VCT Stage 3 – Challengers 3 – Preview
VCT Stage 3 - Challengers 3, will be on its way shortly. The first step towards Masters Berlin, teams participating in Challengers 3 will earn the last remaining spots at the Challengers Playoffs to represent their respective regions.
The third and final stage of VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is split into eight regions throughout Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong & Taiwan, Malaysia & Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. Meanwhile, Turkey will join the EMEA region due to its closer proximity to Europe.
VCT Stage 3 is divided into three weeks, each with its own open qualifications to determine the Challengers Playoffs teams. Japan and Korea have their own Playoffs, while the remaining regions qualify through the Southeast Asia Challengers Playoffs. Japan and Korea has a different structure than SEA, comparable to the model used in North America, and only runs for two weeks compared to with three weeks seen in SEA.
Hundreds of teams around Asia participated in the qualifiers for the Challengers Playoffs, each vying to earn their ticket to Masters Berlin in September.
ALSO READ: VCT Stage 3 Challengers 2 Recap – Results, MVPs & more
Read below for an overview of each SEA sub-region for the upcoming Challengers 3, set to begin on Thursday, 5th August.
🇹🇭 Thailand
X10 Esports and FULL SENSE have retained their spots at the big kids' table. Nonetheless, a few other teams, such as Foxy Araikordai, FW Esports, and others, may be deemed good enough to represent Thailand in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as the country's third representative.
Interestingly, Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon of T1 and Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong of Fnatic, two of Thailand's most famous Dota 2 players, have joined up under the moniker "M-Y Gang" to try their luck in the VALORANT scene this week. However, CodesMek and YAHALO knocked them out early in the Lower Round of 128.
Hailing from CS:GO, ZIGMA only made it to the top 16 as they fell short of qualifying for the main event after getting knocked out to the Lower Bracket of 32 by Sharper Esport and eliminated by 47 Gaming in the end, both of whom qualified for the main event.
The victor of VCT Thailand Stage 3 Challengers 3 will earn a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of TH18,000 (US$560).
The competition will occur from August 5-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the LB Rounds 1, 2, and Grand Final.
| FW Esports | wicket berg |
| Foxy Araikordai | Sharper Esport |
| Intense Gaming | Y10.5 |
| Need Sponsor | The Infinity Esport |
🇮🇩 Indonesia
While ONIC and Alter Ego, two of the most surprising teams to make the playoffs, have already earned their spots, BOOM Esports are vying for the last ticket. Bigetron Astro and MORPH, on the other hand, would battle for the long-awaited goal in the last week of Stage 3. RRQ Endeavour and NXLG Academy have been a constant presence and threat during the first and second weeks and will be hoping to cause some shocks and surprise everyone, particularly since the latter team will be using Luii instead of GeminiTj.
At the same time as playing at VCT Game Changers: FSL Open V, Alter Ego Celeste was also spotted playing this week despite falling short against Team NFA. On the other side of the bracket, Reza “ybrap” Oktovian, one of Indonesia's most famous gaming YouTubers, also took part in the event. The streaming team ended their journey in Stage 3 after being beaten by Cynical in round 2.
The winner of VCT Indonesia Stage 3 Challengers 3 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of Rp25,000,000 (US$1,720). The competition will take place from August 6-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the Grand Final.
The winner of VCT Indonesia Stage 3 Challengers 3 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of Rp35,000,000. The competition will take place from August 6-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the Grand Final.
| BOOM Esports | RRQ Endeavour |
| Bigetron Astro | NXLG Academy |
| MORPH Team | Langit9 |
| BEAST | Cynical |
🇵🇭 Philippines
This week's most unexpected scenario occurred when RD-Astra Luna esports ousted both Zeal Esports and SE Atlas in the process. Aether Esports, another newcomer, went on to beat Sunsparks and SE Atlas en route to the main event on day 2. Sunsparks, meanwhile, defeated once the favorite Zeal Esports 2-1 on the last day of the open qualification to secure a place in the main event.
The winner of Philippines Stage 3 Challengers 3 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of PH₱100,000 (US$2,025). The competition will take place from August 6-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the Grand Final.
| SV Empire | RD-Astra Luna Esports |
| Oasis Gaming | Aether Esports |
| Alpha Esports Pro | South Built Esports |
| UCFC Esports | Zeal Esports |
🇭🇰 🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan
Eight of Hong Kong's and Taiwan's best teams will compete for the second and final spots to represent the HKTW region in the SEA Challengers Playoffs. Griffin E-Sports and Five Ace e-Sports, based on their consistent performance, would have a strong chance this time around, much more so now that CBT Gaming qualified last week, easing their path for this week. Three new names will be seen for the upcoming clash: Lightning, Phoenix, and a well-known organization in the Hong Kong CS:GO scene, Anti Eco Eco Club.
The winner of VCT Hong Kong & Taiwan Stage 3 Challengers 3 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of US$2,000. It will take place from August 6-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the Grand Final.
| Five Ace e-Sports | Lightning |
| Griffin E-Sports | Water |
| Clutch Jeans | Phoenix |
| Anti Eco Eco Club | YMG |
🇲🇾 🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore
Paper Rex, LVR, and Kingsmen will be back this time thanks to their final standings from the last week. Meanwhile, TODAK and UndeRank were requalified from the open qualifier. Team SMG, one of the expected teams to fill the open qualification spots, are now out contention for Masters 3: Berlin after being knocked out by uhrbtgjmny8 in the second round of the open qualifiers. Paper Rex, having narrowly missed out on qualifying in Week 2 after a loss to UwU in the grand final, will be looking to secure the last spot for the MY/SG region.
The winner of VCT Malaysia & Singapore Stage 3 Challengers 3 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of SG$2,080 (US$1,539). The competition will take place from August 6-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, except for the lower bracket rounds (BO1) and Grand Final (BO5).
| Paper Rex | Looking For Org |
| LVR | TODAK |
| Kingsmen | UndeRank |
| Brain and friends | Origin Sky |
🇻🇳 Vietnam
While Vietnam joined the hype a little later than the other countries, the enthusiasm is obvious, especially considering the prize pool is almost four times the size of the other regions. This week, three new names emerged: Hề Gaming, Dominus Esports, and Innocent Cats Esports. Meanwhile, FearUs and EGO will rechallenge the rest and perhaps make it a close one, including Fancy United Esports, the runner-up of last week.
Kantic Gaming, who previously attended the main event of the first and second week, will miss out on playing in the last week, thus eliminating them from the SEA Challengers Playoffs contention.
The winner of VCT Vietnam Stage 3 Challengers 2 will get a guaranteed spot in the SEA Challengers Playoffs as well as the first-place prize of VND100,000,000 (US$4,538). The competition will take place from August 5-8, with all matches being played in best-of-three (BO3) format, with the exception of the Grand Final.
| Fancy United Esports | Dominus Esports |
| DivisionX Gaming | Innocent Cats Esports |
| YAMAGAN | FearUs |
| Hề Gaming | EGO |
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT Champions Tour Korea (VCT KR)