Only four spots remain for NA VCT...but 24 salaried teams

It's do-or-die for the remaining 128 teams looking to solidify their place at VCT Stage 1 Challengers NA.

The second open qualifier is set to kick off today with a 128 team bracket running through the weekend to determine which four teams will round out the VCT Stage 1 Challengers list.

XSET, Version1, The Guard, and NRG showed they have what it takes in the first open qualifier while Sentinels, Cloud9, 100 Thieves, and Envy received invites based on their performance in the previous year.

Of the 128 rosters set to compete, 24 are salaried by organizations which means 16 paid lineups will be watching from the sidelines come the main event. The top 16 from the open bracket will move into the round-of-16 where all matches will be played as best-of-three series. Top-level orgs such as TSM, T1, RISE, and more are still vying for their spot, and the drama from last week is going to make things spicy.

T1 was forced to forfeit their match against TSM after the squad's coach tried to guide his team in the in-game chat which is in violation of the VCT rules. This led to a plethora of hot takes on Twitter which only got worse when TSM went on to fail to qualify.

A T1 vs. TSM rematch is the story everyone is hoping for this week and we can't blame them - but there are PLENTY of matches you won't want to miss.

Events to Watch

BLAST Premier reaches playoffs

Top level CS is back, baby! The BLAST Premier playoffs are upon us with some banger matchups taking place thanks to an interesting group stage. All eyes will once again be on the new lineups of Liquid, EG, and Vitality while Na'Vi look to bounce back from their (extremely surprising) 0-2 group stage performance. Watch.

CDL season officially kicks off

With the Kick Off event in the rearview mirror, it's time for the Call of Duty league to really begin. Plenty of questions heading into the opening week, but in particular we want to know if ATL FaZe can return to their dominant form after going out earlier than expected at the Kick Off. Find out.

LCS Spring Series begins

The Lock-In is over and now it's time for Liquid to try to carry that momentum into the Spring Series. While the Lock-In gave us a brief glimpse at the teams, things are always a little different during the regular season and I wouldn't be surprised if another team rose from the shadows. Don't miss it.

Juked Updates

This Friday: Juked Weekly gives you a look behind the scenes

No guest this week for Esports Weekly, just three diehard esports fans telling you everything you need to know about the juked app, sharing our thoughts on the current happenings in esports, and answering any questions you may have!

Sounds like a great time to us. See you there?