Valorant's eSports competitions began a little after the game launch in 2020. This free-to-play competitive shooter has become an eSport colleague to Counter-Strike. Although it’s hard to compare a legendary shooter with decades of history, Valorant has taken its place, featuring huge tournaments with millions of dollars in prize pools. If you want to examine the major regional and worldwide Valorant tournaments, learn the differences between eSports scenes, and analyse the responsible parties for eSports tournaments organisation and players, stay tuned. 

Introduction to Valorant eSports

The first season of the Valorant Champions Tour began in 2021. This tournament is hosted by the game developers Riot Games. The structure of this tournament up to 2022 was similar to tennis, where you need to take part in different tier tours: Challengers, Masters, and Champions. The first and lowest tier is the challenge. It takes place all around the world for teams to independently host games in Latin America, Japan, Korea, North America, and Asia. Teams that show the best performance have chances to move to higher tier tournaments at Masters. Masters host the top 16 teams that play against each other to get to the finals and fight for the champion title. If you have a desire to predict Valorant tour teams or players' outcomes, try your prediction skills at https://india.1xbet.com/line/esports. 

Exploring Valorant eSports Scenes

Even though the game has begun a long journey quite recently, compared to other eSports pioneers, its eSports scenes gather thousands of viewers in numerous parts of the world. Tournaments occur in America, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Denmark, Spain, Korea, and other countries. Global tournaments are started from the Stage 2 Masters and go to the Champions finals. All these scenes are part of VCT (Valorant Champions Tour). Let’s explore the peculiarities of each stage of this tournament in detail.

Regional Tournaments

In 2023, Riot Games changed the tournament format, excluding the 7 region format from the previous year. Now, the entire season is split into three international regions, including the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, Africa), and Asia-Pacific. Each region features its own International League, based on the partnership rules, which play the role of the Challengers, providing qualifying tours for Masters and Champions. In the new tournament format, Riot Games has increased the number of teams to participate in up to 30. All countries, except China, follow this format. In China, teams must comply by qualifying for Masters and Champions via third-party competitions. However, last year, the company announced the VCT league in China in 2024, with an increased number of teams up to 40. 

Major Leagues and Events

Some of the most spectacular games are in major international leagues. Thanks to the bright Valorant professional teams and their exciting games. Below is a list of Valorant leagues that all teams must go through to win the champion title. 

International Leagues

As mentioned earlier, the international competitions are spread across three big regions. Each consists of smaller qualifying tours for the 10 best partnering teams, which will participate in the international VCT tournament for five years. At the same time, non-partnering teams compete in sub-regions events inside Challengers to qualify for the “Ascentions” events. One team from each region of the Ascension event has a chance to compete in qualifying events to participate in global tournaments. Therefore, even smaller teams can reach global competitions through the Challenger promotion system. 

Major events are taken offline through the LAN computer network in the three biggest cities around the globe where Riot Games arenas are located. The events occur in LA for VCT America, Berlin for EMEA, Seoul for VCT Pacific, and China. These arenas share other championships for different games. 

China League

What’s special about Chinese Valorant teams? To organize eSport competitions for any game, it’s crucial to have a license. In the beginning, Valorant has not been licensed in China until recently. Chinese players could only practice and claim to play in the bigger leagues, such as Masters and Champions, based on their results at events organized by local parties. Today, all the Chinese Valorant teams, except one Dragon Ranger Gaming, have become partners of the VCT and have an opportunity to play in Masters, move to the Champions, and win titles. 

Masters

Masters is a tournament that takes place twice annually. It’s been organized by Riot Games since 2021 and comes between the regional competitions for qualification purposes and the champions tournament. The master stage is crucial as it opens the doors to the biggest Valorant reward to become a Champion. 

Champions

The culmination and highlight of all tournaments based on Valorant is the champions stage. VCT season ends when one team gets to the top and wins the VCT champion title. The latest Americas winner at Stage 2 is the Leviatán team from Argentina, Fnatic from the EMEA region, Gen.G from the Pacific region, and Edvard Gaming from China. 

Rising Teams and Players

To have a real interest in eSports competitions, we have favorite teams and players to follow. eSports is a media sphere that generates income from viewers and sponsors. In that way, many players, teams, and their managers try to enhance their brand awareness through various marketing channels. But, the biggest advertising for the player or the team is its results in tournaments. So, let’s look through the most remarkable Valorant teams and prospective players. 

  • EDward Gaming - The Chinese team with the favorite map Bind (70% winning ratio)
  • Gen.G eSports - The South Korean team with the favorite map, Haven (64.7% winning ratio). 
  • Karmine Corp - The France team with the favorite map, Lotus (57% winning ratio). 
  • Team Heretics - The Europe team with the favorite map, Haven (75% winning ratio). 
  • Sentinels - The US team with the favorite map, Haven (72.2% winning ratio)
  • Fnatic - The Europe team with the favorite map, Haven (73.3% winning ratio). 
  • LOUD - The Brazilian team with the favorite map, Ascent (71,4% winning ratio). 

Game Meta and Updates

Valorant is constantly updated, introducing new game mechanics, sounds, battlefront strategies, agent abilities, weapons mechanics, map changes, and more. Let’s cover the most significant recent game updates:

  • Improved user interface. The game interface has become more intuitive, smooth, and eye-pleasant. The lines and visuals became clearer, and the main menu began to offer quicker access to the matchmaking to change the balance of the time you spend on the menu in honor of the gameplay.
  • New agent abilities. These abilities make a significant shift towards more dynamic gameplay. Players can experiment with new strategic approaches, combinations, and tactics. 

Careers in Valorant eSports

Valorant is an excellent game to start your cybersport career. It’s not only about being a professional player and constantly improving your teamplay and shooting aim. If you are Valorant passionate, you can stream your love to the game through team managers, coaches, streamers, or event organizers. Check out all possible roles when it comes to professional eSports. 

Professional Player

Compared to Dota 2, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and Fifa, Valorant is a relatively new game. eSports competitions began just three years ago. You may say that Valorant is not as popular as the mentioned cybersport veterans. Yes, but the competition between professional players is also not so fierce. To become a member of an eSport team, you can start to show your skills in the local online tournaments and boost your name among game enthusiasts, streamers, team managers, and other players. 

Streamer and Content Creator

Another activity around Valorant eSport is to create online content about professional players and future or past tournaments, make videos analysing the team's performance, or make online predictions for upcoming events. It's also a good idea to start streaming and broadcasting your games live. Many professional cyber sportsmen started their careers streaming games online. 

Coach and Analyst

A good viewer can become a great analyst or a coach. However, you must collect lots of experience judging events, predicting outcomes, analyzing players’ performances, and evaluating the team’s possibilities under particular circumstances. To start your career as a Valorant competent individual, you can publish your thoughts through media and give your opinion on the upcoming big or small tournaments. 

Team Manager

The hardest path is to become a manager of a professional team. Team managers are always respected people in the industry, and they have years of coaching and playing experience. When it comes to eSports managers, they must be solid leaders or organizers, have strong communication and negotiation skills, and have a huge knowledge not only about the game but also about the psychological characteristics of professional players who spend hours sitting at their computers. 

Event Organizer

If you have plenty of game enthusiasts around, it might be an incredible option to organize a small competition offline or online. Event organizer is a prospective career path not only in the eSports industry. Anyone who is a master communicator, confident organizer, problem solver, and cybersport lover can try being an eSports event organizer. 

Tools and Resources for Valorant eSports Success

There is much hard work, rigorous habits, and unique techniques behind professional Valorant players. Their coaches are constantly developing and improving the training programs and helping to achieve new tools to stay competent. If you desire to explore the tools of success of world-renowned Valorant teams, check out the list below. 

Training Software and Platforms

The cybersport industry is not lagging behind traditional sports, introducing complex training programs through the latest software applications and platforms that help players stay focused and controlled. For example, anywhere in the world, you can connect to the best Valorant couches online and follow their recommendations on role-play scenarios, teamwork and communication, strategic planning, and your lifestyle and regime. A few such popular services are Gamer Sensei and ProGuides. 

Learning from Top Players

One of the best skills you may encounter is the ability to notice things and remember them. If you are a keen observer, you should watch Valorant tournament games not only for fun but also to remember or write down players’ techniques and their characteristics. 

Overcoming Challenges in Valorant eSports

Professional cybersport is tough, requiring you to pass through multiple mental and physical challenges. All professional cyber sportsmen use various techniques to stay under control and keep in touch with the attributes of experts when it comes to problem-solving processes. 

Mental Toughness and Focus

Constant team training before championships or games in important competitions puts pressure on mental health. As a result, some players may lose focus and decrease their performance. Hopefully, top players will have individual and team coaches who will follow their game and mental problems, giving quick solutions and practical exercises. 

Dealing with Losses and Setbacks

You should expect the setback of a loss. Either you tried your best and could not win the game, or you’re prone to experiencing imposter syndrome, where you feel like the weakest player; you should expect this before the tournament. Think of the loss outcomes, and be ready. It will be easier to come over this period. Also, make sure to communicate with your team in any scenario. Only when all members of the team understand the problem it is possible to overcome a setback. 

Achieving Success in Valorant eSports: Conclusion

Valorant is an astonishing teamplay game that is extremely fun to play and watch in the big eSports arena. Luckily, Riot Games takes care of Valorant professionals and organizes tournaments on the global and regional levels. So, anyone from a low league team can have an opportunity to achieve success in high leagues and become a member of a world-recognized team. Many rising teams have performed impressively on the latest VCT tours.