VCT Americas Kickoff: Participants, Schedule, and Teams to Watch

Professional Valorant is returning, and one of the events to look out for is the Kickoff tournament, specifically for the Americas region. We’ll see North American and South American teams compete for spots at Masters Madrid.

Participants

You can bet that the first official Valorant tournament of 2024 is stacked with big names. In the Kickoff tournament, you will see the following 11 teams:

• 100 Thieves
• Cloud9
• Evil Geniuses
• FURIA Esports
• KRU Esports
• Leviatan
• LOUD
• MIBR
• NRG
• Sentinels
• G2

Some North American teams have debuted in third-party tournaments such as the Ludwig x Tarik Invitational 2. However, most other teams will come out fresh from the oven and make their first appearance in this tournament. 

Schedule And Format

Let’s find out how these teams will be weeded out.

Group Stage: February 16 to February 25, 2024

• Teams are divided into three groups and will play in a Double-Elimination format.
• The highest-placing team from Champions 2023 has received a BYE in Group C, which makes up for the uneven participants (11 teams).
• All matches are Best of 3.
• The top team from each group advances to the Playoffs, while the second place team advances to the Play-in.
• The third and fourth-place teams are eliminated.

You can refer to the image below to see how the groups were divided:

Image: Valorant

Play-in: February 26, 2024

• Three teams play one Round-Robin group.
• All matches are Best of 3.
• The one survivor advances to the Playoffs.

Playoffs: March 2 to March 3, 2024

• Four teams play in a Single-Elimination bracket.
• Semifinals are Best of 3
• Grand Finals are Best of 5.
• The top two teams qualify for Masters Madrid.
• First place receives 3 Americas Points.

Teams To Watch

Though it’s hard to rank which teams are worth watching since almost every squad went through a roster change, here are some teams you should look out for:

NRG

Team composition:

• Austin “crashies” Roberts
• Victor “Victor” Wong
• Max “Demon1” Mazanov 
• Ethan “Ethan” Arnold 
• Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen

The widely considered “American Superteam” will make its debut here. The NRG squad successfully took in Demon1 and Ethan, who won Valorant Champions 2023. The three remaining members played in OpTic Gaming, which placed second in Valorant Champions 2022.

Leviatan

Team composition: 

• Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena
• Roberto “Mazino” Bugueño
• Erick “aspas” Santos
• Ian “tex” Botsch
• Corbin “C0M” Lee

The Leviatan Valorant team decided to go international, mixing North and South American players in their roster. The organization could grab aspas, tex, and Valorant Champions 2023 winner C0M. On top of having one of the best duelists in the world in the form of aspas, the rest of the squad has immense firepower.

Sentinels

Team composition:

• Zachary “zekken” Patrone
• Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi
• Tyson “TenZ” Ngo 
• Mouhamed “johnqt” Ouarid
• Bryan “pANcada” Luna

The Sentinels Valorant squad has been silent for the past few years, but it seems like they have crafted a roster that will actually work, especially with pANcada back in action. Unlike most other teams, this iteration of SEN has been together for numerous months, ensuring the squad has a chemistry advantage compared to the rest. 

Header: Valorant