10 most successful teams through VALORANT’s first two years

It has been two years since Riot Games released VALORANT on June 2, 2020. Organizations began forming teams before the game’s release and competitions started shortly thereafter. The end of 2020 saw the first major regional competitions with First Strike tournaments in regions around the world. The VALORANT Champions Tour kicked off in 2021 and VCT 2022 is ongoing. So who have been the best 10 teams over this time frame? A points metric similar to the one used to develop Nerd Street’s esports org rankings was used to put together these rankings. Taking into account results from First Strike, VCT Masters and Champions 2021 and VCT Masters 2022, here are the 10 most successful VALORANT teams since the game’s release.

All photos courtesy of Riot Games.

1. Gambit Esports

Gambit’s prowess was rumored for months before they got to face teams outside of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). They won Stage 1 Masters for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region and did fairly well in EMEA Stage 2 qualifiers but failed to qualify for Masters: Reykjavík. However, they did qualify for Masters: Berlin and won it. Then, they reached the grand final at VALORANT Champions, the first year-end championship event in VALORANT esports history. With a regional title, an international title and a second-place finish at VALORANT’s world championship, Gambit have been the best VALORANT team through the game’s first two years. Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the team hasn't been competing as Gambit lately and it's unclear when or if the players now known as M3C will represent Gambit again.

2. OpTic Gaming

OpTic Gaming (the team formerly known as Envy before the two orgs merged) are a close second to Gambit in terms of their place in VALORANT history since 2020. Like Gambit, OpTic won an international title and finished second at another international event. Ironically, OpTic finished second to Gambit at Masters: Berlin. After a disappointing performance at Champions, they continued the North American tradition of winning Masters: Reykjavík. With Masters: Copenhagen qualifiers ongoing, OpTic looks poised to continue their success at the next international VALORANT tournament.

3. Sentinels

When Sentinels won Masters: Reykjavík 2021, it was the culmination of an impressive run of success by the North American team. Sentinels were a strong team since forming in spring 2020 and finished the year as semifinalists at First Strike: North America. Then, they won Stage 1 Masters for the North America region in early 2021. They followed that up by becoming the first international champions in Reykjavík and locked up the best player in VALORANT, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, who was previously on loan from Cloud9. They qualified for Masters: Berlin and Champions too, but their performance declined as the year wore on. Sentinels might have been the best team in VALORANT’s early history, but other teams have since surpassed them.

4. Acend

Acend finished 2021 atop the VALORANT esports landscape. As the winners of Champions 2021, Acend can lay claim to being the champions of VALORANT’s first-ever world championship. Winning Champions carries a little more weight than winning a Masters event, but that’s not the only reason they’re fourth on this list. Acend were also the Stage 1 Masters champions for Europe. Like other Stage 1 Masters champions Gambit and Sentinels, Acend added an international title to their regional championship in 2021.

5. DRX

Outside of Sentinels and Gambit, Vision Strikers (who have since been acquired by DRX) were the most hyped team in late 2020 and early 2021. With a 102-match winning streak, the team formerly known as Vision Strikers were considered one of the best teams in the world. They won First Strike Korea and Stage 1 Masters Korea. No other team in any region won their respective First Strike and Stage 1 Masters tournaments. However, the big question hanging over the team was how much their success was due to a weak region. Failing to qualify for Masters: Reykjavík 2021 was a blow to their reputation, but they did qualify for Masters: Berlin and reached the playoffs. They started off 2022 strong too. Now known as DRX, the team reached the playoffs at Masters: Reykjavík 2022 and continue to be the best team in Korea.

6. Team Liquid

After Gambit and Acend, Team Liquid have been the most consistently strong team from Europe. They were semifinalists at Champions and qualified for Masters: Reykjavík in both 2021 and 2022. At last year’s Masters: Reykjavík, Team Liquid finished in the top four. In this year’s edition, they were a playoff team. When Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom joined his brother Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom on this team in late 2021, the team was unstoppable until the Champions final.

7. KRÜ

Thus far, KRÜ have been the only team that has qualified for all three international Masters tournaments and Champions. They were the best team outside of North America and Europe in 2021, but were mostly an afterthought until Champions. Although they made the playoffs at Masters: Berlin, they were immediately eliminated. At Champions though, they shocked the world when they beat Sentinels to eliminate them in the group stage and eventually knocked Fnatic out in the quarterfinals. Their run ended in the semifinals after a hard-fought, close match against Gambit. They didn’t win any games at Masters: Reykjavík 2022, but given their history as the best team in Latin America, they’ll surely be back for Masters: Copenhagen.

8. ZETA DIVISION

ZETA DIVISION are on here following a third-place finish at this year’s Masters: Reykjavík. After going winless at Masters: Berlin last year, it was quite a shocking turn of events. However, they were one of the best teams in Japan in the first few months of VALORANT esports history. When they were known as Absolute JUPITER, they won First Strike Japan and finished second at Japan’s Stage 1 Masters. Now that they have performed better than any Japanese team has performed on the international stage, they’re poised for a breakout year in 2022.

9. Crazy Raccoon

It might seem crazy that Crazy Raccoon is on here, but they were Japan’s representative at both Masters tournaments in 2021 and Champions. They were also the team that beat Absolute JUPITER (now known as ZETA DIVISION) at Japan’s Stage 1 Masters last year. From that point on they were the best team in Japan despite consistently underperforming at international events.

10. Fnatic

Fnatic rounds out the list of the top 10 VALORANT teams in the game’s first two years. They were runners-up at the first-ever VALORANT international tournament, Masters: Reykjavík 2021. After missing out on Masters: Berlin, they qualified for Champions and reached the playoffs. They started off 2022 looking as one of the best teams in Europe, but being without two of their starting players at Masters: Reykjavík hurt them and they went winless.