With just over a week to go before the main Valorant event of the year, the intrigue is growing day by day. Today it became known when and between whom the first matches of the group stage will take place, so now we will try to predict the potential winners.
Group A
The first match in Group A will be between Paper Rex and KRU Esports. The teams have not met each other before this championship. It's hard to determine who can win the match, Paper Rex is a stable top-1 in the Pacific region, whereas KRU Esports is quite an ambiguous team. They may not win a single match during the regular season, but then sweep all their opponents without a single loss at the next tournament. Bookmakers set Paper Rex as the match favorite with a coefficient of 1.39 against 2.95 for KRU Esports.
The second match will take place between EDward Gaming and Giants Gaming. Despite the fact that the representatives of China cannot be considered a strong team on the world stage, their opponents also haven't shown particularly confident results this season. However, Giants Gaming's recent victory at the EMEA LCQ, where they defeated NAVI 3-0 in the grand final, speaks in their favor. Bookmakers consider EDward Gaming the match favorite with a coefficient of 1.53, but our editorial board leans more towards a GG victory.
Group B
The next group will showcase a meeting between Evil Geniuses and FunPlus Phoenix. According to bookmakers, the unanimous favorites are EG with a coefficient of 1.03 against 11.48 for FPP. However, we don't recommend dismissing the Chinese team, as they've performed quite well against opponents from other regions.
The second match will take place between FUT Esports and T1. As we wrote in previous materials, FUT Esports are among the main outsiders of the championship and the main contenders for elimination from the tournament. Therefore, in our opinion, T1 will win this meeting.
Group C
The first match will take place between tournament favorites Fnatic and their opponents from Japan - ZETA DIVISION. These teams have met 2 times before, with each participant having 1 victory. But despite the fact that ZETA DIVISION is a strong team, ranking 2nd in their region, Fnatic are too strong today, so the victory will most likely be theirs.
In the second match, NRG will clash with BiliBili Gaming, and here the winner is also clear. BiliBili Gaming lacks gameplay experience, the team was formed only at the beginning of 2023 and, moreover, has not previously encountered teams from other regions, playing exclusively in China. Therefore, the victory will be for NRG.
Group D
The matches of the last group will start with a meeting of two European teams, Team Liquid versus Natus Vincere. In the past, the teams met 6 times, with Team Liquid winning in 4 matches. We think this time they will get another victory in the Head to Head matches, because NAVI is objectively a weaker team.
The second match will take place between the reigning world champions LOUD and the Korean top team DRX. They have had 2 meetings in the past, with LOUD winning both times. Although the world champions are currently losing a bit of ground, DRX, on the contrary, is taking podium places at major tournaments. We do not believe in rumors about an unstable situation inside LOUD, so we consider them the favorites in this match.
We remind you that you can follow the Valorant World Championship on our website. We publish all the relevant information, and we also have a schedule and tournament grid for all matches, so you can follow them and check the accuracy of this article.
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