This is the second part of our EMEA LOCK//IN previews, read the first part covering the other five teams here.

With only a couple days left to go before the first bullets will fly at LOCK//IN São Paulo, teams are frantically preparing for a relentless single-elimination bracket. Just a brief lapse of focus can earn someone a flight back home.

For EMEA, there is a lot to prove. They are the most decorated region in Valorant, with three VCT titles and many more high placements. But this is the franchise era. Most of those teams don't exist anymore, or have a vastly different composition. Now is the time to prove that the new generation of teams can dominate just like the old one did.

Team Liquid has a new identity

The Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #21 paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski kamyk Maks Rychlewski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak name has been a mainstay in international competition since the very beginning. Attending four out of six VCT LANs, they're only second to FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #3 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder in EMEA. However, their track record at these events leaves something to be desired, as they were frequently outdone by their EMEA rivals on the international stage. What they lacked in structure, they often made up for in firepower, as ScreaM and Jamppi were regarded as some of the best fraggers of the pre-franchise era.

In the new year, Team Liquid are looking to change their reputation from dark horse to titan. The team said goodbye to the brotherly duo of ScreaM and Nivera , who left to join the francophone Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #31 saadhak Matias Delipetro Avez Hazem Khaled Elite Efe Teber SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin marteen Martin Pátek . To replace them, Liquid scooped up some of the hottest stars in EMEA: M3 Champions M3 Champions Inactive Jady Yaroslav Nikolaev purp0 Semyon Borchev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Redgar Igor Vlasov ' nAts and Guild Esports Guild Esports Inactive ' Sayf . Piecing the puzzle all together is Redgar , a dedicated in-game leader and long-time teammate of nAts. A designated IGL is something the previous core lacked, and Redgar's addition should provide some needed structure in the team.

All of Team Liquid's new recruits are proven performers at LAN, with two of them already having a Masters title under their belt. Their star-studded lineup demands respect, and fans should expect great things from Liquid to start the year. Their first test would have been at Red Bull Home Ground 3, but due to travel restrictions both nAts and Redgar could not attend the event, which meant they went out in the quarter-final playing with two substitutes. As a result, LOCK//IN will be a trial by fire for the full roster, and they will be afforded no mistakes in the ruthless single-elimination format.

Team Liquid will kick off the Omega group on Feb. 22, playing their opening match against Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #7 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes 2ge James Goopio Jremy Jeremy Cabrera .

How long until Liquid's new era ascends the old one? (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

BBL Esports bears the weight of a region on their shoulders

In the early days of competitive Valorant, Turkey was by far the most popular region within EMEA, drawing in more viewership than Europe and CIS combined. The region's popularity translated itself competitively by the end of the year, when a Turkish superteam formed under the Papara SuperMassive Papara SuperMassive Europe Rank #14 skylen Asil Yalçın ip0TT Yiğit Karadeniz VenTT Emre Bozkurt Celasun Emir Celasun umu7 Umut Pekdoğan banner. They qualified to Masters Berlin comfortably as second seed, but went out in the group stage after losing twice to Acend Acend Inactive ALIVE Gilad Hakim musashi Alessio Xhaferi pyrolll Artur Minin cullumx Nikolaj Cullum Andersen chiwa Egor Stepanyuk .

Ever since then, the legacy of SuperMassive weighs heavy on the region. Turkish players are still flourishing at the highest level, such as Alfajer on FNATIC or cNed on Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #20 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio , but no full Turkish squad has made it to the international stage since. BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #34 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen sociablEE Volkan Yonal chiwa Egor Stepanyuk PROFEK Dawid Święć LewN Burak Alkan were the region's most successful team last year, netting two top-eight finishes during EMEA's regular season, but still falling short of the playoffs. The team has undergone some restructuring since then, replacing their coaching staff as well as their IGL pAura .

BBL played one off-season tournament over the winter, as they went out in the quarter-final of G-Loot Clash, losing to Giants Gaming Giants Gaming Inactive Redgar Igor Vlasov Fit1nho Adolfo Gallego nukkye Žygimantas Chmieliauskas hoody Aaro Peltokangas Cloud Kirill Nehozhin . Afterwards, they made the late addition of SouhcNi to the main squad, moving Elite to an inactive role. They now field a roster of five experienced players, two of which were a part of the aforementioned SuperMassive roster. BBL has all the puzzle pieces to become the next great Turkish team, but time will tell whether they can live up to that.

BBL will be thrown in the deep end for their first LOCK//IN match, as they face the Korean giants of DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) .

A new chapter arises for Turkish Valorant. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

FUT Esports hope to carry their momentum

Like BBL, FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #7 xeus Doğan Gözgen MrFaliN Furkan Yeğen yetujey Eray Budak AtaKaptan Ata Tan cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qRaxs Doğukan Balaban is a well-established name in the Turkish scene, and the two orgs would frequently match up in grand finals. 2022 was less kind to them, though; they lost to BBL in a match to qualify for Challengers, which meant they were out of EMEA's top league and forced to fight their way through the regional leagues.

After a disappointing sixth place in Stage 1, they bounced back for Stage 2, where they won the Turkish league and played in the VRL Finals. Here, they defeated Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #8 trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Derke Nikita Sirmitev Kicks Kimmie Laasner Sayf Saif Jibraeel Less Felipe de Loyola Basso in a game five grand final and lifted the trophy. Winning this tournament essentially meant they had fought their way back up to the Challengers level, as FOKUS FOKUS Europe Rank #49 hoody Aaro Peltokangas YaBoiLewis Lewis Hughes Mistic James Orfila al0rante Felix Brandl xuss Tselmeg Tsolmon earned themselves a promotion into a top league when they won the same tournament in Stage 1.

FUT's roster remains largely unchanged since their VRL win, with the only change being the addition of AtaKaptan , rounding out the roster to six players. Their squad contains a mix of new talents as well as veterans, some of which have been with the organisation for 2+ years. This well-established core could be an asset over other teams that were newly formed for franchising, but it could also be to their detriment, as the team is unproven at the highest level.

FUT have already been getting quite some match experience in off-season tournaments, although their results have been rather disappointing. They started the season by placing third in ESA Open Fire All Stars, a tournament for only Turkish teams. They then bombed out of G-Loot Clash in the first round, and won no maps in the group stage of Red Bull Home Ground. Time will tell whether FUT can turn this form around, starting with a very winnable match against Indonesia's Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #20 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan Estrella Park Gun (박건) .

The kings of VRL are ready to take on the big boys. (Photo: FUT Esports/Twitter)

Natus Vincere want to dominate from the start

Last year's undisputed best EMEA team flies a new banner this season: the team formerly under FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks now wears the bright yellow of Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #20 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat koalanoob Gianfranco Potestio . Retaining four out of five players from the previous core, as well as their coach, this team is still the heavyweight it was last year. Their 2022 season was successful but turbulent, as COVID, travel restrictions and war meant matches with the full roster were scarce. This year, NaVi will be hoping to establish themselves as a stable force at the top of the VCT.

The one player change NaVi did make during the off-season was on their primary duelist role. While ardiis went overseas to join NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #1 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold , NaVi rounded out their roster with 2021 world champion cNed . The Turkish player might not be the all-mighty superstar he was two years ago, but he is still very capable of pulling out a world-class performance. It also means NaVi is the only franchised team to have five players with a VCT LAN trophy. These guys know how to win, and that experience, combined with a stable core from last year, might prove to be crucial in the early stages of the season.

The new NaVi roster has already added a trophy to their cabinet in the off-season. With four other franchised teams in the running, they took the win in the G-Loot Clash after a close 3-2 grand final win over Parla Esports Parla Esports Inactive Jlerst Naci Enes Yıldırım sociablEE Volkan Yonal lauress Toprak Kaynak Ruxic Uğur Güç jeyj7y Soner Eren Kent .

NaVi kicks off their season in the Omega group, playing their first match against an overhauled KRÜ Esports KRÜ Esports Latin America South Rank #3 keznit Angelo Mori Mazino Roberto Rivas adverso Benjamín Poblete mta Nicolás González Shyy Fabian Usnayo Melser Marco Eliot Machuca Amaro roster.

New team, same winning spirit. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

KOI, dark horse of EMEA

KOI KOI Europe Rank #41 grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko sheydos Bogdan Naumov Filu Dawid Czarnecki flyuh Xavier Carlson soulcas Dom Sulcas is one of the few teams in franchising that did not have a team competing in the top flight prior to this season. The Spanish organisation fielded a roster in the Spanish regional league, but their new project features five entirely different players. The new team doesn't draw significantly from previous cores either, choosing instead to pick up players from various different sources. Nevertheless, there are many reasons to be excited about KOI.

The team is led by Spanish veteran koldamenta , a decorated IGL who captained both G2 Esports G2 Esports Inactive and Guild Esports to a Masters event and won Masters 1 in 2021 with Acend. Alongside trexx and coach BARBARR , he played on Guild in 2022, and the three of them are the main pre-existing core on KOI. Joining their ranks are starxo and sheydos , both of who played a crucial part in their respective team's VCT LAN victories. Last but not least is Wolfen , a Bulgarian player yet unknown to the top leagues, who spent much of last year tearing up the Spanish regional league.

One cause for concern could be the fact that KOI is yet to play a match with their new roster. Considering the team is basically brand new, every bit of match experience is vital. However, KOI has many players with experience playing and winning at LAN events, so nerves should be a minor concern for them.

will KOI join the long list of successful koldamenta-led teams? (Photo by Sebastian Stigsby/Riot Games)

KOI plays NRG Esports on Monday to kick off the LOCK//IN event. It would be very easy to write off KOI against the former OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming Inactive core, but the former Guild guys have already upset OpTic in an opening match, and they will not hesitate to do so again.