Riot Games may reconsider its decision regarding The Guard

There is no doubt that the VALORANT community in NA is still in shock after the news broke that The Guard, the winners of VCT Ascension 2023, will not be competing in the VCT Americas League for the upcoming season. As a result, many, if not all, in the community began to express their rejection of this decision by Riot Games.

However, a few hours ago, the global head of VALORANT Esports, Leo Faría, shared a post on his Twitter account where he mentioned that they are working on a “solution.”. No doubt, Riot Games is reconsidering its decision regarding The Guard, as the pressure from the community is great. However, it remains to wait what will be the final decision on the part of the game developers.

Leo Faria hints that Riot is looking for a solution

First, remember that last Tuesday, August 29, Riot Games announced that The Guard would not play the VCT Americas League in 2024. In the statement, Riot mentioned that the organization did not comply with the procedure that is in the VCT regulations to “logistically” ensure the quota for the franchise league. This is even though this lineup completely dominated the NA Challengers scene and, most importantly, won the VCT Ascension.

An update regarding the teams participating in VCT Americas 2024. pic.twitter.com/YCYoZSPpcL

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) August 29, 2023

This statement was met with complete and utter rejection by the entire VALORANT community worldwide. Some mentioned that it was Riot’s fault for allowing The Guard to play VCT Ascension 2023, while others pointed the finger at the organization. However, of one thing we are all certain, and that is that the players and coaching staff undoubtedly deserve to play in VCT 2024.

Following this controversy on social media, Leo Faria, the head of VALORANT Esports at Riot Games, shared a long post on Twitter where he explains all the problems surrounding The Guard. Faria explained that The Guard did not complete “on time” its process to enter the Americas franchise program.

Hey everyone. This situation is very unfortunate and none of us wanted this outcome. We designed Ascension hoping to see new teams and players joining our International Leagues every year, and it’s disheartening to see this happening in year one. That said, I want to share some… https://t.co/pdXWDVtP2Z

— Leo Faria (@lhfaria) August 30, 2023

In the extensive message, Leo Faria also mentions that Riot Games had 3 options to decide this case. However, the final decision was that a team would not be promoted to the VCT.

AVPA speaks out

Following Riot Games’ statement on The Guard, the AVPA (VALORANT Americas Players Association) said they suggested a “better solution to Riot Games.”

A statement from our Executive Council pic.twitter.com/fo8lQLxh3u

— Americas VALORANT Players Association (@valorant_pa) August 29, 2023

According to the AVPA, Riot should allow players and coaching staff to play under the banner of another organization. However, Faria clearly answered this in his post on Twitter, mentioning that, if allowed, there would be additional problems.

According to Faría, if they allow that to happen, it could start a wave of franchises wanting to sell their VCT slot, something that, of course, Riot Games will not allow.

Similarly, in Faria’s last post, he said that The Guard players have their VCT slot. However, Riot Games is analyzing the risks involved in deciding such magnitude, but they are working to provide the best possible solution.

I appreciate the passion with which you all showed up to advocate on behalf of the players. We hear you. There are still significant risks our team needs to dig into, but we’re working through this and hope to find a positive outcome for the players. We’ll update you all when we… https://t.co/CbMK1dQIjE

— Leo Faria (@lhfaria) August 30, 2023

For now, neither the players nor the coach of The Guard knows what will happen with their situation. However, we await an official release from Riot Games regarding the development of this inconvenience, and, of course, we hope that everyone in this lineup will be able to play in the VCT Americas League in the upcoming season.

Header: The Guard