We check out the wild card teams that, against all odds, managed to book a ticket to Istanbul.
VCT Champions Istanbul 2022 is just a few days away and sets the stage where 16 of the best teams in VALORANT will be battling to see who will be crowned Champions. Split into four groups, the top two from each group will go on to play in the Playoffs to see who will head into the Grand Final, and eventually, be crowned as the best team of VALORANT for 2022.
The four teams we have here today are the wild card teams; we have seen the hot teams at Champions. They worked extra hard to find themselves on the flight to Turkiye to see if they can grab the title for themselves and prove that the best winner can come from behind.
EDward Gaming
The surprising participant for this Champions, Edward Gaming won their spot in the East Asia Last Chance Qualifiers against other teams in the East Asia region. What makes their qualification more amazing is that they are a China-based team, where VALORANT is not officially available.
Even so, they have been making waves in the Chinese VALORANT community, where they frequently top the charts in the events, they participated in. This event will be their official international debut, so we will have to wait and see how they fair on the international stage.
Our Prediction: They may not pass the group stage, but it will be a precious playing experience for them.
100 Thieves
As one of the top teams for VALORANT in 2021, 2022 has not been a good year so far for the Americans. While they participated in both Challengers Stages for Reykjavik and Copenhagen, they fell in the opening stages of Stage 1 and only managed to last until the lower bracket semi-finals for Stage 2.
Overall, 100 Thieves showed that they have the guts and gumption to see themselves on that flight to Istanbul. At the Last Chance Qualifier, they beat The Guard – arguably one of the best teams in North America for the spot at Champions. They also beat teams like FaZe Clan and Cloud9 to book their place. With a 59% win in tournaments the team participated in so far, we can expect 100 Thieves to try and steal a win whenever possible.
Our Prediction: Quarter Finals at the minimum.
BOOM Esports
The plucky Indonesians emerged as the winner at the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers, where they beat teams like ONIC Esports and Bleed eSports. Their run during the LCQ was smooth sailing, as they never dipped into the lower bracket in their journey to the Grand Final.
The team did play in the previous two Stages for Masters Reykjavik and Masters Copenhagen, but in both campaigns, the team’s journey was thwarted by Xerxia, who is also in Istanbul. The two teams will not be meeting each other in the group stages, so Boom will need to keep their grudge match against Xerxia in the playoff stage.
Our Prediction: The Indonesians could move out of the playoff stage but will face stiff competition once the Playoffs begin.
Fnatic
As the only team in the list here who has been to the prior Masters, Fnatic is set to participate in their second Champions after finishing 5th – 8th in last year’s edition. This year, they emerged as champion at the EMEA Stage 2 Challengers, and also placed 4th at Masters Copenhagen.
Their run in VCT 2022 has been mostly filled with wins – it was just their luck that they placed behind FPX in the points standing for EMEA. Placed in Group D, with DRX, FURIA and 100 Thieves, they could be the black sheep in that group as they try to head into the playoffs.
Our Prediction: Fnatic will last until the semi-finals before facing tougher competition.
The wild card teams will be competing with the rest of the teams in Champions Istanbul, happening from 31 August to 18 September, with the Playoffs stage played in front of an audience at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul, Turkiye.
