The new competitive season in the highest division of the Valorant Champions Tour has just begun, and all spectators are eagerly awaiting the first major tournament, Masters Madrid, which will start in just 10 days. As the Valorant community prepares to witness the upcoming spectacle, the Bo3 editorial team decided to refresh your memory and remind you of the teams' achievements last season. Today, we have created a selection of the top five best professional Valorant teams in 2023 for you, recalling their achievements and also analyzing their chances for the current season.
5 - DRX
Our list opens with the Korean club DRX, which, thanks to its results, barely clinched the last spot. The previous season started quite successfully for the players, thanks to a decent performance at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, where the team finished in 3-4th place. Later, in the regular season of the Pacific League, the club became the runner-up. However, that's where the good results for the team ended, and the following major tournaments did not bring any prize places. As a result, for 2023, the team earned $237,000 in prize money, according to the calculations of all official and off-season tournaments.
Prediction for 2024
Considering all the team's results, it can be stated that DRX is the strongest team in Korea, but not in the Pacific region as a whole. Analyzing the future of the club in 2024, it seems rather grim. At the end of the last season, the team said goodbye to two key players, and they were replaced by a newcomer from the team's academy and a tier-2 replacement player. The reshuffling in the main lineup has already brought its negative results, in the last VCT 2024: Pacific Kickoff, where the team finished in 3-4th place and lost the opportunity to proceed to the Masters. Overall, it can be stated that the newcomers do not match the level of the previous members, so expecting great results from the team is not advisable.
4 - LOUD
In fourth place, we have the well-known and beloved Brazilian collective LOUD. Recall that the club became the world champion in 2022, and it did not stop there. Last season, the Brazilian players took three important prize places at major tournaments. Among them: 2nd place at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, 1st place in the regular season of the Americas League, and 3rd place at Valorant Champions 2023. Thanks to this, the team brought the organization $445,000 in prize money, not counting the off-season tournaments.
Prediction for 2024
After the end of the last season, most fans of the team were disappointed by the news that the club's main star, Erick "aspas" Santos, was leaving the collective. The 20-year-old Brazilian is called one of the best duelists in the world, so most viewers believed that he was the driving force of LOUD, and after his departure, the team would decline. Despite this, the players proved to everyone that not only Erick played an important role in the team. In the current season, the collective has already taken second place at the Americas Kickoff, thereby securing a slot at the upcoming Masters Madrid. This means that the Brazilian tops have not lost their strength and plan to repeat the performance of the previous year.
3 - Paper Rex
The top three best teams of 2023 are opened by the Singaporean tops Paper Rex, who are currently the strongest team in the Pacific region. The team confirmed its leadership in its region thanks to winning the regular season of the Pacific League and third place at Masters Tokyo. But the team's most significant achievement is the 2nd place at last year's world championship, Valorant Champions 2023. Such a result allowed the team to take third place in our list. Last year, the team earned $645,000.
Prediction for 2024
Paper Rex remains one of the strongest teams in the Pacific region, even despite a gaming break by Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie, who had to pause his gaming career due to mandatory military service. The team confirmed its strength by taking second place at the Pacific Kickoff, as a result of which the team received an invitation to the upcoming Masters. Interestingly, the club lost the last match against Gen.G Esports, whom they previously defeated without a chance. This means that Wang's departure from the team did bring a slight weakening.
2 - Fnatic
The silver medalist on our list is the favourite of the European region, Fnatic. "The Oranges," as they are often called due to the colours of their organization, had the best season in 2023, making them one of the most titled teams in the discipline. The team's achievements include victories at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, and the off-season Red Bull Home Ground #4. In addition, the team took second place in the regular season of the EMEA League, and 4th place at the world championship Valorant Champions 2023. Such results brought "The Oranges" into the list of the strongest Valorant teams, as well as our list.
Prediction for 2024
The future of Fnatic looks promising, but not without problems. On the one hand, the team did not make any changes to the main lineup, so the players seemed to continue to show the highest level of play. On the other hand, at the beginning of 2024, the team already failed at the EMEA Kickoff, where they finished in 3-4th place, as a result of which they will not make it to the upcoming Masters. It is still unclear what caused such an unexpected defeat, but most likely it was a "momentary" weakness, and in the future, Fnatic will rehabilitate.
1 - Evil Geniuses
Closing our list of the best teams last year is the most famous team and the reigning world champion - Evil Geniuses. The team began its journey last season with a failure at the first major tournament but then fully rehabilitated. The following tournaments looked like steps on the career ladder: 3rd place in the regular season of the Americas League, 2nd place at Masters Tokyo, and finally 1st place and the championship at Valorant Champions 2023. Thanks to such results, the club earned $1,250,000 last year, the majority of which came from winning the world championship.
Prediction for 2024
Despite such a wonderful year in 2023, the professional career of the team can be considered over. The thing is that due to a scandal with payment and contracts, the organization lost four of the five main players, who moved to other teams. As a result, the team was replenished with four members, but they did not match the level of their predecessors. This was confirmed by the last performance of Evil Geniuses at the Americas Kickoff, where the team finished in 3-4th place and lost the opportunity to proceed to the Masters. After a series of reshuffles, it can be boldly stated that the team will not return to its former glory, and the championship title was their last achievement.
Conclusion
Now you know which teams, in our editorial opinion, were the best last season, as well as assumptions about what awaits them in the future. Note that the new competitive season has just begun, and ahead of us is Masters Madrid, which will start on March 14. It is after this tournament that a complete picture of the current situation on the professional scene will be formed. Continue to follow our portal to learn more interesting and informational selections about teams and professional players.
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