Challengers League 2024 Japan: Split 2 And The Road To Ascension Tokyo
Photo Credit: Valorant Challengers Japan
Amidst the playoff finals of the VCT challengers series split 1, it was announced that the promotion match for the second year of Pacific Tier 2 Valorant would be held in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2024. Having hosted Masters Tokyo the year prior, being able to host an event of this caliber has provided equivalent hype to the streets. With no Japanese-based team having qualified for the prior event, this would be the first time seeing a home crowd in Japan. This second split will ultimately decide who will represent at Ascension, which is giga-stacked.
From this open qualifier, Premiere from the in-game format was implemented up to the top 16, and teams with solid performances from the last split were given byes for qualification or immediate qualification. The Top 8 remaining teams include Fennel, Sengoku Gaming, Reject, Northeption, Murash Gaming, Riddle Order, Varrel, and Scarz. While this is already a rock-solid list, household names like FAV gaming, who played in the predator league during the off-season, Crest Gaming Zst, and Noez Foxx all missed out, showing the growth and development of tier 2 Japanese Valorant while also showing how cutthroat this event is as all teams mentioned above will be relegated until next season. In the rest of this article, I'll break down each team and what to look out for this upcoming main stage and highlight a few matchups.
Fennel:
Winning Stage 1 and becoming Japan's best team is no easy feat, but Fennel beat the competition two years in the running, creating an almost chokehold. This year, we have a different roster of former Crest Gaming Zest Controller Gon, former Northeption Derialy, and returning Syouta, Xdll, and Clz. Gon not only adds depth to Fennel's defaults but also brings a massive fanbase from his elusive career outside the server as a charismatic personality/ Streamer reviewing gaming mice half-naked. Being the fan-favorite, they had a lot of pressure to meet high expectations after bringing an off-season Fnatic to a 13-10 at the Redbull Showmatch in November. After a strong start in the regular season of 5-0, Reject, in Red-hot form, led by rookies alike, delivered their first loss. This trend would continue in the playoffs, but after a shaky lower final, Fennel secured the title in nailbiting overtime 3-2 fashion.
In a newly released documentary, CLZ explains, " Coming into split 1, we only saw it as a checkpoint, practice ground if you will, but being able to win it felt good. " As Fennel prepares to defend the throne for split 2, they have added former Zeta Divison member Tennn. After a lackluster showing at Champions 2023, Tennn moved to content creation, making way for the rookie duo of Hiroronn and Yuran. After a competitive play hiatus, he will fill Deriarly's role at Fennel, as mentioned by head coach Euler. Overall, Fennel is the team to beat, and their progress in closing the gap with Tier 1 will undoubtedly be the highlight of Split 2.
Documentary (In Japanese):
https://youtu.be/J8RE5IgPv-c?si=vlRWqXdhq9ha0NvE
Sengoku:
Former Home of PRX something, Sengoku is not afraid to add foreign powerhouses to a mixed roster to bring home the dub, and it seems to be working out so far…. sort of. While being meme'd for having the same number of players as coaches ( including their Aim coach Ryanguru), this roster secured 3rd place in split 1. While losing to the eventual winner, Fennel, in the lower final, the match could have ended the other way easily, showing how close Sengoku is. However, the scoreline doesn't show the utter dominance of Gwangboong. Although on sentinel, a role not traditionally associated with hard carrying, he pulled Sengoku to the finish line with a series kd of 115/79, balancing both fragging power and surviving. This was, however, not enough and will be something that needs to be fixed, as their macro on certain maps did not seem up to par with their stronger maps. While a strong roster on paper, Misaya played 5 different agents on 5 maps, leading to inconsistent performances throughout the matches. If Meltdown and crew can figure out the missing piece, I have no doubt Sengoku will come swinging on the main stage, fighting for the top spot with Fennel and Reject.
Murash Gaming:
Owned by popular streamer/personality 加藤純一(Kato Jyunichi @unkochan1234567), in their second year since inception, qualified for the main stage 2 splits in a row. With a mix of veterans and rookies alike, this roster consists of Reita, Tonbo, Biju, Million, and Absol. Although they missed out on playoffs in split 1, they promptly qualified back into the main stage by beating Crest Gaming Zest closely. One thing to note is this team's unwillingness to play around their comps. Throughout their mainstage matches, they consistently played meta picks, sticking to defaults and strats, relying heavily on clutch plays to string rounds and wins. This would eventually be their Achilles heel, but it seems they have properly adjusted this weakness to a strength in time for split 2 qualification. Being one of the first teams to include Clove over numerous maps, they also moved most of their players to comfort picks, paying dividends in the most recent match. One concerning point is their map pool. While Icebox is their perma ban, Sunset's a good pick; the rest of the board is quite tame. If they don't find a solution, split 2 can easily be a repeat of the last split. The player to look out for is Absol: While watching his POV, it can feel like the epitome of an energy drink fueled cracked right out of competitive. With the right composition, Absol is in the right environment to carry hard. While his current stats don't reflect that, we can expect Murash to brawl for the middle position and maybe even fight for playoff contention if they get the ball rolling in their first few games.
Riddle Order:
The other content creator (Vodka/VDK) owned organization is Riddle Order. While missing out on the first split due to a last-minute team shuffle, this organization is better known for its Apex Legends division as a partnered team in ALGS year 4. The roster comprises a former ZETA division Academy Core of Yatsuka, Caedye, Aace, head coach Vorz, Korean Jett Seoldam, JoXJo, and Sitimentyo. While having promised future talent, the final piece needed was a seasoned veteran to round the roster, and JoXJo has delivered. After the initial DFM roster was shredded to make way for the former CR roster, JoXJo slotted into Riddle Order and qualified cleanly. Only dropping one map will allow this roster to gain much-needed experience fighting against the best. Not much is known because their only streamed match was against Varrel, but they are in dark horse contention. With all the firepower, 5head coaching from Vorz, and, most of all, the lowest average age, they have nothing to lose and all to prove. One player to look out for is Aace. He has shown how deadly his viper is and has banged top ACS through qualifying. Who knows how many more Viper mains Vorz can produce? We will have to wait and see.
Reject:
Reject as an org has recently been on fire. Winning ALGS split 1 means they are now the highest-earning org in Japan by a lot. Not only that, but they also won PUBG Internationals and respectable second place at Identity V and Valorant Split 1. Now, they set their eyes on taking the Ascension slot and are primed to win it all. After scathing through the first half of the group stage, Reject needed a huge win to secure a playoff bye and prove their prowess. That's exactly what they did by taking down Fennel in 2-0 fashion in back-to-back games. In their first H2H, new addition Hals proved to be a strong flex player and showed a glimpse into Reject's key to success. Known as the aim squad, Reject again dispatched Fennel in the Upper Finals with a confusing double duelist (Reyna, Raze) and double controller ( Harbor, Viper) comp, quickly dismissing fluke comments from viewers and fans alike. However, like Sengoku, they too could not close out against Fennel and took silver in split 1. Not being able to win when it matters is something that both former Jadeite members Muto and Akame are painfully aware of from last year's Split 2 Finals. Thankfully, they have one chance at redemption, and it will come down to if they can maintain their playoff form through the next 5 weeks. The comps used are all leaning into their strengths of all aim brawling and less setup-heavy. This gives them less to worry about counterplay and focus on their own gameplay. However, this makes them especially vulnerable to teams unafraid to fight back, like Fennel or Northeption. Will Reject take the sole Ascension slot? Will they close it out? Only time will tell. Akame FTW.
Varrel:
With a strong presence in the OWCS scene, Varrel intended to return to the league after losing much of its previous core of Ssess( to DFM), HaReeee(to IGZST), and Pepper( to Northeption). Picking up Xnfri, Blackwiz, Lob, Bangnan, and head coach yT, they hit an early stride before bumping into a peak-form Fennel and later bowing out of playoffs early. While their preference for Raze Omen comps has seen a certain level of success, response and counterplay seemed suffocating on particular maps. After a disappointing playoff, Varrel pulled the trigger early and dropped yT and Bangnan, picking up Korean duelist Kayle in place. While playing to their strengths has panned well, Split is a must-fix and will play a crucial role in whether this roster can continue to fight for higher positions in the main stage. Defending half seems to be no issue, but the latter half is hard to watch. With a few blunders, recent opponents have ease snowballing the rest of the half, leading to a 0 % win percentage on only this specific map. With the new promotion of former analyst Kihell, the 1st matchup versus defending champions Fennel will highlight how much has changed since the last split and the new addition. Only one thing is for sure: VARRELWIN ( I want them to win plsplsplslpsplspls)
Scarz:
The team that could have been. After just missing out on promotion last year to Bleed Esports, Scarz has rebuilt for good and for bad. Losing most of the roster to Rostermaina, they picked up Tempura, Lumo, and Mr.TenzouEz. However, right before the season started, they picked up rank demon Only 1 to slot in as the main duelist. In hindsight, this pickup would be what they needed, as despite an extremely tough schedule, they would continue to etch out close games to map 3, where they would fall short. However, cracks began to show with swapping in Allen and Tempura when needed, as performance dropped and so did the quality of executions in general. It became apparent that Scarz had become reliant on Only1 to put up huge numbers to get them over the line. And with a 2-5 Main stage, that just did not happen. Newcomer Lumo still showed signs of talent, and so it was with no surprise when the Scarz overhaul came and …… wait, what the heck ??!???!
Scarz has done it again!!! A fully international roster consisting of one Japanese player to just blast through qualifications and win split 2 …. Again. When it all seemed over, Bullco, Fazedis, and Mr. Noppo committed to the GE gambit, which paid off. With new additions of Yotaa and Tixx, formerly of Bonkers, Scarz easily returned to the main stage. This new blow of fresh air can either mean one of two things: They pull off the stint they did last year or don't. Scarz will be the wild card this split, the gatekeepers of the playoff if you will. Their opening match versus Sengoku will prove if they have what it takes to keep up with the top teams. (Let Fazedis cook).
Northeption:
Finally Northeption. They opened their season with back-to-back losses. After experimenting with their map pool, they crushed their way into playoffs after a loss to Fennel. In their rematch versus Sengoku, they got served with a Jinboong masterclass ending split 1 early. After radio silence for weeks, Northeption has revamped their roster with former Scarz Player Tempura and former IGZST HaReeee. This roster change bolster hopes for Northeption's chance, as with the HaReeee, they filled the hole of a veteran IGL to get them through the top teams and extra firepower from Tempura. They have a tough first three-week schedule, but if they come out unscathed, it will be a good foot towards Ascension and qualifying early.
MATCHUPS:
As mentioned earlier, these teams are here to play; every match means much more. However, as the same as split 1, it can well come down to map and round diff for playoff qualifying. Therefore, some matchups that can be expected bangers include :
WEEK 1 DAY 3 MATCH 1: RIDDLE ORDER VS. FENNEL 5/22/24
WEEK 2 DAY 2 MATCH 1: SCARZ VS. REJECT 5/29/24
WEEK 2 DAY 2 MATCH 2: NORTHEPTION VS. VARREL