The Stage 2 Valorant Champions Tour Asia Pacific Challengers start today at 03:00 GMT, with Indonesia’s Boom Esports taking on Vietnam’s Cerberus Esports. You can read more about the tournament format and the stages here.
Let us look at the teams participating in the Play-ins stage for the tournament region-wise.
From South Asia, we have the second Seed in Enigma Gaming. They had an impressive run in the Skyesports Champions series, the South Asia qualifiers, where the lost just one match. The team is a powerhouse in South Asia and would bring the heat to the APAC.
From Hong Kong/ Taiwan, we have Ghetto Artists, who were undefeated in the VCT HK/TW qualifiers Group Stage but couldn’t close it out in the Playoffs losing to Griffin Esports, The first Seed from Hong Kong/ Taiwan. The team has some fantastic players and interesting agent compositions, and they sure would be here to win.
From Indonesia, we have Boom Esports, the third seed from the region. In the VCT, Indonesia qualifiers Boom had a dominant run, losing only to Alter Ego, the second Seed from Indonesia. The team has a pretty strong core and strong duelist, which would be crucial in the team’s performance.
From Malaysia/ Singapore, we have Bleed Esports, the third seed from the region. Bleed had a shaky start to the tournament, barely managing to qualify for VCT MY/SG Qualifiers Playoffs and even losing the opening playoff match, But the managed to survive the lower bracket, eventually losing only to Paper-Rex, Arguably the tournament favorites. Bleed would not yield to anyone and seek revenge from their peers at VCT APAC Challenger.
From Philipines, we have Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ), the third Seed from VCT APAC Qualifiers Philipines. They were the second seed in the VCT PH playoffs and qualified for VCT APAC Challengers by winning their opening match. They would surely bring the Filipino heart to the play-in stage and take revenge from the top seeds in VCT APAC Challengers.
From Thailand, Made in Thailand is the third seed representative. The team had a shaky start to the tournament and qualified for the VCT TH Qualifier playoffs as the 5th seed. They 2-0’d all their opponents in the playoffs except for Xerxia, the top Seed from Thailand, and FW esports, the second seed. The team would ensure they are up for a rematch against their peers and bring all their might to qualify for the VCT APAC Group Stage.
Lastly, from Vietnam, We have Cerberus Esports and Team Big BAAM. Cerberus Esports were almost unbeaten in the VCT VN group stage, losing only one match, and qualified as the second seed for the playoffs, and team Big Baam was the third seed losing 2/7 games.
In the playoffs, though, Fancy United made a miraculous lower bracket run to completely dominate all the teams in the region and become the first seed. Both Cerberus and Team Big BAAM qualified immediately after winning their opening games but fell to Fancy United to become the second and third seed from Vietnam.
These eight teams are divided into two groups, out of which a total of four teams would qualify for the group stage of Stage 2 VCT APAC Challengers.
The Fixtures for the Play-in stage would be as follows.
Group A:
9th June 03:00 GMT BOOM Esports vs CERBERUS esports.
10th June 06:00 GMT Made in Thailand vs. Enigma Gaming.
11th June 3:00 GMT Winners Game.
11th June 9:00 GMT Elimination Game.
12th June 3:00 GMT Decider Game.
Group B:
9th June 06:00 GMT Bleed vs. Ghetto Artists
10th June 03:00 GMT Rex Regum Qeon vs. Team Big BAAM.
11th June 6:00 GMT Winners Game.
11th June 12:00 GMT Elimination Game.
12th June 6:00 GMT Decider Game.
Out of these eight teams, only four would qualify for the Group Stage, and it would be grueling three days of Valorant for the Asian fans. All the teams would bring the region’s best and try to win the whole event. Good Luck to the teams, and may the best teams move forward.
