azury as well soon... only 19 years and will def. become a crazy player.

FOKUS def. got a chance. But def. too early to say which team
might win since it's still such a long time.

You can see that it's the experience that's missing on FOKUS side, since they all mostly played Tier 2 and 3. FUT is obviously still a step above them at the moment (simply more relaxed in dangerous situations... you can obviously see that when cNed, ATAKAPTAN and qRaxs are doing their stuff), but when FOKUS continues to work hard they actually have the chance to become a promising Tier 1 in the future.

I mean they manage to give a hard time to a VCT Champions Top 8 team here. I will def. follow what these dudes will show in the future.

al0rante and Fizzy again... <3

And amb., al0rantes aim is so damn good. It just makes fun to watch players like him.

LEV becoming extremely dangerous again. :)
and tex with his entries so good... I wouldn't expect that keznit has no chance against him.

What a match. When you consider that this FOKUS team is almost totally fresh, they made a very good job against a team that played at Champions and even made some big teams a hard time - and yes, of course FUT also has new players, but we still talking about a dif. level here.

al0rante and Fizzy were 100% gold transfers for FOKUS. They will def. be one of the top contenders for the next EMEA Ascension.

GG, Congrats to FUT.

Normally al0 is really good for a 25 bomb, but mostly on Killjoy or Cypher, when he is more roaming. But his aim is so damn on point... 56% Headshot rate is crazy.

al0rantes and Lewis aim... so crispy!

A German together with his Prussian broskis from Chile, an Argentinan and a Brazilian. Historically actually a very hot mix. :D

But for real... this is actually great. This team could become an monster. I still can't believe that I see aspas, kiNgg and tex in one team. So cool.

tex is a beast! He did crazy stuff for TGRD. So we have aspas, kiNgg and tex in one team now. This could be a very, very explosive roster. I'm super excited to see them play.

Imagine ardiis as Flex and cNed would stay as a pure Jett player. That would be insanely good. Shao could easily play as a IGL.

But yeah... sadly not the reality. :S

Since Valorant is a team game, pretty much every duelist is "nothing" without a good team. You need good Controllers and Initiators to be able to let the Duelist "off the leash".

So either he joins LEV as rumored, or he joins an Asian team
just like yay. He recently always spoke about learning Japanese and that he plays Valorant in Japanese since Tokyo... could be just out of interest and a hobby or maybe a hint on a new team.

But yeah... when the rumors are true and he and tex both joining LEV, that would be crazy.

Insane lineup! So awesome. I was actually hoping that they also sign xffero or invy, but it's great anyways.

I wouldn't go THAT far, but BLEED has a crazy lineup. Also Singaporean teams like BLEED have a strong economy. I bet they will perform very good in the future.

Oh man, didn't expect that. But contracts are contracts and I understand that he wants to make new experiences. I wonder who will become the new head coach - probably slk or Aanderz.

In the future I could imagine Boaster being an coach of Fnatic as well.

Thanks for everything, mini. Back 2 back major winners - 2023 was an INSANE year.

Damn, that's tough. Are the contracts of pANcada and Sacy still running for 2024? Since aspas is very close with both dudes (regarding Rod Breslau), he could either join Sentinels as well or join a new team with them. What is more likely? I mean TenZ showed he is able to player other agents than duelists (KAY/O f.e.) - but I don't know if that's actually the best solution.

Ultra excited to see what's happening with him. I saw on that one sheet, that kiNgg might leave LEV as well. A South-American super team would be a kinda sick idea... xD

Or (!) what about Paper Rex aspas? :D

I don't think it has something to do with pride, tbh. He was an NRG player before and since ardiis will probably leave NRG just like s0m and FNS, he could rejoin NRG.

Also I guess that at least one of the other ex-TGRD players will leave the team as well. They probably all got very, very good offers after TGRD got dissolved. I could imagine someone of them joining Sentinels.

Argh, I hoped SO MUCH for the TGRD boys staying together for VCT 2024. Damn.

So... since ardiis probably is going to leave NRG just like s0m and FNS, will tex then go back to NRG? Or is it not sure yet that ardiis will leave as well?

Deserved. What a journey... from not even being a contender to the regular league playoffs in April 2023 - to making it to Tokyo Masters with a great Americas playoffs in May - to making it to the Tokyo Masters grand finals and only losing there to Fnatic in June - to winning the Valorant Champions in the USA on homeground in August with a great revenge on Paper Rex after first losing them in the upper final.

I'm personally especially happy for Demon1 because of all the doubters and Ethan after he had so much bad luck at other teams.

What a insane story of a great team!

Good luck to both teams. Both absolutely deserve to play this grand final. It's going to be a beautiful Valorant battle... I'm quite sure about that.

My predictions were often kinda wrong during this tournament.
I say... 3-2 for EG.

At Champions right now even the best overall player. For the Duelist role in 2023, I'd say Derke and aspas performed a bit more constant over the last majors (Tokyo and São Paulo) and the regular season + local playoffs, but I think Demon1 could def. change that within the next months. When you look at how his stats changed for the whole year and then to the last 90 to 60 days, it's crazy.

What I find the most interesting is the difference between how a low-sense Jett player like Demon1 plays compared to a ultra high-sense Jett player like something.

GGs to LOUD. They played so well. I think as a Fnatic fan you should not be mad or anything... the team won two trophies this year and yes, they made mistakes at Champs and didn't continue their "100% concentration gaming" mood, but in the end they're humans. LOUD showed it in Tokyo, NRG and Fnatic showed it at Champs... no team can't always play at 100%.

I wish LOUD all the best... they have a great team, a great IGL and they proved any doubters wrong. I hope Fnatic and LOUD will have some nice matches in 2024 as well!

Boa sorte, LOUD.

That's sadge. But yeah, national military service is a normal thing there, just like in South Korea. It was here in Germany the same... until the "smart" government stopped it in 2011.

How with 5 won EU majors, while the 2nd most succesful region (NA) got 2 won majors (probably 3 after Champions) and the third most succesful region (Brazil) got 1?

The average level might be a bit higher in NA because of teams like Sentinels, The Guard, Cloud9, FURIA etc. - but look at Giants and how they annoyed even teams like EDG and then teams like FUT, Liquid and NAVI - plus finally Fnatic, who won 2 majors b2b. The average level in the EMEA league is def. not low. It would be low when those teams would always get like 13-2'd or so against any other team, but that's not the case. Sure there are some idiots who take every bad moment as a reason to hate because trolling and hating is all they can, but in reality there is no real superior region at the moment.

Ahhh... all my favourite players meeting again. Leo, Alfajer, aspas and Less.

I hope Fnatic will play better this time.

For a great match!

For real I have the feeling something is wrong with them at the moment. You don't win 2 majors in a row, perform like hell in Tokyo and then one month later you don't peek corners anymore, you don't use your util anymore like you did weeks before in a perfect way. They played almost perfect Valorant in Japan... it was beautiful to watch and what they did in LA until now felt like playing Ranked while listening to music.

So either it's really true what some LOUD fans said after Tokyo and that at least some parts of the tournaments are scripted because of all the involved gambling or Fnatic are having a little crisis.

GGs to DRX

I wish all other teams the best. I hope that either Paper Rex, EG or LOUD wins the event.

After 1:13 on damn Bind?

Leo, I love you.

My three "favourite" teams are:

• Fnatic
• The Guard
• Paper Rex

But there are several teams that I also like and support when they play or teams I root for because they signed players which I like. Those are:

• Sentinels (because TenZ will always be one of my favourite players ever)
• LOUD (because of aspas and Less and also because the hate they faced after Tokyo)
• Evil Geniuses (because of Demon1 and Ethan and their insane will to win and improve... beast mentality)
• NAVI (because of Shao and SUYGETSU)
• Team Liquid (because of Sayf and nAts)
• Giants (because of nukkye and hoody)
• EDward Gaming (because of ZmjjKK)
• MOUZ (because of al0rante)
• ALTERNATE aTTaX (because of bucher)

EG will win the tournament. Only Fnatic in perfect Tokyo alike condition could stop them or LOUD in Champions 2022 alike condition. EG look so insanely good... and all other teams are struggling.

I think this is already done. They are crazy strong, they are hungry and they want it. Paper Rex could win, but they play way too aggressive.

*Edit: Okay, wow... never thought PRX would win Pearl.

EG 2-1 DRX

EG will beat DRX without a doubt actually.

LOUD 2-0 EDG

LOUD went from being "becoming a good team again" to one of the top teams on the event.

Would be kinda funny if they win Champions again. Like "the other majors are not so much our thing... we just want the Champions trophies."

But I'm actually happy for the LOUD fans, who were like "???" in Tokyo and also during the first match in LA last week against DRX. Now they can smile again for sure. LOUD truly is back.

Sean is the best anyways. :) Most wholesome and most objective Valorant streamer, even due the fact that he obviously supports NA. But he always has nice words for every team and sees every match 100% professional.

Yeah for sure. In the end it's all speculations what we do. Nobody knows what impact that has on the players... also those media talking about aspas and LOUD. Maybe they play EXTRA good because of that to shut the media off. Who knows?!

EG won't let EDG destroy them with pure aggressiveness. Both teams for sure will prepare well.

On maps like Fracture (obviously), Ascent and Haven I see EG ahead. On maps like Split, Pearl and Bind I think it could get very close. Will be exciting, but EG will win this in the end.

I'd say a 2-1 for EG.

DRX will win this. They are back with a crazy mentality.

2-1 or even 2-0 for DRX!

Ehm, okay?!

I mean FUT looked very strong this tournament and they even made EG work for their 2-0, but Paper Rex are simply too crazy in my opinion.

On a very good day for FUT this could get a 2-0 for PRX were FUT gets their 8-10 winning rounds on each.

Don't get me wrong, I really like FUT - but this is simply one number too big for now. Will be an insane match, though.

Two absolute Valorant giants meeting once again. Over the next years this might become the third classic beside of OpTic / NRG vs. LOUD and the in Tokyo freshly born Fnatic vs. EG.

I think LOUD have absolutely overcome their loss against DRX and their bad performance in Tokyo anyways.

This could get closer than many people might think. Fnatic didn't look as "perfect" as in Tokyo yet. Still insanely good for sure, but who knows what kind of mentality is coming up against their São Paulo nightmare?

And I might be a Fnatic supporter for almost 2 years now, but aspas for sure is one of my fav. players.

2-1 for Fnatic

Yeah, that's def. true. SUYGETSU is good, but Less is diff.

Currently I'd say Alfajer is the best Sentinel, followed by Less. Two insane riflers and they both perfected anchoring on Killjoy / Cypher.

BLG won 2-0 against NRG... they are no joke and Lotus is actually one of their 2 best maps. Furthermore it's one of the strongest attack sided maps.

BLG played with their full energy while Fnatic def. made
some not very perfect rounds, which was kinda unnecessary.

Giants are impressive. EDG is for sure one of the best teams
right now. I mean being ahead 9-3 on Split and finding that many solutions there against KangKangs AWP is really nice,
imo. You have to consider that this is the team that's always destroying BLG... who won 2-0 against NRG.

Bind will be very hard for Giants, though. Very unlikely that Giants will get through this insane group, but they're fighting.

I think Paper Rex with something is legit on another level compared to what they showed in Tokyo. When you watch the league finals against DRX you know what I mean.

I think they will win this 2-0 or 2-1...

EG was def. expected to win this, but FUT made some great plays. Especially not simply giving up after being down 0-8 or
whatever on both maps is a good thing.

Congrats to EG. I simply love Ethan and C0M... two absolutey wholesome dudes and amazing players.

Leo, Alfa and KangKang will become the best players of Champions I guess.

Alfajer just got 18 and Leo and KangKang are 19. Those 3 are too good.

Alfa and Leo are playing like Cyborgs.

I feel bad for Giants with their group. But hey... at least they get the chance to play.

2-0 EDG for sure

When I'm 100% honest, I thought DRX would march through this (considering their and NAVIs recent performance levels).

NAVI is delivering a good fight tonight.

Why do you care?

I feel bad for aspas. He always delivers.