This year’s VALORANT Challengers League Americas Ascension tournament marks the end of VALORANT’s second year in its league partnership system. The winner of this 6 team tournament will join the likes of Sentinels, 100 Thieves, and LOUD in the VALORANT Champions Tour Americas circuit. North America, Latin America, and Brazil have each sent two of their best teams to fight for the ultimate right to go against the best that Americas has to offer. This year’s VCL Americas Ascension tournament takes place in Monterrey, Mexico from September 10-21 at the Backstage venue.
MEET THE TEAMS
North America
M80
Duelist - koalanoob
Flex - NiSMO
Initiator - BcJ
Controller - Zander
Sentinel - neT
———
Head Coach - Happy
Coach - Gunter
M80 has returned to the Ascension tourney after last year’s runner-up result. After making a roster change at the start of the year with the addition of BcJ and Nitr0 having lost JohnQT and Eeiu, the team managed to continue performing at a high level, but fell short of a top result during their Mid-Season Cup.
M80 then made a mid-season roster change with the addition of neT in place of Nitr0 and have since built an 8-0 record throughout almost all of VCL North America Stage 2. Their players’ consistent statlines along with their resilience of playing from behind in 2nd halves has been tremendously commendable. M80’s unconventional Lotus non-duelist, triple sentinel comp has brought them continued success and is sure to be a powerful tool should teams elect not to target ban the map. Will the team be able to finally join the big dogs in tier 1 or fall at the finish line yet again?
TSM
Duelist - sym
Flex - seven
Initiator - POISED
Controller - gMd
Sentinel - aproto
———
Head Coach - Faded
Probably one of the least expected teams among those attending is TSM. Having achieved no higher than 5th place across VCL North America’s Stage 1 and 2 and the Mid-Season Cup, the fan expectations of TSM were instead looking towards the next season.
However, an early fall to the lower bracket of VCL North America Stage 2 Playoffs into an outstanding performance by the collective team propelled them into NA’s #2 Ascension slot. A dominant Bind 3-0 record has cemented the map as a favorite of the team. Seven’s breakout playoff performance alongside Sym’s staggering 66/61 first kills to first deaths numbers conveys a ridiculous amount of opening duels.
The remaining kryptonite of the team is M80 themselves, having been unable to claim a map against the #1 seed across their 2 matchups in playoffs. Time will tell if this impressive performance will last in order to complete the run or if they cooled off after their month-long break.
LATAM
RETA Esports
Duelist - snw
Flex - suther
Initiator - murizzz
Controller - delz1k
Sentinel - NagZ
———
Head Coach - WKN
Coach - joman
RETA Esports are bringing a level of dominance of LATAM North close to levels of Apeks of VCL EMEA last year, at an unreal 16-3 match record. RETA has recruited previous KRU players, NagZ and delz1k alongside former MIBR’s Murizzz to provide high-quality experience to the team.
Both Bind and Ascent have been consistent battlegrounds for them with fairly standard compositions. This standard level of play, however, can be easily improved on and leveled up. Have they achieved the level needed to lift the trophy?
All Knights
Duelist - Dantedeu5
Flex - NicoMachine
Initiator - adverso
Controller - Cebando
Sentinel - tinchoff
———
Head Coach - ZONYK
Analyst - bast1
LATAM as a region has had the fortune to send one team each from both the North and South. Hailing from the South end are the Argentinians from All Knights. Generally speaking, All Knights have had a fairly successful year with the bane of their existence being 9z Team before they finally defeated their rivals (3-1) at the conclusion of their 2nd split.
The long standing core team pulled together the addition of Dantedeu5 for the 2024 season and recently integrated the Neon meta into more of their compositions with the star duelist. Their initiator adverso has also brought along tier 1 experience after a year stint with Leviatan including a few international tournaments.
Brazil
Galorys
Duelist - Sato
Flex - Urango
Initiator - Evilkyk
Controller - lukxo
Sentinel - rood
———
Coach - shaW
Sub - DRAGziKW, hide
The roster of MIXX have been playing together as a collective for nearly 2 years total with Galorys acquiring the roster under their banner for the 2024 season. The roster had a rough mid season with back to back 4 streak losses with a single win dividing them.
However, their recent streak of winning 6 of their last 7 games through their regional and all-around playoffs has propelled them into the #1 spot for Brazil VCL with star performances from lukxo and Sato. Will the team be able to join VCT and perhaps bolster Brazil’s strength?
2Game Esports
Duelist - spike
Flex - Iz
Initiator - pryze
Controller - silentzz
Sentinel - Zap
———
Head Coach - faithz0r
Coach - Yushi
Similar to Galorys, the 2Game Esports roster has been a long standing core of players that have stuck together for more than a year’s time. Once again, like their Brazilian comrades, they too had a rough mid-season but were then able to string multiple wins together throughout split 2.
Their last hurdle remains the Galorys team. The 2GE squad are currently on the losing end of a 1-3 record against their rivals across this year. Will 2Game Esports finally be able to trump their big brother and claim the Ascension trophy?
About the Writer
Hello all! My name’s Dante, otherwise known as “Dayeus.” I’m a young, aspiring journalist/content creator looking to work more Valorant esports content. This is my first public piece about VCT and Valorant esports. I’ve been following Valorant’s esports scene since the game’s inception and hope to one day grow my knowledge and ability to inform to not just mine but yours, the reader’s, expectations. Please understand that my writing is a work in progress and I’ll keep looking to improve it. Thanks for reading!
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