The Guard avenged an earlier loss to OpTic Gaming by beating them in the grand final of the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: North America Stage 1 Challengers tournament on Sunday.
The Guard, which pocketed $50,000 and automatic advancement to the Stage 1 Masters — Reykjavik event next month, took the finals 3-2.
OpTic opened with a 13-9 win on Ascent, but The Guard bounced back with 13-9 and 13-2 victories on Icebox and Breeze. OpTic squared the series with a 13-7 win on Split.
On the deciding map, Haven, The Guard prevailed 13-11.
The Guard were blanked 2-0 by OpTic in the upper bracket final on Friday, but responded by shutting out Cloud9 3-0 in the lower bracket final on Saturday to force the rematch.
OpTic, which earned the $32,000 second prize, also gets a spot in the Stage 1 Masters.
Valorant Champions NA Stage 1 Challengers prize pool:
1. The Guard — $50,000, Masters qualification
2. OpTic Gaming — $32,000, Masters qualification
3. Cloud9 — $26,000, 55 Valorant Champions Tour points
4. XSET — $20,000, 50 points
5-6. Luminosity Gaming, Version1 — $14,000, 45 points
7-8. Knights, Sentinels — $10,000, 40 points
9-12. 100 Thieves, NRG, Evil Geniuses, Rise — $6,000, 35 points
–Field Level Media