Rise talent Kevin "poised" Ngo has described the recent VALORANT North American Challenger open qualifiers as a "bloodbath", insisting "anything can happen" in the Esport.
In the VALORANT VCT NA Challengers, Rise are 3/1 to beat Team Envy, who are 2/9 to come out on top.
Tough start after break
With their last match prior to the NA Challengers Open One having taken place at the end of October last year, Rise were out of practice heading into the first open qualifier.
And it showed as they lost in round three of the upper bracket before falling to a 2-0 defeat to NRG in the fourth round of the lower bracket.
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Fortunately for Rise, they managed to get through the second open qualifier by coming out on top in the lower bracket.
They will be one of only 12 teams to compete in the North America Stage One Challengers event, which starts on Friday, having beaten some big names such as T1 and TSM to the main event.
No room for error
And while their qualification is a great success, "poised" recognises there is no room for complacency and the depth of competition is strong.
Following his side's performance in the qualifiers, "poised" said: "We went into those first games last week more nervous because we haven't played matches in a while.
"We rewatched the games and we were playing scared... but we knew we were good and we proved it here.
"I think anything can happen in this game - anyone can beat anyone. You never know. These open qualifiers have been a bloodbath - even top teams getting upset. They're probably watching this getting nervous to be honest."
