The first open qualifier for VCT NA Stage 2 took place over the weekend, and
NRG Esports
NRG Esports
North America
Rank #4
FiNESSE
Pujan Mehta
s0m
Sam Oh
Verno
Andrew Maust
mada
Adam Pampuch
Ethan
Ethan Arnold
,
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan
Inactive
POISED
Kevin Ngo
mummAy
Anthony DiPaolo
TiGG
Tanner Spanu
BABYBAY
Andrej Francisty
supamen
Phat Le
,
TSM
TSM
North America
Rank #10
Recoil
seven
Johann Hernandez
gMd
Anthony Guimond
vora
sym
Tyler Porter
, and
Luminosity
Luminosity
Inactive
moose
Kaleb Jayne
mada
Adam Pampuch
dazzLe
Will Loafman
bdog
Brandon Sanders
TiGG
Tanner Spanu
punched their ticket to the group stage.
The first team to qualify was NRG. After failing to make the playoffs in Stage 1, the team picked up former
100 Thieves
100 Thieves
North America
Rank #8
zander
Alexander Dituri
Cryocells
Matthew Panganiban
eeiu
Daniel Vucenovic
Boostio
Kelden Pupello
Asuna
Peter Mazuryk
player Ethan "Ethan"
Arnold. In their first appearance with Ethan, they showed excellent form, defeating
Lenny Time
Lenny Time
Inactive
renz
Austin Dickman
MOCKING
furbsa
Hunter Mcmillan
Shawn12590
Shawn O'Riley
curry
Rahul Nemani
,
Zero MarksMen Black
Zero MarksMen Black
Inactive
Tim
Timothy Braun
Blahst
Nathan Brand
yiinel
Elias Soto
Nanners
Anderson Lutkehus
, and fellow relegated competitor
Knights
Knights
Inactive
in 2-0 fashion.
Their qualification game came against pre-tournament favorites
Version1
Version1
Inactive
who dominated NRG's group in Stage 1. Although Version1 were using Matthew "WARDELL"
Yu as a substitute for Maxim "wippie"
Shepelev, they still presented the tallest hurdle for NRG to overcome. In a two map series, Version1 took leads of 11-6 and 8-5 but were unable to prevent the comebacks as NRG took both maps 13-11.
On the other side of the upper bracket, the new FaZe Clan roster triumphed over
Run it Down
Run it Down
Inactive
THOOMER
Thomas Park
Bobovo
evaD
ZeroData
and
VIRTUOSO
VIRTUOSO
Inactive
King
Aiden King
Eley
Zach Stauffer
DBK
Dylan Bazic-Kulangiev
Blahst
Nathan Brand
snxper
Louis Lama
before running into
Sentinels
Sentinels
North America
Rank #3
N4RRATE
Marshall Massey
bang
Sean Bezerra
Zellsis
Jordan Montemurro
zekken
Zachary Patrone
johnqt
Mohamed Amine Ouarid
. FaZe knocked the former Masters Reykjavik champions down to the lower bracket in an extremely close 13-11 map three victory.
To qualify for the group stage, they would have to go through the new look TSM squad. Both sides traded easy victories on the first two maps, but the final map of Haven provided the dramatic big name clash fans had been hoping for. FaZe narrowly survived in double overtime to clinch their spot in the group stage.
FaZe secured overtime off the back of this triple kill by Quan "dicey" TranTSM were the only team that did not receive a bye to the round of 32 that made the top eight of the event. In fact, out of the 24 teams that had to go through the multiple rounds of the bracket to reach the round of 32, they were the only team that managed to secure a win against the eight teams that did receive a bye.
The behemoth of an organization struggled to make a dent in the competitive scene over the past year and a half, but their rebuilt roster started off on the right foot in Stage 2. They capped off a five match win streak in the open qualifiers by taking down Stage 1 representatives 100T and Luminosity. That double overtime map three loss to FaZe kept their long awaited qualification at bay, but they had a second chance in the lower bracket.
A vengeful 100T took a dominant map one, but TSM battled back on the second. They let an 11-7 lead slip away, but kept themselves alive with a double overtime victory. The final map was a back and forth battle on Ascent with a 6-6 halftime score. With their tournament hopes on the line, TSM finally managed to push themselves across the line to qualify for their first VCT event of the year.
TSM eliminate 100T to qualify for the group stageThe final team to clinch their spot in the group stage was Luminosity. They kept the same roster that competed in the Stage 1 group stage and started the qualifier with wins over
Girl Kissers
Girl Kissers
Inactive
ROY
Roy Ahad
randyySAVAGE
Devon Bréard
Okeanos
Anthony Nguyen
duck
Chris Dutoit
RetrQ
Alex Kadan
and
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #1
Foxy9
Jung Jae-sung (정재성)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
yoman
Chae Young-moon (채영문)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
. A loss to TSM put them in the lower bracket, but they responded by eliminating
Built By Gamers Academy
Built By Gamers Academy
Inactive
BlackHeart
Hasan Hammad
monSi
Ludovic Lefebvre
khanartist
Nabil Khan
FireBallOps
Cameron Tomaselli
and Sentinels.
Their last opponent would be a Version1 squad with expectations of qualification. Luminosity ran away with the first map of Bind, but Version1 stood firm on their Ascent defense to even the series. Luminosity took a 10-4 lead on Breeze, however, they ran into a wall on their defense and let Version1 come back all the way to 10-10. Luminosity finally righted the ship to win a nail-biting 13-11 victory and become the fourth team to qualify for the group stage.
Brandon "bdog" Sanders clutches to win the seriesStage 2 is not over for all the teams that missed out on qualifying. The second open qualifiers begins on May 5 for the final four spots in the group stage. The main event will begin on May 14.