VALORANT Champions 2023: All qualified teams

July 14, 2023

by Brian Bencomo

Last updated July 23

The VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 season will come to a conclusion with Champions, which is set to take place in Los Angeles from Aug. 6 to 26. The top teams from the three VCT international leagues -- Americas, EMEA (Europe) and Pacific (Asia) -- as well as China will compete in the VCT season-ending championship tournament.

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A total of 16 teams will be in Los Angeles, and all have either qualified directly via their respective league’s in-season results or through Last Chance Qualifiers. Chinese teams don’t yet have a regional league and have qualified via the Champions China Qualifier. The regional breakdown for the 16 teams looks like this:

5 teams - EMEA
4 teams - Americas
4 teams - Pacific
3 teams - China

These are the qualified teams so far:

Fnatic
Team Liquid
FUT Esports
Giants Gaming
Natus Vincere (NAVI)
Evil Geniuses
NRG
LOUD
KRÜ Esports
Paper Rex
DRX
T1
ZETA Division
EDward Gaming
Bilibili Gaming
FunPlus Phoenix

To get you ready for Champions 2023, here’s a primer on each of the qualified teams.

Fnatic

EMEA

Photo credit: Riot Games

It has been a nearly perfect year for Fnatic. They started off the year by winning five straight matches to win the 32-team VCT LOCK//IN tournament. They didn’t drop a map until the final where they had an epic Map 5 comeback after being down 11-3 to beat reigning world champs LOUD. That was Fnatic’s first-ever victory at a global VALORANT tournament.

They proceeded to trounce the competition in the VCT EMEA league, where they went undefeated through the regular season and the playoffs and only lost two maps before losing the final to Team Liquid. That has been their only loss this year, because at Masters Tokyo, Fnatic went undefeated and only dropped one map to claim their second consecutive global title. They are the first VALORANT team to pull off such a feat.

This is only the third year of the VALORANT Champions Tour, but if Fnatic can win Champions, they will have put together a historically great year in VALORANT that will be hard to equal. With a world class coach in Jake “mini” Harris and in-game leader in Jake “Boaster” Howlett, plus an incredibly talented team of Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev, Emir "Alfajer" Beder, Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov and Leo "Leo" Jannesson, there’s not doubt Fnatic will be the favorites in Los Angeles.

Team Liquid

EMEA

Photo credit: Hara Amoros / Riot Games

Team Liquid proved they are one of the top teams in the world after beating Fnatic in the final of the VCT EMEA league. They improved over the course of the EMEA season and are the only team that has beaten Fnatic this year. However, going 1-2 at Masters Tokyo raises questions about how competitive TL can be internationally. They did lose to NRG and Evil Geniuses, two North American teams that finished among the top four in Tokyo, so they weren’t bad losses. Plus, they did beat EDward Gaming, a Chinese team that has proven to be the best from that region and a team that pulled off some upsets in Tokyo. TL should be back stronger at Champions and be among the more competitive EMEA teams.

FUT Esports

EMEA

Photo credit: Riot Games

FUT Esports had a strong season in VCT EMEA as they finished third in the playoffs with key wins over Team Vitality and Natus Vincere. Doğukan “QutionerX” Dural had the third best ACS of any player in VCT EMEA this season, while Ata “AtaKaptan” Tan had the fifth-most clutches of any player in the league. FUT became the first Turkish roster to qualify for a Masters tournament since SuperMassive Blaze in 2021. They were eliminated in the group stage of Masters Tokyo, but they did get one win to edge out NAVI to directly qualify for Champions and avoid having to do so via the EMEA LCQ. Turkish players like Emir "Alfajer" Beder and Mehmet "cNed" İpek have shined at Champions in years past, but FUT will be the first majority Turkish roster to compete on VALORANT esports’ biggest stage.

Giants Gaming

EMEA

Photo credit: Hara Amoros / Riot Games

Some people thought Fnatic winning Masters Tokyo to give EMEA an extra slot at Champions would benefit Giants Gaming. They were the presumptive fifth-best team in EMEA after the four teams that qualified for Tokyo. However, Giants ended up winning the EMEA LCQ to qualify as Europe’s fourth seed at Champions. They looked particularly dominant with 2-0 victories over Karmine Corp and KOI and a 3-0 over NAVI in the LCQ final. Giants veteran Adolfo "Fit1nho" Gallego was a standout during the LCQ with the best rating and K/D among all players and a series-leading 59 kills on Breach in the final.

Natus Vincere

EMEA

Photo credit: Hara Amoros / Riot Games

NAVI came into the year looking like they should be the second-best team in EMEA, and although they have qualified for Masters Tokyo and now Champions, the team has looked vulnerable. NAVI were knocked into the lower bracket by KOI early in the LCQ, but did manage to win a couple series to reach the final. They looked overmatched in the 3-0 final loss to Giants, but still managed to qualify for Champions due to EMEA having an extra slot. All five members of this team have been international champions, so despite being EMEA’s fifth seed, NAVI has the talent and experience to rise to the occasion at Champions.

LOUD

Americas

Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff/ Riot Games

LOUD fell flat at Masters Tokyo, going 0-2 without any map wins. It was a shocking result for the Champions 2022 winners who finished second at LOCK//IN and won the VCT Americas championship heading into Masters. It’s too soon to say whether LOUD are on the decline. They had a similarly poor result at Masters Copenhagen last year, where they went 0-2 after a runner-up finish at Masters Reykjavík. They followed that up by winning Champions.

LOUD proved that they are still an elite team after losing Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi and Bryan "pANcada" Luna in the offseason and reloading with Cauan "cauanzin" Pereira and Arthur "tuyz" Vieira. Erick "aspas" Santos is still one of the best duelists in the world, and Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro’s leadership should ensure this team is ready to make a run at Champions. This team is too good to have another poor result in Los Angeles. LOUD are one of a handful of teams that could knock off Fnatic at Champions.

NRG

Americas

Photo credit: Riot Games

Pujan “FiNESSE” Mehta, Austin “crashies” Roberts and Victor “Victor” Wong alongside head coach Chet “Chet” Singh have proven to be one of the best cores in VALORANT. They were runners-up at Masters Berlin with Envy in 2021, won Masters Reykjavík and finished second at Champions last year with OpTic. This year, that core alongside Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks and Sam "s0m" Oh reached the final of VCT Americas (where they lost to LOUD) and had a top four finish at Masters Tokyo. They’re a good bet to once again make a top four run at Champions. With the tournament being held in North America, the team will likely have a strong contingent of fans rooting them on.

Evil Geniuses

Americas

Photo credit: Riot Games

In a couple months, Evil Geniuses have gone from a mediocre VALORANT team whose coach and roster were subject to a lot of criticism and doubts, to one of the best VALORANT teams in the world. By now, Evil Geniuses’ unexpected entry to the VCT Americas playoffs only because of MIBR’s even more unexpected win over 100 Thieves has become a legendary tale. Evil Geniuses shocked everybody with wins over Cloud9 and NRG to qualify for Masters Tokyo and Champions. With every win at Masters Tokyo they proved to be one of the best teams in the world as they only lost to Fnatic, the undisputed best team in the world.

Maybe teams will do a good job of anti-stratting them at Champions, but head coach Christine “potter” Chi & Co. have proven to be very adept at adjusting and playing creatively. With an in-game leader who can frag (Kelden "Boostio" Pupello), a star duelist (Max "Demon1" Mazanov) and a roster of players who have stepped up in big moments, this team will be exciting to watch in Los Angeles. The question is, can they avoid the second-place curse that has befallen so many VALORANT teams who have finished second at global grand finals and then done poorly at their next event.

KRÜ Esports

Americas

Photo credit: Tina Jo / Riot Games

KRÜ pulled off a miracle run to qualify for Champions. Only the most hardcore fans could have believed in them after a winless year. Not only were they 0-9 during the VCT Americas regular season, KRÜ had to take the longest road through the LCQ to qualify. They had to win five matches -- all against teams that were better than them during the regular season -- and they won them all. Their first two matches were single elimination, but even once they got to the double elimination portion of the LCQ, KRÜ didn’t drop a match. They went 5-0 with an 11-3 map record. KRÜ’s most important victories were 2-1 over Cloud9 in the upper final and 3-1 over their LATAM rivals Leviatán and former coach Rodrigo "Onur" Dalmagro in the grand final. It was a run for the ages, and the team will be brimming with confidence when it takes the stage in L.A.

Paper Rex

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

Paper Rex proved they could win without their star duelist Ilya "something" Petrov at Masters Tokyo. They won the VCT Pacific league with him and might have beaten Evil Geniuses to reach the Masters Tokyo final if something wasn’t missing. Something had the best rating and best K/D among all players in the Pacific league and also had the best clutch rate among players who competed in over 400 rounds. But clearly, Paper Rex are more than just something as they finished third in Tokyo with big wins over DRX, EDG and NRG. Paper Rex already reached a global final last year at Masters Copenhagen under a previous roster iteration with Benedict "Benkai" Tan instead of something, and this team looks poised to reach another global final.

DRX

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

DRX have been one of the most consistently excellent VALORANT teams in the world since they were known as Vision Strikers in 2020. After back-to-back top four finishes at Champions late last year and VCT LOCK//IN early this year, it was shocking they finished 7th-8th at Masters Tokyo. However, considering all three of their losses in Tokyo were to teams who finished in the top four, DRX fans shouldn’t panic. DRX were the best team in the VCT Pacific regular season and finished second to Paper Rex in the final. It wouldn’t be surprising if they made another top four run in Los Angeles.

T1

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

After fielding mostly mediocre VALORANT teams in North America, T1 put together a winning roster of South Korean players for the inaugural season of the VCT Pacific league. T1 emerged as a contender for the best team from the Pacific region after regional titans DRX and Paper Rex. T1’s primary duelist, Ha "Sayaplayer" Jung-woo, led the way for the team as he had by far the most kills of any Pacific player. At Masters Tokyo, T1 beat EDG but then lost to them to fall short of the playoffs. Son "xeta" Seon-ho, Joseph "ban" Seungmin Oh and Sayaplayer will be back on North American soil for Champions as they will look to build on their success this season.

ZETA Division

Pacific

Photo credit: Riot Games

The Japanese fan favorites will be back on the international stage in Los Angeles. ZETA Division looked strong in the Pacific LCQ as they beat Rex Regum Qeon and Team Secret twice to qualify for Champions. Against RRQ, Yuuma “Dep” Hisamoto set a VCT LAN record for kills with 42 in a 21-19 map victory that catalyzed ZETA’s run. ZETA Division were the darlings of Masters Reykjavík last year where they finished third, but didn’t do nearly as well at Champions 2022 and didn’t qualify for Masters Tokyo. ZETA finished fourth during the VCT Pacific regular season and 5th-6th in the playoffs, so winning the LCQ marks a return to form for the Japanese team.

EDward Gaming

China

Photo credit: Riot Games

EDward Gaming have represented China in global VCT events three times now at Champions 2022, VCT LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo. Besides Evil Geniuses, EDward Gaming were the breakout stars at Masters Tokyo. EDG picked up their first victories on the global stage with wins over Natus Vincere, T1 and LOUD in Tokyo. They also were one of the funnest teams to watch with Zheng "ZmjjKK" Yongkang’s showmanship on stage. And ZmjjKK (pronounced kangkang) delivered in the server too, with the best ACS, fourth-best rating and K/D, and by far the most first kills of any player at Masters. With their experience facing the best teams in the world in Tokyo, and confidence from beating some of these teams, EDG should be a force to be reckoned with in Los Angeles. After finishing top six in Japan, it isn’t unrealistic to see them reach the top four in their North American debut.

Bilibili Gaming

China

Image credit: Bilibili Gaming

Bilibili Gaming will be making their international debut at Champions. Bilibili is a big esports organization in China that has built competitive teams in League of Legends and Overwatch in recent years and now also in VALORANT. Bilibili formed earlier this year for China’s FGC qualifiers but really took a step up in Act 2. During Act 2, Bilibili made a couple roster changes, adding Wang “Yosemite” Lei and Liu “Knight” Yuxiang. The team ended up reaching the Act 2 final where they lost to EDG. During China’s Champions qualifier, EDG was the only team Bilibili lost to. They’re the second-best Chinese VALORANT team right now. We’ll see if Bilibili can go toe-to-toe with teams from around the world the way EDG showed at Masters.

FunPlus Phoenix

China

Photo credit: Riot Games

FPX were invited to VCT LOCK//IN earlier this year where they lost 2-1 to Karmine Corp. They finished fourth in both FGC Act 1 and Act 2, but have cracked the top three at the Champions China Qualifier to book their ticket to Los Angeles. FPX won a rematch against TYLOO, a team they lost to in their opening match, to qualify for Champions. As far as how they’ve done against the other top Chinese teams, FPX haven’t beaten EDG since last year and lost their matchup against Bilibili Gaming prior to the Champions qualifier.

Four more teams will qualify via their region’s respective LCQs.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games