VRL playoffs recap: Your VALORANT Challengers Promotion Tournament teams decided

Mar 24, 2022

Joined by BIG and SuperMassive Blaze from VCT Challengers Stage 1, all of the regional representatives will duke it out for a place at VCT Challengers Stage 2, with two spots up for grabs.

But just who will we be watching battle it out on the plains of Future Earth? Here are all of the teams that have qualified so far, with the MENA squad still to be determined.

VALORANT Challengers Promotion Tournament: Dates

You’ll be able to watch all of the VALORANT Challengers Promotion action from April 1 to April 10.

VALORANT Challengers Promotion Tournament: Teams

Below are the eight teams that are confirmed to be taking part in the tournament:

VRL Recap: All regional finals

DACH: Evolution

Our journey begins in DACH: Evolution, where FOKUS took down original frontrunners MOUZ and Angry Titans to snatch the glory.

Facing off against Wave Esports across Fracture and Ascent, the squad walked away victorious with an impressive 2 - 0 series under their belt. Making use of Neon, Omen, and Brimstone, future opponents better beware; FOKUS’ Agent pool is basically an ocean.

East: Surge

With Group Stage titans NOM Esports knocked out of the playoffs before the true fighting began, AWARIA took on Anonymo Mentos in a back and forth series spanning five maps.

Unfortunately for AWARIA, they began to run out of steam across Breeze and Icebox, with the blissful ocean paradise becoming the site of a dominant 13 - 3 for Anonymo Mentos. Keeping a cool head on Icebox, Anonymo Mentos walked away with the crown after an intense set of matches.

France: Revolution

In a playoffs tournament characterised by upsets, Sector One secured their spot in the VCT Challengers Promotion Tournament by taking down some of esports’ finest.

Up against Team BDS, the iconic org certainly put up a fight, with the series ending 18 - 16 in overtime on Breeze. Despite being 2 - 0 down, Tony ‘Goaster’ Richard fragging it out on Jett and Raze led to a reverse sweep that had us on the edge of our seats. As Sector One progress to the next stage of the competition, we can expect to see this Duelist firing on all cylinders

Northern Europe: Polaris

EXCEL may have just missed VCT Challengers Stage 1, but falling at the final hurdle has clearly lit a fire within Britain’s finest.

Sent into the lower bracket by TENSTAR, the squad fought through frontrunners Alliance and rivals TUNDRA to make face their relegators once more. While Neon didn’t bring them luck on Bind, they dominated across the remaining three maps, securing that all important spot in the next round.

Spain: Rising

Spain brought the fire to EMEA’s Regional Leagues, and the region’s grand final was no different. An explosive matchup between relative underdogs Case Esports and Rebels Gaming, the latter squad conquered KOI and Team Queso in their ultimately victorious run.

Another best of five that went the whole way, both teams fought fire with fire, with Mexican Duelist Reyna even making an appearance despite largely falling out of the meta. Dismissing everything in her way and draining souls, the feisty Mexicana helped Rebels earn their place at the VCT Challengers Promotion Tournament.

Turkey: Birlik

When titans clash the earth shakes, and that’s exactly what happened in Turkey. Group stage frontrunners Fire Flux Esports clashed with Surreal Esports in a battle for the ages, eventually put to bed by Surreal.

While Fire Flux started out strong, Surreal swept them aside in later maps to claim a 3 - 1 victory. They’ll meet fellow Turks SuperMassive Blaze in the Promotion Tournament, meaning that Turkey certainly has a shot at scoring an extra VALORANT Challengers Stage 2 slot.

VALORANT Challengers Promotion Tournament: What to expect

The stage is set and we’re about to pull back the curtains on this all-new competition; but there are a few things you’ll need to know first.

As we mentioned before, BIG and SuperMassive Blaze will join the squads in this tournament following their relegation from the main Challengers event. Teams will be split into two groups (A and B), where the top two teams will be given a seed in Challengers 2. This means there will not be a grand final, simply winners of the upper and lower brackets.