G2 Esports
North America
Rank #2
icy
Jacob Lange
trent
Trent Cairns
valyn
Jacob Batio
JonahP
Jonah Pulice
leaf
Nathan Orf
) became the first team in Americas to ascend and will represent the region at Champions this week.
The top two teams from North America, Brazil, and LATAM will play in a single round robin group stage, each match a best-of-three. The top four teams from the group stage will face off in a double elimination playoff bracket to crown a champion.
Challengers League Brazil: Galorys and 2Game Esports
Galorys
Galorys
Brazil
Rank #2
Urango
Victor Rodrigues
rood
Rodrigo Gomes
Evilkyk
Kayke Arrais
lukxo
Lucca Travaioli
Sato
was the first Brazilian team to secure their place in Ascension with a 3-1 victory over
THE 7
THE 7
Brazil
Rank #3
shion
Gabriel Vilela
pollo
Julio Silva
ghoul33
blowz
prince
Lorran S. Ferreira
in the grand finals of Split 2 on Sunday.
After an underwhelming 3-6 regular season in Split 2, the team rallied and blazed a path through play-ins and playoffs, only dropping a series to THE 7 in the upper bracket final.
Despite THE 7's higher placement in playoffs, Galorys' victory sent
2Game Esports
2Game Esports
Brazil
Rank #4
Zap
Brenno Roberto
pryze
Luis-Henrique Viveiros
lz
Luiz Reche
spike
silentzz
Caio Morita
to Ascension based on circuit points. 2Game amassed 115 points versus THE 7's 80 throughout the year.
The four-map final opened with a thrilling 13-11 victory for THE 7 on Lotus. However, Galorys successfully adapted to THE 7's Iso-centric double duelist compositions and comfortably took Bind 13-8, Split 13-6, and Ascent 13-7.
Both teams' controller players distinguished themselves; THE 7's pollo recorded top kills on three out of four maps, while lukxo demonstrated a 20/10 K/D on Bind and a server-high 1.20 rating in the series. Galorys' duelist Sato also consistently performed throughout the series with an impressive 270 ACS and 171 ADR.
All 10 of the players representing Brazil are newcomers to Ascension and will compete for the most coveted prize in Challengers.
Challengers League LATAM: RETA Esports and All Knights
In Latin America, the top two teams in circuit points from the LATAM North and LATAM South leagues converged in a four team double-elimination bracket to qualify the top two teams.
RETA Esports
RETA Esports
Latin America North
Unranked
suther
Tomás Zurita
delz1k
Joaquin Espinoza
NagZ
Juan Pablo Lopez
snw
Miguel Marcondes
murizzz
Murillo Tuchtenhagen
defeated
All Knights
All Knights
Latin America South
Unranked
NicoMachine
Nicolas Valla
Cebando
Ezequiel Ramos
Dantedeu5
adverso
Benjamín Poblete
tinchoff
Martin Garcia
in an exceptional 3-2 reverse sweep in the winner's match to secure the first spot on Saturday.
All Knights took Haven and Lotus convincingly, with All Knights' duelist
Dantedeu5
leading with a combined 42 kills and 13 first kills to only one first death. However, RETA rebounded on Bind thanks to headliner performances from two familiar faces:
NagZ
and
delz1k
, both of whom formerly played for
KRÜ Esports
KRÜ Esports
Latin America South
Rank #3
keznit
Angelo Mori
mta
Nicolás González
Shyy
Fabian Usnayo
Melser
Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro
heat
Olavo Marcelo
. The last two maps were strong displays of mental fortitude from RETA as they won Ascent 13-10 from behind 10-7 score and Abyss 13-9 from an 8-8 score.
All Knights had one last chance to qualify in the decider match against
E-Xolos LAZER
E-Xolos LAZER
Latin America North
Rank #2
Mited
Luis Gutierrez
Jow
Juan Camilo Preciado Ordoñez
Feniz
Thomas Molina
Virtyy
Leandro Moreno
Darker
Sebastián Castro Cicuamia
the next day and capitalized on it in a close 3-2 victory.
The five-map series played out in back-and-forth fashion. At first, it seemed that the previous loss had affected All Knights as they dropped Haven 13-5, where E-Xolos' duelist Virtyy dropped a stunning 27 kills and 436 ACS. However, All Knights countered with a 13-5 of their own on Sunset. Map three was the closest in the series, with All Knights barely closing out Lotus 13-11 after a dominant 10-2 first half.
In the decider on Ascent, All Knights sealed E-Xolos' fate on the back of a remarkable performance from Cebando on Omen, who racked up 22 kills and a 1.75 rating. Virtyy topped the scoreboard for the series with 98 kills, 30 of which were first kills.
Of the 10 players representing LATAM, NagZ, delz1k,
murizzz
(formerly of
MIBR
MIBR
Brazil
Rank #23
mazin
Matheus Araújo
artzin
Arthur Araujo
Palla
Davi Alcides
rich
Gabriel Rosa
liazzi
Felipe Galiazzi
), and
adverso
(formerly of
LEVIATÁN
LEVIATÁN
Latin America South
Rank #1
tex
Ian Botsch
kiNgg
Francisco Aravena
aspas
Erick Santos
C0M
Corbin Lee
) will seek returns to tier one, while the rest will reach for the summit as fresh faces.
The best of the best will vie for the ultimate prize. (Photo by Pavilhão Pacaembu/Riot Games)
Ascension
Ascension will begin on Sept. 10 in Monterrey, Mexico. The six participating teams will compete in a round robin of best-of-three matches, with the top four advancing to the double elimination playoff stage starting Sept. 18.
The teams qualified for Ascension are:
-
Galorys
Galorys Brazil Rank #2 Urango Victor Rodrigues rood Rodrigo Gomes Evilkyk Kayke Arrais lukxo Lucca Travaioli Sato (Brazil)
-
2Game Esports
2Game Esports Brazil Rank #4 Zap Brenno Roberto pryze Luis-Henrique Viveiros lz Luiz Reche spike silentzz Caio Morita (Brazil)
-
RETA Esports
RETA Esports Latin America North Unranked suther Tomás Zurita delz1k Joaquin Espinoza NagZ Juan Pablo Lopez snw Miguel Marcondes murizzz Murillo Tuchtenhagen (LATAM North)
-
All Knights
All Knights Latin America South Unranked NicoMachine Nicolas Valla Cebando Ezequiel Ramos Dantedeu5 adverso Benjamín Poblete tinchoff Martin Garcia (LATAM South)
-
M80
M80 North America Rank #1 zander Alexander Dituri NiSMO Marc-Andre Tayar koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio neT Michael Bernet BcJ Brendan Jensen (North America)
-
TSM
TSM North America Rank #6 seven Johann Hernandez gMd Anthony Guimond sym Tyler Porter POISED Kevin Ngo aproto Alex Protopapas (North America)