TSM fail to qualify for VCT Challengers 1 after T1 drama

TSM failed to qualify for VALORANT Champions Tour Challengers 1 after making a rise on Twitter about T1’s coach communicating with his team during their match.

On Saturday TSM faced T1 in the lower bracket of the VCT Challengers 1 open qualifier for a chance to advance to the main event. During their match against T1 on Split, a coach for the organization spoke in all chat. This led TSM members to call out the organization on social media and resulted in T1 being forced to forfeit the match by Riot Games.

T1’s forfeit allowed TSM to move onto the next match of the event and put them one step closer to making it out. However, in a one-sided match against Akrew Esports, TSM failed to pull the matches back and would have to try to make it to Challengers 1 through the second open qualifier. The drama stirred up on social media by TSM members has come back to bite them now that they lost to a new team in the scene. Several players poked fun at the grudge match between T1 and TSM by tweeting out “Wait, you guys have to play an open qualifier? We just got a BYE.” T1’s in-game leader Josh “steel” Nissan clapped back on Twitter shortly after TSM lost to Akrew by spinning the copy-pasta against TSM.

“Damn Akrew got a BYE too…?” Tweeted steel.

Damn Akrew got a BYE too…?

— steel (@JoshNissan) January 30, 2022

TSM fall flat

The loss to Akrew puts TSM in the second VCT open qualifier where they will have one final chance to make it to the main event. TSM struggled throughout 2021 to perform and made several roster changes along the way to change their fate. They came into 2022 with a few new faces but regardless, the outcome seems to be the same.

To make it to the main event TSM will have to place in the top four in order to qualify for Challengers 1. While the bracket for the second qualifier has not been revealed yet there is a possibility that TSM will have to face T1 again.