Taking a look at more established esports titles such as CS GO and League of Legends, VALORANT is still in its infancy soon after implementing their new format going into 2023, including only 2 full years of being present in the esports community. Riot Games expects VALORANT to become a long-term esports title, and this first year of VCT is certainly looking to showcase that.
Knowing this, around 7 teams have taken an international tournament under their name during the VALORANT Champions Tour between its start in 2021 and currently in 2023. Fnatic is the latest to scribe their name on the winners list by taking VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, and arguably becoming the best team in the world after managing to suppress a possible comeback from their opponents LOUD in the grand finals.
The true question has become, is the organization or its players the ones deserving of the trophy? A quick example is NAVI, who has never won a title however all 5 current members have individually won a trophy before, with NRG’s roster having a similar situation.
Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of incredible teams within VALORANT esports, and today we are going to take a look at 2 organizations we believe are the next to make a push for the title coming from the Asian region.
DRX
Even after Fnatic won the title in Sao Paulo at VCT LOCK//IN, fans continue to believe DRX is the most likely candidate to win it next. The Korean juggernauts have attended 6 consecutive international tournaments between their playing stint under the Vision Strikers banner and now as DRX, with each tournament they are coming closer and closer to win it all.
The team showcases arguably the game’s best controller player in Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan, who’s incredible defensive prowess has become feared by any team playing on attack. DRX also has the talents of elite duelist/initiator duo Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu and Kim “stax” Gu-taek. However what truly separates this team from others with similar superstars is their toughness and resilience, in their last 2 events they have come quite close from completing comebacks while being 0-2 down. Never trust this team when they are down.
Paper Rex
PX is one of the most exciting VALORANT teams in the world to watch as a spectator, thanks to their flashy hyper-aggressive playstyle. Their last 2 performances have been underwhelming compared to their possible ceiling, but their 2022 breakout events in Masters Reykjavík and Copenhagen were breathtaking.
The squad has become the energetic fun approach to VALORANT as a whole, either with their aggressive entry-focused style or their silly yet relatable pre-match rituals led by captain Benedict “Benkai” Tan. Paper Rex has what it takes to surprise us in 2023, it is only a matter of time until they find their mojo once more.
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