TSM exec warns of long delays at Valorant NA Challengers League due to Texas ice storm

Declan Mclaughlin
TSM logo that appears on their Valorant Challengers team's jersey

Dominic Kallas, Vice President of Esports Operations at TSM, has called for a rescheduling of the TSM vs MAD Lions match in the Valorant NA Challengers League due to the Texas ice storm.

The Challengers League match between the team is the first series of the second day of the North American competition. The tournament organizer for the event, Knights Arena, delayed the match by 30 minutes due to the weather conditions impacting “network connectivity in the area of Austin, Texas.”

TSM executive pleads for NA Valorant Challengers rescheduling

The TSM executive responded to the delay announcement with a plea to Knights to reschedule the match. He said that both teams have players in Texas that will be impacted by the ice storm and that fans should expect a long day of technical delays if the match continues as scheduled.

https://twitter.com/KallasDominic/status/1621254276340129794?s=20&t=974HES2yZir_GdDF3yTmlg

“Please reschedule this match! Both teams have players who are impacted by the ice storm in Texas with power & heat going in & out all throughout the state,” Kallas said.

TSM’s Valorant squad moved its operations to Texas in 2022 along with a few other teams to be closer to the game’s servers. TSM player James ‘hazed’ Cobb tweeted that his internet has gone out repeatedly during the ice storm.

“Here’s to hoping the weather in Texas doesn’t cause my team to be FF,” hazed said.

The weather conditions in Texas have been severe since January 31.

This is not the first time technical delays have occurred due to an ice storm in Texas. In the 2021 ice storm, the NA VCT Stage 1 Challengers 2 tournament was hit with delays as multiple players were without power for days.

The NA Valorant Challengers League match is still set to go on as scheduled as the broadcast for the competition began at 4:20 p.m. EST.