September 28th, 2021

Written by Lawrence Huang & Raymond Tai

Shortly after the conclusion of the Challenger Playoffs in 7 different regions around the world, Riot Games hosted their second global championship tournament in Berlin, Germany. With 16 teams from Europe, North America, Asia, Brazil, and more, the group stages begin on September 10th, 2021. The Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2: Berlin is a qualifier tournament for the ultimate goal: to qualify for the culmination of all stages, Champions. 

Unlike other tactical video games, North America is considered the mecca of talent in Valorant; the favorites going into VCT Berlin are Sentinels, Sentinels won the last VCT masters without dropping a single map; including a clean 3-0 victory against Fnatic in the grand final of the tournament. The prodigy, Tyson “Tenz” Ngo has brought Sentinels to new levels since his joining in March. With an unorthodox team composition, Sentinels aim for an aggressive playstyle that values early-game picks rather than patience. Next up are the up and coming roster, 100 Thieves, consisting of former Counter-Strike Global Offensive legends, they undoubtedly have both the expertise and experience to show up big when it matters. Led by Spencer “Hiko” Martin, 100T’s team composition values initiator agents; these agents provide information for map control. While sporting initiators may provide advantages on the attackers side; defense may prove to be 100T’s achilles’s heel. Throughout NA competition, Envy has shown subtle promise, but it wasn’t until the signing from AndBox- where they acquired “yay” coined as “el diablo” globally because of his quick mechanics and unparalleled gamesense, that they truly cemented themselves as a worthy representative on the most prestigious stage of international valorant. Envy may lack experience, but they make up for it in raw talent.

 

However, other regions such as Europe and Korea have been steadily improving, and may be dark horses to compete against North America.  With a slower pace and more thought-out playstyle, Europeans may have the blueprints to winning it all. Gambit was the team that snatched the last spot of the EMEA region by beating the European powerhouse Team Liquid. The star player of the team no doubt was Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin, Nats boasted an impressive ACS of 293 against team Liquid while being the sentinel/controller of the team. Nats has the flexibility to play support agents in an aggressive fashion, he can still frag out, which is very uncommon in pro play, especially in tier 1 teams. Not only does he have prodigal aim, but combined with his top tier game awareness and gamesense; it separates him from the rest of the competition. 

 

For years the Korean regions had dominated several E-sports scenes, including Overwatch, League of Legends, and could dominate any E-sports scene if they wanted to. In an ironic turn of events, Korea is now seen as the underdogs to win VCT Berlin. Vision Strikers is the powerhouse and the backbone of the whole Valorant scene in Korea. Vision Strikers got off a hot start at the beginning of the game, winning 102 games in a row. Vision Strikers were not known for having insane raw mechanical skills like the NA and EU region, however they dominated their region with impeccable teamwork. Korea has been renowned in the Valorant scene for researching new strategies and exploits; for example, they have created many exploits that are within Riot Games’s terms of conduct called “wallbangs”. Wallbangs allow players to penetrate surfaces to deal damage to opponents; with Korea’s interesting and methodical playstyles, it’ll be interesting at the very least to see their new strategies. 

Whether it is North America, Europe, or Asia that comes out on top, large-scale tournaments like these are always interesting for viewers. In this day and age, with the social presence that traditional athletes have, it’s still inspiring to see unorthodox players rise above their prior mistakes and flash glimpses of greatness. As Valorant is still in its infancy, VCT Berlin will undoubtedly be filled with memorable moments and players that will propel E-sports to new heights.