Scenario 1 - Your team absolutely dominates Stage 2 and look like the clear favorites to win Champions. Even better, you get by far the easiest group on paper. However, your team suffers back-to-back humiliating losses and immediately drop out of Champions without winning a single map. The entire roster ends up being replaced in the following season and although the new team is shaky, you are still regionally strong. They qualify for 2 of the 3 events and make it past the group stage but go out first in playoffs for both events.

Scenario 2 - Your team is all the way in the Champions Grand Final, being the Upper Bracket seed with double map ban available. So far, you've demolished every team, not dropping a single map yet. In the final match, your team is quickly up 2 - 0 in maps already, looking for a flawless tournament. However, they throw the 3rd map from a 12 - 0 half and lose 20 - 22. To make matters worse, they end up losing the last 2 maps in overtime, making you suffer the first ever international BO5 reverse sweep in history. The following season, the team remains together but end up making only 1 of the international events and do very average.

Haven't been keeping up with the Tier 2 scene this year. Which Challengers teams are looking likely to win Ascension from each region?

What are your least favorite maps?
For me it has to be Split, Sunset, Pearl.

I fully agree with your top 3. I think Abyss can be considered as well, to be honest.

48 teams split into 3 pools of 16, each with 4 randomly selected teams per region.
Each pool plays a single elimination bracket, ensuring there are no regional matchups in the RO16 and quarterfinals.
Winner of each pool enters a 3 team single round-robin group to crown the winner.
Optionally, the top 2 of teams in the said round-robin can play an extra game as the grand final instead.

I was honestly being generous to FNS but I didn't want to be slandered by the VLR "tacticos."

What team do you think will unexpectedly do poorly next year?

For me, it's NRG. For them to even remotely contend for anything in 2025, they need the jawgemo and potter rumors to be true and Demon1 needs to rediscover his prime. While I believe s0m will confidently compliment the 2023 EG dynamic, FNS will undoubtedly hold them back; he is on par with ANGE1 while receiving less slander than the likes of Lakia and Boaster, who are miles ahead of him.

Bit harsh to be fair. It can be anywhere in that bottom 3 with Pearl and Sunset.

1. Haven
2. Ascent
3. Lotus
4. Abyss
5. Breeze
6. Fracture
7. Icebox
8. Bind
9. Pearl
10. Sunset
11. Split

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Riot just made 4 separate bundles for each region to rack in the money.

Nevermind, Americas is actually green, based off of Misericórdia. The collection was confirmed by VCT.

There's going to be a LOCK//IN style collection for VCT 2025.
Do you think it'll be another knife skin just with an added China variant? Also, is China going to be red themed? Misericórdia default theme was red so I doubt they can do that...

I have the script and it says SEN will be back in 2027 for another international event win. However, SEN will have a slump in 2025, like 2022, so they should get another LOCK//IN to feel good about travelling thousands of miles just to be knocked out in the first round!

Don't worry I have the script and it says SEN will be back in 2027 for another international event win.

When I was choosing cities I was focused more on selecting the most populated cities within a country, like the ones that you listed, rather than national capitals. Of course, China is the only region where we can't always have the most populated city hosting every time unless it's repeated like Reykjavík and Berlin.

I remember in Pacific Kickoff how GEN made that insane win against TS to qualify for playoffs, eventually winning it. If something like that happened on the international stage it would be crazier than São Paulo.

This would be an absolute banger format. The 3 team single round robin at the end would genuinely create madness.

I basically said that SEN will have a slump in 2025, like 2022, so they should get another LOCK//IN to feel good about travelling thousands of miles just to be knocked out in the first round!

For everyone here predicting international event hosts for 2026, LOCK//IN should be normalized as the guess for the first LAN of the year, rather than Masters.
Now that we finally have 12 teams per region and relegation being a factor for teams that have Ascended, we should have another LOCK//IN next year to really push orgs to maintain their franchise status and furthermore guarantee themselves participation at an international event.
If everyone starts talking about having a LOCK//IN, hopefully Riot will notice and bring it back for 2026. Possibly, even making it a triennial tradition.

If you're answering LEV here, are you predicting that they won't win Champions?

If you're answering SEN here, are you predicting that they won't win Champions?

There here have only been 7 players (Chronicle, Boaster, Leo, Derke, Alfajer, TenZ, Sacy) to win more than 1 international event, with 5 players (aspas, C0M, Zellsis, johnqt, zekken) looking to join the list by winning Champions Seoul 2024.

Apart from these 5, do you think anyone will become multi-time international event winners at Masters Bangkok 2025? Personally, only the GEN squad are realistic contenders.

I have been there. Feels right to give it an event because it's pretty much the largest city outside of Asia to not have hosted.

We're approaching the 5th year of VCT LANs and 3rd year of franchising. So far, including 2025, there'll have been 8 events in EMEA (3 Champions, 5 Masters), 3 events in Pacific (1 Champions, 2 Masters), 3 events in Americas (1 Champions, 1 Masters, 1 LOCK//IN), and 1 event in China (1 Masters). Also, now that we finally have 12 teams per region and relegation being a factor for teams that have Ascended, we should have another LOCK//IN next year to really push orgs to maintain their franchise status and furthermore guarantee themselves participation at an international event. So, here's what I think we should see for 2026 and 2027.

LOCK//IN Manila 2026
Masters Beijing 2026
Champions Mexico City 2026
Masters London 2027
Masters New York City 2027
Champions Jakarta 2027

Other than Masters Toronto, no DRX? I doubt even PRX will be better than them next year, let alone TLN, TS, T1...

If I was a LOUD fan I would’ve quit watching VCT after losing LOCK//IN.

I’ve become desensitized recently, to be honest. Didn’t even bother naming the TH match, even though it eliminated us on home soil.

SEN fans can name full events and years let alone singular matches…

PRX have a terrible fanbase but honestly with how many heartbreaks they’ve faced I can’t blame y’all.

What are your 3 worst or most heartbreaking defeats your team has experienced?

As a DRX fan:

1. 1 - 2 ZETA, Masters Reykjavík 2022, Lower Round 2.
   Went into this expecting another complete domination, just like the group stage. I was already fuming from losing to OPTC, the eventual event winners, in the previous match 13 - 15, but losing to ZETA really broke me. Also sparked the start of the 5th - 6th curse.

2. 1 - 2 C9, Champions Berlin 2021, Group D Decider.
   Only time we've ever been grouped at an international event. Brutal game that we deserved to lose but got so close it hurts. Also was the last international event for k1Ng and Lakia on DRX.

3. 0 - 2 GEN, Pacific Kickoff 2024, Semifinals.
   2024 was the shakiest year for DRX but it all started here. Rb and Zest leaving the team was soul-crushing, yet it proved to be no problem until we entered this stupid single elimination bracket to qualify for Masters Madrid. The way DRX threw Bind still haunts me and pretty much set the precedent for how the rest of the year would pan out. I still truly believe we would've had an all-timer year, even better than the one GEN had, if we won this match.

Super excited for this matchup between two extremely young squads. However, trying to guess the map ban's this time around is particularly tough. Both teams tend to play Lotus, Bind, and Abyss; will they play into these 3 maps and test how good they are on the day? Or go down a completely fresh road and see who's more prepared? I'll try my best to predict it, regardless.

I would assume TH choose to be Team B: DRX ban Haven; TH ban Ascent; DRX pick Lotus; TH pick Bind; DRX ban Sunset; TH ban Icebox; Abyss remains.
TH 10 - 13 DRX on Lotus
TH 10 - 13 DRX on Bind

I do feel the format is slightly unfair for TH, as they have less time for preparation, even though they're coming from the Upper Bracket. I know this prediction is very basic but I simply feel DRX will feel comfortable going for this map ban, given the extra time they get and TH having lost Lotus, Bind, and Abyss already at this event. Still, I feel TH should not be underestimated and they will come back after their disappointing loss to LEV. Hopefully a close and exciting match!

Has "sw*yb0i1" ever not been downfragged? 😭

These are my absolute non-biased opinions. If you do not agree then please reconsider whether or not VCT is for you. I do not want to see salty fans crying in the comments.
The following is an absolute fact for both the SEN vs. EDG game and the LEV vs. TH game:

As a DRX fan, I apologize to everyone for this terrible take.

TE ban Icebox; DRX ban Ascent; TE pick Bind; DRX pick Abyss; TE ban Haven; DRX ban Lotus; Sunset remains.

DRX 13 - 11 TE on Bind
DRX 13 - 9 TE on Abyss

No.
Ethnicity: American
Nationality: Arabic
Sexuality: Radiant

Yeah both teams were throwing on Sunset. All I wanted to see was that map three though, to be honest.

Here are my honest thoughts on both teams playing Haven.
Just like Sunset, I felt as though that SEN were winning many lucky rounds, with many low HP/clutch scraps. However, likewise, DRX were fortunate their defensive set pieces were working, especially in the case of BuZz. Speaking of duelist, it was clear that zekken was on another level today. Him, TenZ, and Zellsis thrived in the chaotic nature of the match.
Overall, it was clear SEN had much better protocols. Although MaKo was the most consistent shooter on DRX, creating many chances out of unwinnable eco rounds, I found the attack round calls to be quite shallow.
I really wish DRX didn't throw Sunset because I feel both teams are competent on Icebox. I have no doubts we can win against TE but a heartbreaking loss nonetheless.

I mean yeah you can only base it off of map form and recent map ban tendencies but I'm confident DRX have a new strategy lined up for Haven in the past 8 days.

That's fair. DRX look good on Abyss though and SEN used their second ban on it.

SEN ban Abyss; DRX ban Haven; SEN pick Lotus; DRX pick Bind; SEN ban Ascent; DRX ban Sunset; Icebox remains.

For future international events, what cities/countries should Riot Games consider revisiting, if any? I know they have already repeated Berlin/Germany and Reykjavik/Iceland but are there any other hosts you really enjoyed? Try to pick somewhere other than your own country and consider the crowd atmosphere + overall city life.

Yeah I guess I shouldn't have ranked Seoul yet but the craziness of the group stage and unpredictable nature of the playoffs swayed me to put it on the list.
Glad to see that we agree on the rankings of the other events though.

1. Champions 2024 Seoul - Seems like the obvious number 1 spot. Even though playoffs haven't even started yet, the sheer unpredictability of the group stage with many massive upsets shows how competitive the playing field is. This sets an unknown precedent for how the playoffs will go, adding to the excitement. Furthermore, China as a region have been better this event than any other year.

2. Champions 2022 Istanbul - I mean, just take a look at that playoff bracket. Every single team looking like a stacked powerhouse side that could truly compete with each other. Could've been easily first on this list, however the group stage did not yield many huge surprises like Champions 2024.

3. Champions 2023 Los Angeles - The most redeeming quality of Champions 2023 was the shock emergence of a Chinese team that could compete, apart from EDG, in the form of BLG. The only reason why this does not overtake the likes of Champions 2022 is because of how strong/unpredictable the playoffs teams were in other editions of the event.

4. Champions 2021 Berlin - Unfortunately, 2021 as a whole was just less competitive than other years. Although many group stage anomalies occurred, with the likes of VS, NV, SEN dropping out, the lack of a double elimination format in the playoffs made the competitiveness of the group stage disappear.

Who are your favorite players qualified to Champions 2024 Seoul Playoffs that don't represent your flag or flair?

For me, I would say C0M, Boaster, zellsis, trent, benjyfishy.

Really excited for the BuZz vs. zekken duel. Although BuZz has had a better start, zekken seems to be warming up into the tournament and both are absolutely unplayable on their day.

What do we think the map bans will look like? Will SEN look to counterstrat with only a few days of preparation? I would assume DRX choose to be Team B. From there: SEN ban Abyss; DRX ban Haven; SEN pick Lotus; DRX pick Bind; SEN ban Ascent; DRX ban Sunset; Icebox remains.

And what are your nonbiased score predictions? Having never faced each other on the International Stage, it seems hard to predict. I fear all three maps will be tossups that go the distance, resulting in a 2-1 win for either team.

I saw it here first: https://x.com/ValorINTEL/status/1822635152553419016
But you can also see for yourself on the Global Leaderboard: https://valorantesports.com/en-GB/pickems/112053452805788444/leaderboards/global

One of them swapped DRX and FNC, another one swapped PRX and FUT, while the remaining two swapped TE and LEV.

Nobody will earn it this year. There are four accounts who have 156/160 points, in the official Pick'Ems.