Know the three new Valorant teams making their debut at VCT 2024

All you need to know about the three new Valorant teams making their debut at the VCT 2024.

To offer chances to teams who weren’t among the first 30 partnered teams in the VCT 2023 season, Ascension tournaments were organized by Riot in the Pacific, Americas, and EMEA regions. The first team to win the Ascension Pacific tournament was the Singaporean team Bleed Esports, who defeated the Japanese team SCARZ 3-0 in the championship match.

The Guard of North America won the Ascension Americas trophy after defeating M80 3-1 in the championship match. Gentle Mates, the French esports team, defeated Apeks 3-0 to win the Ascension EMEA trophy. In this article, we will learn more about the new teams making it to the international Valorant League, reliving their journey from the Challenger League to the international league.

Gentle Mates

Gently Mates, a team that won both of the VCL France splits under the moniker SBG before rebranding, is the team making the jump to the VCT EMEA League. Their wins at Split 2 guaranteed them a spot in the Ascension EMEA competition. The squad defeated squad Falcons in the Group Stage to begin their EMEA Ascension adventure.

They subsequently succeeded in winning two of the following three games to finish second in their group and earn an invitation to the LAN playoffs in Berlin. Apeks, who went a perfect 4-0 in the Group Stage to earn the #1 seed going into the Playoffs, was the only team Gentle Mates lost to in the group stage.

The squad was then shocked by Acend in the opening game of the playoffs, and following a hard 0–2 loss, they were demoted to the Lower Bracket. After defeating SAW 2-1, the team managed to advance to the Lower Bracket final where they defeated Acend 3-0 to exact revenge and set up a rematch with Apeks in the championship game. However, the Gentle Mates thought otherwise, as they thrashed their opponents 3-0 to ensure their spot in the VCT EMEA League 2024 or 2025 for next season.

With Gentle Mates’ Ascension EMEA victory, two former DfuseTeam/Team BDS players, Jonathan “TakaS” Paupard and Logan “logaN” Corti, have made their way back to tier 1. These two haven’t competed in the VCT since they advanced to the final six of Stage 3: Challengers 2 under BDS almost two years ago.

Not only that, but the team’s entry in VCT also marks the storied head coach Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans’ comeback to a top 1 tactical first-person shooter league. TakaS likewise worked for Karmine Corp. for the majority of 2022, but towards the end of the year, he was let off when the company switched to its present partnership roster. Now, he will get the opportunity to play against KCorp and the other nine partnered rosters for an extended period of two years.

Under the guidance of one of the most renowned Counter-Strike commanders in history and backing from French content creator Gotaga, the European squad Gentle Mates has a genuine opportunity to make a significant impact in VCT EMEA.

Gentle Mates’ Valorant roster:

• Jonathan “TakaS” Paupard
• Logan “logaN” Corti
• Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans
• Wailers “Wailers” Locart
• Beyazıt “beyAz” Körpe
• Nathan “nataNk” Bocqueho
• Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans (Head Coach)

G2 Esports

 

After The Guard was denied a spot in the VCT Americas League, they decided to fight for it and started competing in the Challenger League. They finished third in the Mid-Season Face Off after finishing the first split of the Challengers League with a 4-1 record. The squad dominated the upper bracket to reach the Grand Final, finishing 2-0 in the group stage and staying unbeaten throughout the promotion competition.

Despite several technical difficulties and network problems during the grand final, The Guard held their nerve strong and secured a brilliant 3-1 victory. After failing to complete a comeback on Ascent (13-11), Jacob “valyn” Batio’s squad responded with three consecutive victories on Haven (13-3), Bind (14-12), and Pearl (13-9) to win the VCT Americas Ascension title and become the first team to be promoted to the VCT Americas.

In case you’re wondering how G2 Esports managed to get a seat at VCT rather than The Guard, let’s take a quick look back at what transpired following the Ascension event. The Guard, owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, missed the deadline to agree to the Team Participation Agreement of VCT Americas following their victory in the VCT Americas Ascension.

Riot therefore permitted the former roster of The Guard to find a deserving candidate organisation for the Ascended position. G2 Esports saw a chance and signed most of The Guard’s players, taking over the core players’ two-year VCT Americas berth that they had earned by winning the Ascension.

G2 inked two-year contracts with Michael “neT” Bernet, Jonah “JonahP” Pulice, Trent “trent” Cairns, Jacob “valyn” Batio, and coach Josh “JoshRT” Lee. Ian “tex” Botsch, who moved to Leviatán to play alongside Erick “aspas” Santos, is the sole player who will not be joining G2. In his place the organization has signed former Cloud9 superstar Nathan “leaf” Orf.

The new squad will enter every event with the weight of expectations from fans all across the world, given the high standards of G2 Esports. This will undoubtedly not be an easy task but the team has all the capabilities to shine on the biggest stage of Valorant esports when the new season begins in February.

G2 Esports’ Valorant roster:

Michael ‘neT’ Bernet
Jonah ‘JonahP’ Pulice
Trent ‘trent’ Cairns
Jacob ‘valyn’ Batio

Nathan “leaf” Orf
Josh ‘JoshRT’ Le (head coach)

Bleed Esports

After winning the VCT Pacific Ascension, Bleed becomes Singapore’s second team to participate in the Pacific League for the next two years, along with Paper Rex. Bleed showed off their skill throughout the competition, taking home three series victories and only losing one against Dplus in the group round. They received a favorable starting position in the playoffs due to their first-place result, which allowed them to go straight to the semi-finals.

Boom was their first opponent in the Bo3 playoffs, and it was a tight game with equal chances for both sides. Despite the odds, Bleed triumphed with a 2-1 win over Indonesian team BOOM Esports to move to the finals.

Alongside Bleed, SCARZ had an almost identical run in the VCT Ascension, finishing in the same group with a 3-1 record but a lower total score than Bleed Esports. In the playoffs, SCARZ defeated the Vietnamese team Fancy 2-0 in the quarterfinals and then defeated the Filipino squad NAOS Esports in a close match to secure a spot against Bleed in the championship match.

Bleed’s map pick of Haven opened the Grand Finals, which was a best-of-five duel. With a 9-3 lead heading into the second half, Bleed Esports came out firing. Despite SCARZ receiving six extra rounds, Bleed won the map.  SCARZ chose Bind for the second map, but Bleed Esports was ready and came out on top with a commanding 13-2 scoreline. The last chance SCARZ had to rally was on the third stage of Fracture, but Bleed Esports showed no empathy as they won the map with a score of 13-8. With their victory, Bleed entered the high rank of top-tier team that will represent their nation at the VCT Pacific.

They have made significant changes to strengthen the roster, adding veteran Singaporean player, Javier “Egoist” Chua and North American Valorant superstar Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker. The highly stacked roster will be must team to watch when they debut at the VCT Kick//off event.

Bleed Esports’ Valorant roster:

• Nutchaphon “sScary” Matarat
• Ngô “crazyguy” Công Anh
• Derrick “Deryeon” Yee
• Javier “Egoist” Chua
• Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker

Header: Riot Games