How FaZe, 100T, LG and Gen.G qualified for NA VALORANT Masters

March 8, 2021

by Jessica Scharnagle

The last Challengers weekend in the first stage of the NA VALORANT Champions Tour is over, and the last four teams have now locked in their spots in the upcoming Masters tournament.

Luminosity Gaming, FaZe Clan, Gen.G and 100 Thieves have all punched their tickets to the next phase of competition, which is operated by Nerd Street Gamers starting Thursday and concluding March 21. Teams at Masters will earn points to qualify for the Champions tournament at the end of the year, which will include all the best teams who competed in the Challengers and Masters tournaments throughout the year.

There are no details on how the points system will work just yet, but Riot has mentioned that there will be clarification soon.

FaZe Clan won Challengers 3 by a score of 3-0 against 100 Thieves after a shaky beginning to the Challengers weekends.

FaZe Clan

The casters during Challengers 3 were not shy in admitting that they did not expect FaZe Clan to be going forward to Masters. They exceeded everyone’s expectations and remained in the upper bracket throughout Challengers 3 to reach the grand final.

FaZe Clan is made up of mostly former professional Overwatch players. Corey “corey” Nigra, Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo, Andrej “babybay” Francisty and Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty all started playing VALORANT after stints with different teams in the Overwatch League. Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen is the only team member who came from the competitive CS:GO scene.

Any one of the team’s members has the ability to pop off at any moment, but usually fans are clutching their chest in excitement over babybay or corey’s outstanding moments. If FaZe Clan can keep this momentum going at Masters, they will be one of the top teams at the tournament.

FaZe missed out on their first chance to qualify for Masters during Challengers 2 after losing 0-2 to XSET, but now they’re well on their way to becoming one of the teams to look out for next weekend. Now that FaZe Clan have shown what they are capable of, they are sure to climb in the power rankings ahead of Masters.

100 Thieves

The lower-bracket winner 100 Thieves won four straight matches to get into the grand final against FaZe Clan. In the end, they weren’t able to clutch out a win, even with Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk’s clutch plays leading up to the grand final and Spencer “Hiko” Martin’s birthday luck.

There is no denying that with Asuna and Hiko on their team, 100 Thieves is a real threat to any opponent, especially when Asuna is really on his game. The day before the grand final, Asuna played so well that he even started trending on Twitter.

That said, no one player can win games without the help of their team. Along with Hiko and Asuna, the team includes Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella, Joshua “steel” Nissan and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, their newest addition. Most of the team is made up of CS:GO retirees, which works well for the transition into a game that uses a lot of CS:GO tactics.

Despite their second-place finish, they will move on to the Masters tournament next weekend and will still surely be a team to watch.

Luminosity Gaming

Ending Challengers 3 in third place is Luminosity Gaming, who played well up until FaZe knocked them down into the lower bracket where they were decimated by 100 Thieves.

Their tournament started out great, beating Kooky Koalas 2-0 and then TSM 2-0 before FaZe Clan beat them. LG ended up facing both teams that went on to the grand final, which will help prepare them for the next time they face FaZe Clan or 100 Thieves.

The squad is made up of Alex “aproto” Protopapas, Brenden “stellar” McGrath, Brady “thief” Denver, Diondre “YaBoiDre” Bond and Kaleb “moose” Jayne. The roster has had a few changes since the beginning of their team’s creation, but it seems that this combination of players might be working for them. They might not be a top-three team, but LG is not a team that opponents should take for granted.

Although this tournament didn’t play out the way they wanted, they did take down 100 Thieves in Challengers 2, which goes to show that no team can be counted out at Masters.

Gen.G

Gen.G got knocked into the lower bracket very early into the tournament after losing to TSM in the very first match of the Challengers 3 closed qualifier. They gained some momentum in the lower bracket after cruising through Kooky Koalas 2-0 and then beating NRG 2-0, but they were knocked out of the tournament when they lost to 100 Thieves.

Their match against 100 Thieves wasn’t a total wash though. Gen.G pushed them to three maps and played a close first map on Ascent, which 100 Thieves ended up winning 15-17. Gen.G took the second map on Haven 13-7 but ultimately lost Bind 4-13, which allowed 100 Thieves to move on to face LG.

Gen.G’s newest addition, Kenneth “koosta” Suen has proven to be a critical part of their success. Along with Anthony “gMd” Guimond, Danny “huynh” Huynh, Michael “MkaeL” De Luca and Shawn “Shawn” O’Riley, Gen.G has surprised many with how successful they’ve been. Although they have clinched the No. 8 seed for Masters, if koosta & Co. can gain some early momentum, they could be a force to be reckoned with.

Lead image credit: Riot Games