Valorant
The Valorant Champions Tour 2024 (VCT 2024) kicks off on 20 February, and all the teams are ready to compete. Since last season, many teams have changed their lineups, and new teams have emerged.
It will be more than exciting to follow the Valorant eSports competition.
To catch everything interesting, we offer a list of 10 teams to pay attention to in the new season.
Highlights
- Reviewing the Valorant Teams to Watch in 2024
- Interesting facts about eSports teams in the world of Valorant and their players
Fnatic
Current Roster:
- Jake "Boaster" Howlett
- Leo "Leo" Jannesson
- Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev
- Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov
- Emir "Alfajer" Ali Beder
- Chris "Elmapuddy" Tebbit (Head coach)
- Jacob "Mini" Harris (Assistant coach)
This team is worth keeping an eye on in the new season. This giant in the eSports world will most likely dominate the professional scene once again. The team won the VCT International Championship in São Paulo in 2023. They beat LOUD 3-2.
They also defeated a promising Evil Genius squad 3-0 at the Masters Tokyo tournament, making them legends in Valorant cybersports.
This year, Fnatic, for whom Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov plays, found themselves in the same group as Vitality and Gentle Mates. After the end of the 2023 season, the coach, mini, announced that he was leaving the team, but he has already returned as an assistant coach for the new season. And the coach was Chris "Elmapuddy" Tebbit.
This team has an up-and-coming roster. What is worth only the super intelligent Jake "Boaster" Howlett, who extended his contract until 2025.
The power of the team also lies in the fact that all players, such as Leo or Alfajer, can win rounds and cards on their own.
NRG
Current Roster:
Austin "crashies" Roberts
Victor "Victor" Wong
Jimmy "Marved" Nguyen
Ethan "Ethan" Arnold
Max "Demon1" Mazanov
Chet "Chet" Singh (Coach)
The roster has changed and now features the real demons from Evil Geniuses. The players gathered in the team have become a unique combination of firepower and individual display of skills. This will significantly help the team, as these are precisely the qualities they lacked at VCT 2023.
Demon1 and Ethan will make the team even more robust, and there is a high probability that we will hear about NRG's successes very soon.
Fan-favorite gaming legends from Optic Gaming are also part of the team. Of those who remain on the team from last season are Victor and crashies. They have proven that their qualities suit the team, and their discipline is top-notch.
Following the team will be a true delight for 2024.
Sentinels
Current Roster:
Mohamed "JohnQT" Amine Ouarid
Zachary "zekken" Patrone
Tyson "tenZ" Ngo
Bryan "pANcada" Luna
Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi
Hunter "SicK" Mims
Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro.
Adam Kaplan (Head Coach)
Drew Spark-Whitworth (Assistant Coach)
The Sentinels continue to be an exciting team to follow with interest by so many. The Sentinels at Valorant have always been the benchmark of greatness. There have been some minor changes to their lineup. Adding Mohamed "johnqt" Ouarid to the team has been great. He is playing the role of IGL.
Fan hopes and expectations are already off the charts, but it's hard to blame them after a pretty stellar offseason. Zekken continues to shine on duelists, and TenZ finds a new favorite in Omen. All of this only brings the team unprecedented success and wins. Zellsis has fit into the team very well as a replacement for pANcada.
DRX
Current Roster:
Kim "stax" Gu-taek
Cho "Flashback" Min-hyuk
Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul
Kim "MaKo" Myeong-gwan
Jung "Foxy9" Jae-sung
Pyeon "termi" Seon-ho (Head coach)
Kim "glow" Min-soo (Coach)
Kwon "Argency" Soon-woo (Coach)
The team's most successful season was in 2022. They earned two top-six finishes at both Masters tournaments and then finished third at the Champions. Looking to reach new heights in 2023, DRX reached the semifinals of LOCK//IN but lost there.
The team's top-four finish in São Paulo was its best achievement in 2023.
After these results, the team terminated Rb's and Zest's contracts. With a core of three players and their coaching staff, Flashback and Foxy9 were added to the team. These changes indicate DRX's determination to win a well-deserved championship.
Leviatan
Current Roster:
Francisco "kiNgg" Aravena
Ian "tex" Botsch
Roberto "Mazino" Rivas
Erick "aspas" Santos
Corbin "C0M" Lee
Agustin "nzr" Ibarra
Alex "goked" Kie (Head coach)
Dimitar "Itopata" Staev (Assistant coach)
If you want to experience all the fun, watch this team. Erick "aspas" Santos, the reigning VCT Americas MVP and All-Pro duelist, has been named to this team in the 2024 lineup. This instantly makes the team one of the most exciting teams on the pro scene.
But Leviatán is, first and foremost, a company. Aspas will play under one of the game's most prolific and colorful IGLs, Francisco "kiNgg" Aravena.
Leviatán bolstered their roster with the additions of tex joining alongside kiNgg, Mazino, and nzr.
With new coach Alex "goked" Kee, Leviatán may be considered a contender to win in 2024.
Paper Rex
Current Roster:
Aaron "mindfreak" Leonhart
Jason "f0rsakeN" Susanto
Khalish "d4v41" Rusyaidee
Ilya "something" Petrov
Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha
Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie
Alex "alecks" Salle (Coach)
Paper Rex is a feisty Valorant team from Singapore. In 2023, the team succeeded and confidently smashed many international teams. After Russian duelist Ilya "Something" Petrov joined the team with his fantastic frag abilities, the team gained more power than before.
The team won the VCT Pacific League, defeating DRX 3-2 in the championship game. They also took 3rd place at Master Tokyo, even without the help of a Russian player.
Mindfreak and d4v41 are showing remarkable consistency and matching the team's aggression, while f0rsakeN continues to showcase his ability to hyper-carry matches.
Cahya "Monyet" Nugraha has joined the team this season.
This team deserves some attention this season. They are not willing to concede a single game.
G2 Esports
Current Roster:
Jacob "valyn" Batio
Trent "trent" Cairns
Jonah "JonahP" Pulice
Michael "neT" Bernet
Nathan "leaf" Orf
Josh "JoshRT" Lee (Head coach)
The team is already interesting to watch. At the VCT Americas Kickoff, G2 Esports defeated KRÜ Esports, and they will meet Evil Geniuses in a crucial Group C match to qualify for the playoff stage.
Despite having a good roster, they performed poorly last year and failed to qualify for the Ascension tournament.
The current G2 Valorant squad consists of four players and a coach from The Guard. This team will likely bring much upheaval to the Americas league.
NAVI
Current Roster:
Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov
Andrey "Shao" Kiprsky
Pontus "Zyppan" Eek
Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin
Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks
Erik "d00mbr0s" Sandgren (Head coach)
Oliwer "LATEKS" Fahlander (Assistant coach)
NAVI competes in the EMEA region. In 2023, the team was one of the best in the area and even qualified for all international competitions. However, their performance was very disappointing.
One change in the lineup - cNed was let go to get ardiis from NRG.
It will be interesting to see if the former FPX squad can repeat their previous results.
BLEED
Current Roster:
Ngô "crazyguy" Công Anh
Nutchapon "sScary" Matarat
Derrick "Deryeon" Yee
Javier "Egoist" Chua
Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker
Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić (Head coach)
Sushant "Ominous" Jha (Analyst)
Anthony "ImpressioN" Lim (Staff)
Throughout last year, this team had incredible results in regionals.
After earning a spot in the Pacific League franchise, BLEED recruited one of the NA Valorant's top players, Yay, to their lineup.
Combined with the talents of sScary and Deryeon in the lineup, the addition of yay could be what helps BLEED become the best team in their region.
LOUD
Current Roster:
Matias "saadhak" Delipetro
Gabriel "Quick" Lima
Felipe "Less" de Loyola
Arthur "tuyz" Andrade
Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira
Pedro "peu" Lopes (Coach)
Jordan "stkJ" Nunes (Assistant Coach)
LOUD was one of the strongest teams in the 2023 season. Although the team was on their way to victory at LOCK//IN São Paulo, Fnatic defeated them in the finals. However, they rehabilitated themselves at VCT: Americas, taking first place in the regular season and playoffs.
Their performance could be more consistent. For example, at VCT: Masters, Tokyo, LOUD finished seventh at VCT: Masters, and at VCT Champions, they finished third after two wins over Fnatic.
In the offseason, LOUD lost two key players, Aspas and Daniel "fRoD" Montaner.
The team brought in two young players, but only time will tell what will come from it.
Summary
One promising team we have yet to mention is Edward Gaming. They left LOUD with nothing at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, not losing a single game and finishing in the top 6. EDG can make history at VCT 2024, so remember them.
