Initially, the North American Last Chance was held on stage in Los Angeles. However, the Riot Games eventually let the teams play in the form of online due to the relatively complicated Covid-19 situation. There have been problems related to the connection between the organizers and the venue, thereby making it difficult for teams to prepare.
A area left in the darkness
On January 31, Riot Games announced that the Oceania area will have two teams participating in the North American Last Chance. It is an opportunity for one of the smallest areas of Esports village to participate in the Valorant Champions arena. It is also the best way that Riot Games can think of when Valorant in Oceania has too few teams.
“We are happy to know that Valorant has been supported by gamers in the Oceania right from the Beta version. It is honored to be shared by your area,” said the Esports director of Riot Games, Mr. Chris Greeley.
In 2021, there were some times many teams invested and participated in the Oceanic Tour Championship tournament. The peak was on September 12, 1 month before Last Chance Qualifiers North America took place. Two teams eligible to play at Last Chance Qualifiers North America are orders (champion) and Chiefs Esports Club (formerly Peace) with second achievement.
Even before the Oceanic Tour Championship was announced, Riot Games approached the Oceania teams and provided initial information about opportunities and moving process to the US to play Last Chance Qualifiers North America at the main stage. Source from Dexerto said, the parties will have 6 to 8 weeks to handle this problem.
After the Oceanic Tour Championship closed, the manager of the Order and Chiefs Esports Club continues to work with Riot Games so that the players can fly to the US, and meet the regulations on the Australian and American government-19 COVI-19 rules. Unfortunately, both Riot Games and representatives of Order and Chiefs Esports Club are inexperienced.
An unnamed manager shared with UPCOMER That I contacted Riot Games. However, when this person asked if Riot Games resolved procedures related to Covid-19, Riot Games's representative only answered that he “will handle”. Even Riot Games also ignored questions about the activities and moving of the teams.
After 5 times 7 times did not receive the answer, the ocean teams also received positive signals. The good news is that they still go, but the sad news is that they don't know how they will return to Australia. As a rule, flights out of the US territory will not be able to take place before November 15. That means that the players have to leave home for a long time.
Because there was too little time to arrange and solve many complex issues, Riot Games issued a notice on October 4 that order and Chiefs Esports Club could not attend the North American Last Chance because strict regulations on Covid-19. Both teams expressed disappointment and one player told UPCOMER “We were left in the darkness to the end.”
The Riot Games side immediately soothes the situation when confirming 2 orders and Chiefs Esports Club will be “compensated”. That means that both will receive a bonus from Last Chance Qualifiers North America. However, nearly a month later, a player said he had never received any reward from Riot Games.
The insiders revealed that the contact between the managers and the Riot Games was “extremely slow even though nothing was hindered”. Riot Games also refused to answer the compensation for two teams of the Oceania. That indifference made the water drop. In the end, both announced that they would not expect anything from the Riot Games.
Inconsistency
After the two teams of Oceania were declared unable to attend, Last Chance Qualifiers North America played with 8 instead of 10 teams as originally announced. The first match was the match between 100 Thievves and Gen.G Esports. But as soon as the tournament began, the players realized “something wrong”. The tournament is promoted as the Lan event, but it does not use the LAN server to compete.
Instead, the participating teams must play on an online server. The reason given is that Riot Games did not manage and protect the servers to keep up the tournament. Finally, the transmission line in the competition area becomes a trouble for the participating teams. The most prominent situation is in the match between XSet and Luminosity Gaming. At that time, Alex “Aproto” Protopapas faced two members of XSet in Area B, but the situation was faulty and not broadcast.
The incident related to the server continues to the match between Rise and FaZe Clan. This time, the situation became more stressful. Because, Ryan “Shanks” Ngo of Rise and captain Rory “Dephh” Jackson of FaZe Clan had a positive test result with Covid-19. Fortunately, after checking by PCR, both produce negative results.
But even if the results are negative, the Los Angeles government still requires the players to proceed to be isolated. Both Shanks and Dephh cannot play on stage, but they can still play from the hotel where they focus. FaZe Clan immediately contacted the Organizing Committee and allowed to play at his Gaming House instead of the hotel.
However, many coaches protested when it affects the fairness of the tournament. Because, FaZe Clan players will play without any supervision. After tension, Riot Games sat down to discuss with the teams to find the most reasonable way, while ensuring the rights of all parties.
Finally, the participating teams returned to their headquarters and Last Chance Qualifiers North America continued to play online. Regardless of the results, the organizers probably work hard to handle the problem. And also because of complex issues related to Covid-19, most insiders are satisfied even though the tournament has been delayed for quite a long time.
“In general, we are satisfied with the way everything is handled, the way the players as well as the members of the coaching staff are treated. UPCOMER.
In the latest development, Rise has just won 2-1 against Faze Clan to enter the semi-finals of Thang branch. Rise's next opponent is the winning team version 1 – Cloud9 Blue. The first team to reach the final of Thang branch was 100 Thievves. In addition, the three teams falling to the losing branch have also been identified as Gen.G Esports, Luminosity Gaming with XSET.
The team winning the North American Last Chance championship will win the only remaining ticket to Valorant Champions with Sentinels and Team Envy. Valorant Champions is an event equivalent to the world final of League of Legends. The tournament will have a total of 16 teams attending and will officially start from December.
