Top Valorant teams heading into VCT 2024

With record-breaking viewership and thrilling moments, Valorant’s eSports industry has flourished in 2023. There have been numerous positive and surprising occurrences throughout this VCT 2023 season, where many pros surpassed the expectations of the fans with their extraordinary plays. On the other hand, several bright teams have startled supporters with subpar play. But now that everything has calmed down and the offseason adjustments are nearly complete, it’s time to select our top teams heading into the VCT 2024 campaign. 

Here are the top Valorant teams heading into VCT 2024:

Fnatic

Fnatic are the overwhelming favorite to dominate the 2023 season because of its outstanding pedigree and unrivaled roster of players who are all striving toward the same objective. They defeated LOUD 3-2 to win their first international VCT championship, having won all of their games at LOCK//at São Paulo. The European team maintained their winning ways in Masters Tokyo, as they won all four of their matches and defeated Evil Geniuses 3-0 in the championship match to win the VCT 2023 season’s second international tournament.

Despite their lack of success at VCT Champions, their overall performance says a lot about them. This roster has perhaps one of the top three players in every position and they are working together well. The entire squad is still in place, and Mini, who was a fantastic coach before departing the team in September, has returned as assistant coach.  Fnatic as a squad is well-trained and structured with a brilliant iGL like BOaster, who can read the game exceptionally well and has defined protocols for every circumstance.

The reason Fnatic is such a legitimate powerhouse is because the other players on the team, Derke, Leo, Chronicle, and Alfajer, are all excellent players who are capable of winning rounds and maps on their own. The European team can deliver on a major stage, as seen by their consistent performance in 2023, and they will be a force to be reckoned with when they enter the arena in VCT 2024.

NRG

After acquiring two superstar players from Evil Geniuses, NRG appears to be the most-stacked roster heading into the 2024 season. NRG already had consistency, sustained pedigree, and experience in high-pressure moments but they lacked firepower, which was evident at VCT Champions 2023. But now that the team has Demon1 and Ethan, they appear perfectly balanced squad with a ton of firepower.

Moreover, the North American organization has made the team’s core even stronger by adding another former Optic Gaming star, Marved. Victor and crashies, the only two players retained from the 2023 roster, were already consistent but the arrival of their former teammate Marved will make things even smoother for them and the entire team. Moreover, Ethan will take the IGL duties for the team as already confirmed by the team’s head coach, while Demon1 will likely play his favorite role of Duelist.

On paper, the squad seems to be the best in the Americas League, especially since its main rival LOUD will be missing its star player Aspas. Nevertheless, it will be fascinating to watch how successfully the group can continue the “Villian Era” that Demon1 and EG began at VCT Champions.

Paper Rex

Paper Rex, an explosive and aggressive Singaporean Valorant team, played with complete confidence in 2023 and proved that they could destroy any international team. After adding Russian superstar duelist Something, who revitalized the lineup with his amazing fragging abilities, they found their stride midway through the Pacific Season this year.

Following the arrival of something, the Singaporean team moved from losing four straight games to winning the VCT Pacific League by defeating DRX 3-2 in the championship game. After that, the group showed no signs of weakening and performed admirably both domestically and internationally.

The team finished 3rd at Master Tokyo without even relying upon a Russian player something. This demonstrates that the rest of the lineup is just as explosive, with Mindfreak and d4v41 displaying remarkable consistency and matching the team’s aggression, and f0rsakeN continuing to demonstrate his capacity to hyper-carry matches with individual brilliance.

To round out the rost, PRX has signed Cahya “Monyet” Nugraha to complete the roster after negotiating a transfer agreement with Global Esports. He finished fourth in the overall individual player standings during the first season of VCT Pacific, with a team-high 1.13 VLR rating. He is expected to take over for Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie, the team’s standout player, who departed to fulfill his two-year National Service.

PRX, the group that fell short by a hair Having corrected all of their mistakes from 2023, PRX, the squad that came just short of winning the global championship, is primed to dominate the upcoming campaign.

LOUD

LOUD, the defending world champions, was one of the strongest teams to rule the franchised league going into the 2023 season. Although the squad began their trip with complete dominance in the LOCK//IN São Paulo, they were defeated by Fnatic in the finals. The LOUD team, however, established its dominance over VCT: Americas after finishing first both in the regular season and in the playoffs.

For the squad, nevertheless, the good times did not last very long. At VCT: Masters Tokyo, LOUD tied for seventh place, the second-lowest finish the Brazilian powerhouse has ever achieved in VCT history. The squad had an incredible comeback at VCT Champions, where they finished in third place after twice defeating Fnatic.

On the flip side, LOUD has lost two of its key players, Aspas and Daniel “fRoD” Montaner during the offseason. The organization has signed two young prospects in their place, which makes VCT 2024 an opportunity for LOUD to match their glory from the previous year as well as a space of uncertainty. If the new players fail to fill in the shoes of VCT Americas’ highest-rated player and his teammate fRoD, LOUD’s time in the limelight as a top team could be coming to an end.

DRX

DRX continued to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the world in 2023, although they were unable to win a title. They lost the Pacific grand finals versus Paper Rex, were eliminated early from Masters Tokyo, and failed to go past the semifinals at LOCK//IN in 2023.

As a result, the team dissolved one of the most stable roster cores in VALORANT’s brief existence. To create a room for the newcomers Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung and Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk, original members Goo “Rb” Sang-min and Kim “Zest” Gi-seok have been put on the inactive list.

DRX’s move suggests that winning significant titles is what DRX wants more than just being regarded as a good Valorant team. The Korean squad has placed a large wager on two rookies who will have massive shoes to fill if they want to win a trophy in 2024.

Edward Gaming

The dominant Chinese team EDward Gaming made headlines after they eliminated LOUD from VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo without losing a single game and placed among the top 6. Since then, EDG has only improved upon their Tokyo performance, winning the China Qualifier and clinching their ticket to the Champions League while dropping only one of 12 maps.

Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang, who won MVP in the China Qualifier for his outstanding individual performance, kept up his stellar play at Champions, assisting the team in finishing in sixth place. Because he can use the Operator on aggressive angles for attack, ZmjKK is regarded as the greatest Operator player in the world. Most Operator users, on the other hand, mostly use the Operator to hold down an angle for defense. With perhaps the most exciting talent in the game right now and a league specifically for the region they represent, EDG has a chance to make history at VCT 2024.

Header: Riot Games