Stage 1 Challengers competition is coming to a close soon, and the rest of the Valorant world is gearing up for what's to come in the future. Here's what you might have missed this past week.

This week's edition covers news from March 5 - March 11.

• Read more: News Almost Missed March 4

Roster Changes

• FaZe Clan FaZe Clan Inactive POISED Kevin Ngo mummAy Anthony DiPaolo TiGG Tanner Spanu BABYBAY Andrej Francisty supamen Phat Le have parted ways with assistant coach Thomas "Trippy" Schappy after a year together, as he now explores his options as a professional player.
• Corbin "C0M" Lee has announced that he is looking for a new team as a restricted free agent. His announcement leaves his former team - Akrew Akrew Inactive gucc107 Andrew Gutnichenko Neon Austin Hedge Paincakes Jake Hass jovahnii Jovanni Miramontes ZachaREEE Zachary Lombardo - with four active members.
• Ghost Gaming Ghost Gaming Inactive koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio NiSMO Marc-Andre Tayar aproto Alex Protopapas brawk Brock Somerhalder johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid have benched in-game leader Ryan "ryann" Welsh.
• / Cloud9 Academy Cloud9 Academy Inactive geeza Tanner McGhee nillyaz Chase Linder have added three players: Muhtadi "b0ssy" Al-Sammarraee, geeza , and Chase "nillyaz" Linder.
• Shopify Rebellion GC Shopify Rebellion GC Inactive have said goodbye to itnothan . It is the first personnel change the team has made since September 2021, when the team added Rob "robwiz" Kennedy as a coach.
• Adam "Ange" Milian has announced himself an unrestricted free agent, leaving Kyle "ScrewFace" Jensen as DarkZero Esports DarkZero Esports Inactive 's only active player.
• IRIS IRIS Inactive ANGELKA Angela Nikolovska hindberjum Marina Troitskaya HellRose Ivelina Danova Nessa Vanessa Ahlström niciplesss Nikolett Keszeli , semifinalists in the Huntress Trials February tournament, have been picked up by GODSENT and are now GODSENT IRIS GODSENT IRIS Inactive niciplesss Nikolett Keszeli Nessa Vanessa Ahlström Melzz Melinda BlomQvist .
• After Anja "aNNja" Vasalic and UNtapped UNtapped Inactive mediKa Annika Lambertz Nariel Yaren Cirit Sylva Anna Bruce-Doig Lil Bob mutually parted ways, B3AUTIFUL has also left the team. They have been replaced by Jade and Lada "htm" Kozhemyakina.
• / After finishing last in the Northern Europe Regional League, Jaf and Brandon "Phardon" Perez Testa have announced their departures from H2O H2O Inactive Alyx Alex Morrow ri4d Riad Smajilovic FakeAnanas Alex Semec Hadi Hadi Jalali Jaf Brandon Jafarpouran .
• / Rui "VTaguT" Ribeiro has joined Rebels Gaming Rebels Gaming Inactive as a substitute player.
• After not playing for Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #5 Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish ComeBack Berkcan Şentürk Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius since February 24, Alhan "Jakexd" Meguenni is now a free agent and looking for options.
• After mutually terminating their contract with Vexed Gaming Vexed Gaming Inactive Luca Lukey petals Ben Colledge Lew Lewis Grant-Smith kingHaS Henry Simmons , the team have stayed together under the M4LIK M4LIK Europe Rank #179 narky poo Jake robz Clotaire Lainé kingHaS Henry Simmons banner.
• / Hristiyan "Extreme" Trifonov and mcnuggets have both revealed that they are in search of new opportunities outside of Movistar Riders Movistar Riders Inactive Nixerino Nicolás Canellas Colocho YuNo Eloy García Vorwenn Tomas Baldrich Blastinho Miquel llombart Pando .
• / Kamil "baddyG" Graniczka has joined FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks as a substitute player, according to coach Carl "d00mbr0s" Erik Victor William Sandgren.
• / Evgeniy "Winteryrook" Lenko has revealed that 5MOKES 5MOKES Inactive sickrey Nikolay Novozhilov SimonD4rk Alexandr Skovbel sharyk Normund Faterins xenon Vladimir Lobov Winteryrook Evgeniy Lenko has disbanded.
• / Alessandro "Tenebra" Marenzi has joined Team RA'AD Team RA'AD MENA Rank #2 Shalaby Mohamed Shalaby Shniider Yousef Osama Kero Kerolos Talaat Depyro Nour Sherif SkaNoodles Yousef Mohamed Yassien Yassien Ahmed in preparation for the upcoming MENA Regional League Grand Final.
• Kaan "Brasco" Elver announced his departure from Fire Flux Vatangame Fire Flux Vatangame Inactive OXMANN Aytekin Çakır Burzzy Burak Özveren MerSa Mert Saatcı Lava Murat Varol oroni Ömer Açar after being benched in October. Additionally, the organization has bid farewell to coach Çağrı "KyRo" Bolat.
• FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #19 xeus Doğan Gözgen MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak KROSTALY Okan Alaçam baha Baha Gözmen AtaKaptan Ata Tan qRaxs Doğukan Balaban have acquired Serhat "Muj" Yüksel on loan from BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #6 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen sociablEE Volkan Yonal PROFEK Dawid Święć LewN Burak Alkan .
• Coach Agustín "supppppp" Mauas is now a free agent, following Border Monsters Border Monsters Latin America North Rank #10 KODA Gerardo Sepúlveda k1yo Ángel Xool mNo mega 's group stage exit from the LAN Stage 1: Challengers.
• KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #2 Dantedeu5 Jesús Federico Larrosa have announced the addition of Hector "wait" Paucay to their team as a substitute player.
• Botafogo eSports Botafogo eSports Inactive DRAGziKW Elias Santiles Urango Victor Rodrigues Nether Iago Santos nandinh0 Fernando Brenha wilfps Willian Bello have replaced their previous Valorant roster with SEMORGAINDA SEMORGAINDA Inactive wilfps Willian Bello Nether Iago Santos Hagon Erick Sonsino cortex razor awAKe nandinh0 Fernando Brenha Urango Victor Rodrigues in preparation for Brazil's VCT Stage 2.
• Lucas "Luskka" Rentechen has officially joined Rise Gaming Rise Gaming Inactive luqz Lucas Dias Tak1 Vitor Tak Luskka Lucas Rentechen , replacing Cristobal "l4cerr" Chaparro.
• REJECT REJECT Japan Rank #12 Yoshiii John Yoshiharu Kawakami MeatPieN hiroronn Hiroki Yanai Jremy Jeremy Cabrera have parted ways with Masahiro "Feez" Morisaki.
• Dhammamitta "margeaux" Marvella has departed Alter Ego Celeste Alter Ego Celeste Inactive Alluka Tiara Bonilla Pleno Eisberg July Kusuma enerii Odella Abraham Ayumiii Nurul Aini nabbsky Nabila Sulthana .
• Franc "ABATMAN" Lenard Meija has joined Action PH Action PH Inactive SouL Daddie Shunmar Bellita eugeneS Eugene Serrano Narpim Clark Karoll Landrito SecondLove Sovano Alvin Daniel L. Oronce Worship Ian Ga as a temporary stand-in for the team's upcoming matches in the APAC Challengers Playoffs.
• Velocity Gaming Velocity Gaming Asia-Pacific Rank #5 SkRossi Ganesh Gangadhar have welcomed Nikhil "sieh" Bhansali to their team as an analyst. Additionally, the team parted ways with its Game Changers roster, VLT Asteria VLT Asteria Inactive ShreyUwU Shreya Prasad BriTSy Iqra Khan .
• / After standing in for NASR Esports NASR Esports Inactive phaze Karim Fouad zodiac Seddik Diani Chwepes Mohamed Ali Bellamine for the past two weeks, Sofian "b2kk" Delimi has announced his return to free agency.
• / After exiting the Regional League MENA: Levant & NA playoffs in the top four, Abderraouf "4FuNNie2k" Rebai has announced he's open for offers for Split 2 of the Regional Leagues.
• The former Trident Esports Trident Esports Inactive Howie Hao-Quang Nguyen Blessed Arvin Latkaee MKII Myth Matthew Tarnawskyj MaiShiu Matthew Wu Bonobo Jason Jia squad, playing under Crima's Disciples Crima's Disciples Inactive Marsh William Marshall Pocket Joshua Haworth MaiShiu Matthew Wu Myth Matthew Tarnawskyj Klockzy Lachlan Burke , have disbanded, citing the lack of organization and "increasing commitments and necessities" off the server as main motives.

Results

• Nearest Airport Nearest Airport Inactive melya Emily Khan k0rupt Wylie Watts BlackMoose Shawn Fox Uncreative Kuba Kosiba Tn won the BoomTV Proving Grounds $20k - Spring 2022 open qualifier after beating teams like Knights Academy Knights Academy Inactive and DarkZero Esports DarkZero Esports Inactive . In the grand final, they bested Oxygen Academy Oxygen Academy Inactive Rustun Rustun Lusk Verno Andrew Maust Welshy Liam Newhouse to claim the top seed and the largest share of the $20,000 USD prize pool.
• HEET HEET Inactive Kinguyen Nguyen Thach memset Laurent Werly b2kk Sofian Delimi Monstrum Jake Byrne waddle Wadir Taraki took first place in the Surfshark Valorant Challenge by defeating Finest Finest Inactive DESTRUCT1VEE Hakan Lekesizer Kicks Kimmie Laasner bonkar Malkolm Rench in the grand finals.
• / Alter Ego Celeste Alter Ego Celeste Inactive Alluka Tiara Bonilla Pleno Eisberg July Kusuma enerii Odella Abraham Ayumiii Nurul Aini nabbsky Nabila Sulthana defeated X10 Sapphire X10 Sapphire Inactive Poly Patcharapron Sanitchai JinNy Sarindhorn Wanothayarnchai Muffyn Chalita Buathong babytz Pornlapat Wittayanan alyssa Annitta Peerwantanagul in the grand finals of the first APAC Game Changers open in a back-and-forth battle that went the distance in the best-of-five series.
• Weibo Gaming Weibo Gaming China Rank #15 TryTryz Lu Shiwei (卢世炜) Star1og Jun Chao Liang (梁竣超) DRK R1ckLeexD Li Xu (李旭) finished atop the competition in the FGC Valorant Invitational 2022: Act 1 following a 3-1 grand finals victory over EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #3 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) .

Matches to Watch

• The first phase of the Skyesports Grand Slam will conclude next week. In the upper final, Enigma Gaming Enigma Gaming Inactive Divine Yeoh Chun Ting FREY Ingram Tan STYRON Tidus Goh Xan artn Ayrton Soh and Team Snakes Team Snakes Inactive Bloody Zain Talha soulM8 Muhammad Usman KHG dem0n shanee gothchild will clash to determine who advances to the grand final. The teams that remain in the lower bracket are True Rippers True Rippers Inactive Ri0 Atharv Ahire Marcai BatmaN R0meo WAT Lewis Watson RvK Rishi Vijayakumar , Orgless 5 Orgless 5 Inactive Asitte Hassan Aseel Rasheed psy Simar Sethi Whimp Saaransh Dang hacker Vikrant Pujari blackhawk Shailesh Dalvi godvexy Sameer Sharma , Exceeli Esports Exceeli Esports Inactive Hermione Tasawf Zami zoloCRAZY Shihab Imtiaz M1SYL Tahsin Ashrafee RozsteR Kyojin , and Team Valor Team Valor Inactive Stroky BuLL3T Aditya Kajari Busterrr Sharan Dave Pashasahil Mast3r Varun Menon .

Other News

• / According to Dot Esports, Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #4 N4RRATE Marshall Massey Reduxx Yassin Aboulalazm johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid Kyu Mirel Braco Hrustemovic cortezia Gabriel Cortez have trialed multiple candidates to fill in the vacancy created by the departure of Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty. Among the candidates named in the report include former Overwatch League player Luis “iRemiix” Galarza Figueroa.
• / After past reports stated that Iyengaran "iyen" Raju would be benched from Soniqs Soniqs Inactive , the team has now backtracked on that decision, according to Dot Esports As a result, Jason "JSUNG" Sung has requested to be benched. Reid "x0tek" Johnson has left the team, while Ethan "Crunchy" Laker has played for DarkZero in BoomTV Proving Grounds $20k - Spring 2022 and trialed for other teams. However, a recent update from Max “purest” Katz on the shuffle has revealed that Crunchy has returned from the team's bench.
• / Jesper "TENZKI" Mikalski and William "draken" Sundin have both made a return to CS:GO, now playing under the orgless roster of Savage.
• Reports have come out stating that TENSTAR TENSTAR Inactive Br0die Jack Emmott KRAY Calum Knight Polvi Niko Polvinen xms Alexandre Forté doma Domagoj Fancev players and staff have not been paid. According to an in-depth article from Esports News UK's Dom Sacco, a total of £300,00 GBP are owed to the more than 50 laid-off staff, with the majority of the blame being put on Adamo Gaming, TENSTAR's parent company.
• On March 10, Dot Esports revealed FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks would be withholding Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov's salary from March 15 if he remained unable to play due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After Prodigy Agency founder Jérôme Coupez contacted FPX, he revealed the situation had been resolved and ANGE1's salary will be payed in full after a private apology from Chun Li, FPX's CEO.
• Korea Stage 1: Challengers playoffs will host a live audience. The event will be held at Sangam Colosseum in Seoul, South Korea, featuring on-site events, goodies and more. Tickets are available for purchase online, starting at ₩8,000 KRW (~$6 USD).

Eutalyx contributed to this recap.