Oceania teams to miss Valorant NA LCQ due to COVID-19

The decision to pair up two Oceania representatives with North American squads for the Valorant Champions Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) has proven to be disastrous, as Riot announced that neither ORDER nor Chief Esports Club will be able to travel due to the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19.

Oceania teams to miss Valorant NA LCQ due to COVID-19

In a statement issued via the Valorant Esports Twitter account, Riot Games revealed that the two Oceania squads would miss out on competing, as they couldn't ensure the teams being able to make it to North America with enough time to properly scrim and compete. 

"Due to COVID-19 regulations, travel documentation issues, and additional complex factors, we could not ensure that these teams could travel, compete in the event, and return home in a reasonable timeframe," the statement explains.

The format of the LCQ, which was already criticised for featuring single-elimination matches to start the event, will pivot by likely erasing the play-in phase since there are only eight teams competing.

The confirmed teams to be taking part in the North America LCQ are:

• 100 Thieves
• Version1
• FaZe Clan
• XSET
• Luminosity Gaming
• Rise
• Cloud9 Blue
• Gen.G Esports

The LCQ was scheduled to start on 12th October with a single-elimination play-in phase, however, Riot mentioned that a new format and schedule details would be revealed soon.

So far, the only two NA teams qualified for Valorant Champions were Sentinels and Team Envy, which were the most recent squad to secure a spot by reaching the Valorant Masters' Berlin final.

Sadly, given that the NA rep lost to Gambit Esports, important squads like TSM failed to make it to the LCQ by virtue of not accumulating the necessary circuit points.

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games.