Why do people try to claim their region's superiority over the other? How can one region claim they are better than the other? At this moment in time, both regions are the most equal in stats and trophies than they have ever been. Ironically there's more similarities than the fans care to admit. Here's my statistical analysis of the history of EMEA vs. Americas Valorant:
EMEA Accomplishments:
- 5 Trophies
- Had Fnatic, an incredibly dominant team (1st LOCK//IN, 1st Tokyo 2023, 4th Champs 2023)
- Had Gambit, the 2nd most dominant EMEA team (1st Berlin 2021, 2nd Champs 2021)
- Had Acend, a team that won a Champs after a poor performance at the previous masters (5th-8th Berlin 2021, 1st Champs 2021)
- Had FPX, who could have won 2 masters back to back (DNP Reykjavik 2022 due to the war but was VERY dominant in stage 1, 1st Copenhagen 2022 with a sub for a few games)
- Currently no definitive best team (TH? FNC? even VIT?)
Americas Accomplishments:
- 5 Trophies
- Had Optic, an incredibly dominant team (1st Reykjavik 2022, 3rd Copenhagen 2022, 2nd Champs 2022)
- Had EG, the 2nd most dominant Americas team (2nd Tokyo 2023, 1st Champs 2023)
- Had LOUD, a team that won a Champs after a poor performance at the previous masters (Groups Copenhagen 2022, 1st Champs 2022)
- Had SEN, who won 2 masters 2 years apart (1st Reykjavik 2021 and 1st Madrid 2024)
- Currently no definitive best team (G2? LEV? even SEN?)
Common Arguments debating a better region:
Americas has 2 Champs while EMEA has 1!
Although Champs are definitely harder to win, Fnatic won LOCK//IN and Tokyo back to back which is also pretty impressive, something that Americas has never done. Additionally, FPX could have won Reykjavik and Copenhagen back to back but were stopped due to outside forces, so those together imo are equal to the 2nd Champs win.
LOCK//IN / Madrid doesn't count, fraud format and fraud masters!
- LOCK//IN is a difficult one to judge, since Fnatic only had to play 5 series' to finish 1st, but every team was on an even playing field and it was a unique single-elimination format where the pressure was on.
- Madrid was very similar to LOCK//IN, in the sense that both had original formats. While LOCK//IN had 32 teams and Madrid had 8, SEN arguably had a much harder run than Fnatic with TH (Shanghai runner up), KC (idk), LOUD (Champs 2022 win + Lock//In Core), PRX (constant podium finishes with core), and GenG (Shanghai winner) victories.
- Both Fnatic and SEN beat 5 teams to get their Trophy and both Grand Finals ended 3-2, meaning the Trophy could have gone either way.
Americas / EMEA is a very deep region with a lot of talent compared to Americas / EMEA!
While I think last year Americas definitely had a more competitive region (EG, LOUD, & NRG vs. FNC), this year I disagree. Neither region has a clear best team, and I can see any of those teams (referring to #6) winning Champs 2024, whether it's a "fluke victory" or not. How it always is with VLR: if your favorite team loses, it's a fluke, if the other region's best team loses, the region is washed. It's all hypocritical.
Send this to someone claiming one region is better than the other!