VCT Challengers competition is underway, and with it came a host of new headlines. Here's what you might have missed.
This week's edition covers news from April 23 - April 29.
- Read more: News Almost Missed April 22
Roster Changes
- / YFP Gaming YFP Gaming North America Rank #16 jakee Jake Anderson Will William Cheng penny Erik Penny thief Brady Dever fiziq Lucas Blow have re-entered Valorant by signing the core of Radiance Radiance Inactive Rebo Christopher Heindel FIEND Zander Bates venture Anthony Ziade sSef Youssef Daghache cheatcode Shaun Quinto plus former Renegades Renegades Inactive players Justin "Jerk" Milani and Alex "Lin" Gariépy.
- / Oxygen Academy Oxygen Academy Inactive Rustun Rustun Lusk Verno Andrew Maust Welshy Liam Newhouse coach Andy "Avhyno" Sanschagrin has revealed that he is no longer with the team, and is in search of new opportunities as a coach/analyst.
- / Akrew Akrew Inactive gucc107 Andrew Gutnichenko Neon Austin Hedge Paincakes Jake Hass jovahnii Jovanni Miramontes ZachaREEE Zachary Lombardo have added former Tundra Esports Tundra Esports Inactive bonkar Malkolm Rench Nille Nichlas Busk krea6on Vilius Malinauskas coaches Salah "salah" Barakat and Joseph "Strong" Edwards to their team.
- / HEET HEET Inactive Kinguyen Nguyen Thach memset Laurent Werly b2kk Sofian Delimi Monstrum Jake Byrne waddle Wadir Taraki have welcomed three new members to their team: Nguyen "Kinguyen" Thach as a player, Adil "elemeNt" Maufroid as head coach, and Ciaran "Cizza" Dillon as assistant coach.
- Former Case Esports Case Esports Inactive player Carles "XeoN" Garcia has announced his retirement from professional play.
- / Arctic Arctic Inactive have completed their roster with Rui "VTaguT" Ribeiro and Jere "synsi" Virtanen.
- / KOI KOI Europe Rank #86 kamo Kamil Frąckowiak ShadoW Tobias Flodström grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko starxo Patryk Kopczynski sheydos Bogdan Naumov have announced that Joona "H1ber" Parviainen has departed the team and entered free agency.
- / PENTA PENTA Inactive have parted ways with their entire roster.
- / After competing with Guild GC Guild GC Europe Rank #75 Xaline Laure Mateos for a little over a month, Anja "aNNja" Vasalic has been made an official member of the team.
- / Case Esports Case Esports Inactive have rounded out their roster with former Wave Esports Wave Esports Inactive SimonD4rk Alexandr Skovbel Click Haydem Ali Saiz Daniel Ruiz player Povilas "roxie" Krivelis.
- Wave Esports Wave Esports Inactive SimonD4rk Alexandr Skovbel Click Haydem Ali Saiz Daniel Ruiz have announced their new roster and head coach Andreas . The new members joining include former EXCEL EXCEL Inactive Moe40 Muhammad Hariff chiwa Egor Stepanyuk paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski Foxie Tyler Lowton ALIVE Gilad Hakim player Oscar "ozzy" Scott, former PENTA PENTA Inactive player Felix "Felix" Gerling, and Haydem "Click" Ali.
- Two stories from Finest: Gilad "ALIVE" Hakim and Ben "RECIDENT" Battash departed the main roster and Viv and Serdni joined the female roster.
- / FUT Female FUT Female Inactive Lyda İlayda Güzeldere rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk have bid farewell to their previous roster consisting of Donia "nugget" Khaled, Ece "Kuripuuya" Selin Balıkdere, matrix , Cornelia "Neli" Johansson, and Zehra "Felipa" Durak. That announcement came a day after the organization welcomed a new, all-Turkish roster comprised of Zeynep "Ritha" Sualp, Aslıhan "proxima" Uslu, Süreyya "Gia" Bayel, Neslişah "ness" Demir, Reyhan "Sephia" Şimşek, and coach Mert "KEY" Çelebi.
- Former FUT Female FUT Female Inactive Lyda İlayda Güzeldere rezq Eda Naz Akçocuk player Zehra "Felipa" Durak has become the newest member of BBL Queens BBL Queens Europe Rank #5 schnellÆ Ayşe Ergül proxima Aslıhan Uslu Wens Gülce Eda Sürmeli alkyia Azra Erin Felipa Zehra Durak .
- Ninjas In Pyjamas Ninjas In Pyjamas Inactive have bid farewell to coach Rogerio "RoY" Lopez. Additionally, coach Vinícius "fluyr" Menegatti has announced his departure from the team.
- Felipe "flainzz" Saldanha has announced his departure from INGAMING Esports INGAMING Esports Inactive . The team now has two active members.
- Stars Horizon Stars Horizon Inactive flainzz Felipe Saldanha pollo Julio Silva have bid farewell to Lucas "BELKY" Belchior, leaving the team with no active players.
- MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #4 jzz João Pedro mazin Matheus Araújo artzin Arthur Araujo RgLMeister Matheus Rodigoli frz Leandro Gomes have parted ways with Sergio "txddy" Francisco.
- ODDIK ODDIK Inactive have released their remaining three members: Matheus "fra" Fragozo, Miguel "snw" Marcondes, and Carlos "axeddy" Alberto.
- / Skull Cracker Skull Cracker Inactive nate Nathanael Miles prask Mike Cortbani Xhowi Luis Enmanuel Corcino Garcia MiniNiwde Lenin Mateo Guga Emil Bournigal nolan Nolan Martinez have bid farewell to Oscar "Peloncito" Israel Palacios Martinez as he joins E-Xolos LAZER E-Xolos LAZER Latin America North Rank #2 Mited Luis Gutierrez Jow Juan Camilo Preciado Ordoñez Feniz Thomas Molina Virtyy Leandro Moreno Darker Sebastián Castro Cicuamia .
- / Border Monsters Border Monsters Inactive Josegxbo Jose Gabriel Quintana Violence Jesus Alexandro Cervantes Hernandez Tiger Anthony Colon pancho Miguel Gomez Ezy HellFull Andres Vallejo natas have brought Jose "Herro" Merida back to the active lineup to complete their roster of five.
- Six Karma Six Karma Latin America North Rank #8 Snapss theory Daniel Esteban Albadan Cardozo GeneralSteak Mephisto vandals Crz P4ND4 have unveiled their full roster, featuring new additions 6ixtos and Matias "MatiS" Salgado.
- FUSION FUSION Latin America North Rank #6 Fresht Juan Pablo Preciado Winter Rei ezznap Faber Murillo RAINMAKER Javier Cruz have announced Alexander "xander" Lopez as the third member of their roster.
- / Talon Esports Talon Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #15 Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam Surf Thanachart Rungapajaratkul ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No have revealed their coach: In "Creative" Moo-keun (인무근)
- Maru Gaming Maru Gaming Korea Rank #21 Arduino ANNYEON Ssun Kim Sun-rae (김선래) JaEU pr0xy Lee Do-kyeong (이도경) oonzmlp have rounded out their roster with former DAMWON Gaming DAMWON Gaming Inactive Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Estrella Park Gun (박건) Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) player Lee "Jeong Hi" Jeong-ha (이정하).
- / CREST GAMING Zst CREST GAMING Zst Japan Rank #10 Brofeld DH HYUNMIN sakurai Flax have welcomed Ha "kobra" Su-hyun, sakurai , and coach PenKim to their team.
- DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #5 Medusa An Min-cheol (안민철) neth Yusuke Matsuda Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura Anthem Yoshitaka Enomoto have bolstered their roster with former IGZIST IGZIST Japan Rank #33 RIPablo Shuma Ikeda Yamada oitaN Masayuki Takahashi kobra Ha Su-hyun allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) player Shoki "Pepper" Banjo and former ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #9 Laz Ushida Koji yuran Yushin Hato hiroronn Hiroki Yanai Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe player and streamer Takebayashi "barce" Ryo.
- / XPLDZ XPLDZ Inactive have expanded their roster to six members with Kirill "moner" Matsanov.
- Fox Gaming have announced their main and female rosters.
Results & Standings
- The BoomTV Proving Grounds $10k April Anarchy open qualifier came to a close late last week, and Cosmic Divide Cosmic Divide Inactive ChurmZ Corey Koch Tkaz Tyler Kazmierczak renz Austin Dickman tokyo Sebastien Lima syfi Samir Karimov and Skwirel Warriers Skwirel Warriers Inactive Pa1nt Amarri Peak Nurfed James McFadden BearZ Peyton Miller ethos Alan Ruan ALEKSANDAR Aleksandar Hinojosa emerged victorious over Oxygen Academy Oxygen Academy Inactive Rustun Rustun Lusk Verno Andrew Maust Welshy Liam Newhouse in the upper final and lower final respectively to qualify for the main event.
- dart monkeys dart monkeys Inactive won the April edition of Game Changers Academy 2022 by defeating randos randos Inactive in the grand finals.
- Zero MarksMen Black Zero MarksMen Black Inactive Tim Timothy Braun Blahst Nathan Brand yiinel Elias Soto Nanners Anderson Lutkehus defeated Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses North America Rank #20 Derrek Derrek Ha NaturE Nicholas Garrison supamen Phat Le Apoth Vincent Le jawgemo Alexander Mor in the grand finals of the NSG Summer Championship Open 3 to take first place in the event.
- The qualifiers of the Game Changers EMEA Series II, and of the 32 teams that have advanced to the main event, only Guild GC Guild GC Europe Rank #75 Xaline Laure Mateos and Fire Flux Fierce Fire Flux Fierce Inactive jduh Ceyda Kondu Lateu Hilal Yaşar rayka Zeynep Kalkan Liyan Jiex Şura Yıldırım will go into the event with an undefeated record.
- In the VRL Northern Europe Open Qualifier, Team Divinity Team Divinity Inactive kENZ Andrey Efimov ALLIN Ivan Yukin Tian Vadim Filkin Edelweiss Dmitrii Koblov Optimist George Kazmin and HEET HEET Inactive Kinguyen Nguyen Thach memset Laurent Werly b2kk Sofian Delimi Monstrum Jake Byrne waddle Wadir Taraki have secured their spots in the promotional tournament, while H2O H2O Inactive Alyx Alex Morrow ri4d Riad Smajilovic FakeAnanas Alex Semec Hadi Hadi Jalali Jaf Brandon Jafarpouran defeated Tactical Five Tactical Five Inactive m4xikk Maksim Zvalnev xenp1o Mikhail Gubanov rexxtoned Roman Zhuravlev Quv3n Denis Kupriyanov JAMTER Valeriy Kuskov in the consolation final to claim the third promotional tournament spot.
- The VRL DACH relegation playoffs concluded, and V1Champions V1Champions Inactive HighKitty Fabian Schultze McKonsti Konstantin Helm Barcode Kevin Bana rAsk Roberts Ribakovs xanarchy Nico Janssen , Ovation eSports Ovation eSports Europe Rank #190 B3ASTM0D3 Ivan Patrik Ledić Luzuh Joseph Loose canefis James Barry Louitan Louis Beresford eleo Leonard Kulish , and SPARX ESPORTS SPARX ESPORTS Inactive Karma Luka Tropsek Nikoluk Niko Lukosch SPMAK Markus Talliniemi IkE Jan Hendrik Vollmer qualified for the second stage of VRL DACH: Evolution, which begins in May.
- Real Betis Real Betis Inactive Vorwenn Tomas Baldrich Guardy Antonio Guardiola Rexs José Jaramago defeated BISONS ECLUB BISONS ECLUB Inactive krysyS Tomás Molina meisoN Juan Carlos Chacón xikii Victor Garcia in the VRL Spain promotion to qualify for Stage 2 of VRL Spain: Rising.
- In the closed qualifier of VRL Turkey: Birlik Stage 2, Fenerbahçe Esports Fenerbahçe Esports Europe Rank #161 DeadInk Utku Onur Aydin sturNN Eren Oduncular JrayN Ferhat Yılmaz samed cacan Mert Çaçan and Galakticos Galakticos Europe Rank #38 DESTRUCT1VEE Hakan Lekesizer ip0TT Yiğit Karadeniz lurzy0y0 Ibrahim Sandıkcı Masic Sermet Demirer Jlerst Naci Enes Yıldırım glovee Burak Yıldırım are on the cusp of securing a spot in the regular season through the upper bracket finals, while Parla Esports Parla Esports Inactive Jlerst Naci Enes Yıldırım sociablEE Volkan Yonal lauress Toprak Kaynak Ruxic Uğur Güç jeyj7y Soner Eren Kent await the loser of the aforementioned match in the lower final.
- After two rounds of matches in the April edition of the Liga Gamers Club Série A group stage, Team Vikings Team Vikings Inactive Veroneze Vinícius Ribeiro Ds Daniel Silva swag João Neto pollo Julio Silva and REiGN REiGN Inactive Siduzord Renan Siduoski Tooug ind1n rajadaJJ Champzera Joaquim Alves sit atop the standings undefeated with 2-0 and 1-0 records respectively.
- In the fourth edition of Gaming Culture - Girl Power, Stars Horizon Venus Stars Horizon Venus Inactive Larischz Lara Gilardoni Mel Melissa Souza isa1 Isabele Glym sayuri Camila Obam mittens Diana Trevisan and Cruzeiro Esports Cruzeiro Esports Inactive ori napeR Camila Naper maze Kécia Farias vene Nayla Youssef bubu Bruna De Cesare have advanced in the bracket following wins over TropiCaos GC TropiCaos GC Inactive ANABALA maze Kécia Farias vene Nayla Youssef and Before Before Inactive respectively. Matches will continue later today, April 29 with TBK Esports GC TBK Esports GC Inactive shyz Luisa Minarelli Daniops Daniela Cristini Bizerra Vitoria Vieira gabee taking on LUSA White LUSA White Inactive Dvyno Demétrio Devoyno Arraes Champzera Joaquim Alves pMdr1 Pedro Henrique BladeZ Gustavo Zoppello and Gamelanders Purple Gamelanders Purple Inactive facing off against ODDIK Bright ODDIK Bright Inactive gabee mindle Elaine Takahashi gabiTê Aninha Ana Luiza Martinho .
- The open qualifier of Stage 2 LATAM North has concluded, and Team Cruelty Team Cruelty Inactive HellFull Andres Vallejo GabZ Gabriel Andrade and Border Monsters Border Monsters Inactive Josegxbo Jose Gabriel Quintana Violence Jesus Alexandro Cervantes Hernandez Tiger Anthony Colon pancho Miguel Gomez Ezy HellFull Andres Vallejo natas have advanced to the challengers league. LATAM South open qualifier competition will take place later today, April 29.
- Six teams remain in the open qualifier of Stage 2 Challengers Indonesia. The remaining teams are Bigetron Arctic Bigetron Arctic Asia-Pacific Rank #28 severiNe Michael Winata Lilo Ryan Betrand budimeisteR Oliver Budi Wangge frostmind Muhammad Rafi Diandra mika Michael Setiawan vascalizz Rey Sebastian Pardede , Inactive , Babi Guling Babi Guling Inactive Nay Nico Alvanius Maskon Justin Paterson Adams vascalizz Rey Sebastian Pardede no1syboy Sergio Rahardja Spyko Rochino Ramli , Team Alay Team Alay Inactive Nostradamus BeYours AL Fadil Muhamad Alhasni OWEN ray4c Rayvaldo Chandra vS WoodenTesla , Mawar Dandelion Mawar Dandelion Inactive limitado Eric Marcello gilbertmhs KLOPZ k1ngkappa NeXs , and Hike Digital Esports Hike Digital Esports Inactive Madelyn Raven William zharwow Rayhan Filardhi Azhar Kylee Muhammad Syafrizal Peekaboo Bryant k1ngkappa .
- In the third round of the Road to VCT 2022: Stage 2, Kantic 2.0 Kantic 2.0 Inactive BDDQ meodayngu Nguyễn Nghĩa Minh MaTryXs Matthis Metharam tozz To Duy Antoine Bouvery Imcarnus Elian Lopez , Cat Gang Cat Gang Inactive Sanliujiujiujiu reggae Phạm Bảo Ngọc LilHieu Lưu Chí Hiếu Roki Shyn Foxzz Trần Nhật Trung , and Dominus Esports Dominus Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #121 adqt denji Nguyễn Tiến Long REDFOXXX Nguyễn Phúc Đại SinS Lê Duy Anh luna Nguyễn Đức Thắng have all qualified for Stage 2 Vietnam Challengers.
- After two rounds of play in the LPL Summer Cup Legends 2022 group stage, BOBO BOBO Oceania Rank #5 M1kE Michael Smith Exirst Crunchy Ethan Laker Nozz Noah McClafferty Zauqk and HONEY BADGERS HONEY BADGERS Inactive Noobster xue Jesse Tang MirzAA Kiyan M-Basari JELLYD Angelo Diaz Maple Elvin Sun sit atop their respective group standings with undefeated 2-0 records.
- Enigma Gaming Enigma Gaming Inactive Divine Yeoh Chun Ting FREY Ingram Tan STYRON Tidus Goh Xan artn Ayrton Soh won the third season of the WD Black Cup by defeating Reckoning Esports Reckoning Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #22 RvK Rishi Vijayakumar DOXZ3R Soumyadeep Dey LBY Eisuke Kuraoka karam1l Norbu Tsering and Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #41 blaZek1ng Gary Dastin Lightningfast Abhirup Choudhury Polvi Niko Polvinen Benkai Benedict Tan Russ Russel Mendes in the contender final and grand final respectively.
- Team RA'AD Team RA'AD MENA Rank #5 Shalaby Mohamed Shalaby Shniider Yousef Osama chrollo Omar Hussein Depyro Nour Sherif SkaNoodles Yousef Mohamed Yassien Yassien Ahmed won the Odyssey Warpros Volume 7 after being knocked to the lower bracket early by XPLDZ XPLDZ Inactive . Team RA'AD eventually came back to defeat XPLDZ in the grand finals 3-1.
Other News & Rumors
- NYXL have announced a 16-team LAN in Brooklyn, New York in mid-May, in approximately two weeks.
- Jakub "frs" Czapran has reported on a number of moves happening in various VRL teams. The reported moves include beGenius beGenius Inactive adding Aleksandr "hvoya" Eremin and Fletcher "Leare" Brigden-Knight, KOI KOI Europe Rank #86 kamo Kamil Frąckowiak ShadoW Tobias Flodström grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko starxo Patryk Kopczynski sheydos Bogdan Naumov in discussions with Ramses "Famsii" Valentino Erasmus Koivukangas to replace Joona "H1ber" Parviainen, Maks "kamyk" Rychlewski's addition to Rebels Gaming Rebels Gaming Inactive to fill in a spot for Alessio "musashi" Xhaferi, and BIG BIG Inactive 's roster shuffle which could see Niels "luckeRRR" Jasiek and mushashi replacing Fatih "gob b" Dayik and Kasper "Kaspe" Timonen.
- According to a report from Bo Hoogland, German esports organization ALTERNATE aTTaX (formerly known as Team ALTERNATE) are set to sign V1Champions V1Champions Inactive HighKitty Fabian Schultze McKonsti Konstantin Helm Barcode Kevin Bana rAsk Roberts Ribakovs xanarchy Nico Janssen , which consists of former PENTA PENTA Inactive players Fabian "HighKitty" Schultze, Konstantin "McKonsti" Helm, and Nico "xanarchy" Janssen. The other members set to join ALTERNATE aTTaX are former HEET HEET Inactive Kinguyen Nguyen Thach memset Laurent Werly b2kk Sofian Delimi Monstrum Jake Byrne waddle Wadir Taraki player Kevin "Barcode" Bana and former Geekay Esports Geekay Esports MENA Rank #7 player Roberts "rAsk" Ribakovs.
- Legendary CS:GO player Kenny "kennyS" Schrub has trialed for OG OG Inactive KONEQT Cista Adel uNKOE Benjamin Chevasson OniBy Theo Tarlier fxy0 Joey Schlosser LaAw Mathieu Plantin and plans to join the roster, according to 1pv reporter neL.
- Former Ninjas In Pyjamas Ninjas In Pyjamas Inactive coach Vinícius "fluyr" Menegatti has been banned from VCT until May 30 following an incident of "inappropriate comments" during a ranked match while the team was competing in Iceland. fluyr will also be placed on a six-month probationary period, in which his in-game account will be monitored. Additionally, he will be required to complete professionalism training during the course of his suspension.