VCT Americas 2023: What to expect from the 10 new rosters?

VCT 2023 features three regions - Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. Each region features 10 teams and all thirty teams will play together for the first time in the inaugural VCT Kickoff tournament in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

The North American region features some of the more popular Valorant orgs including the likes of 100 Thieves, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, Sentinels, NRG, and more. Here’s a quick preview of the VCT Americas 2023 teams and what to expect from their newly assembled rosters.

Roster: 

100Thieves come into VCT 2023 with only one change to their Valorant roster, a move that is not at all surprising considering the team’s relatively strong performance in 2022. The team started off 2022 with a second-place finish in the Knights Arena Monthly Gauntlet 2022: February.

They went on to pose strong competition to the best North American teams throughout the VCT but always fell short just outside of the top four. 100 Thieves found its final opportunity to qualify for the VCT Champs in Istanbul following a victory in the LCQ. They defeated The Guard in the LCQ but their performance at Istanbul left much to be desired. When facing the best international Valorant teams, 100 Thieves finished in 9-12th place losing to Fnatic in the Group D decider match.

Despite their poor showing in Istanbul, the quality of 100 Thieves' performance received praise from the community. And with the management’s belief in their squad, things might look better in 2023. 100 Thieves have made only one roster change adding Cryocells to replace Will. 

The team has already proven its worth in the off-season having won the Red Bull Home Grounds #3 event. The Manchester-based event featured several international rosters including the likes of Team Liquid, Cloud9, and more. 100 Thieves went through the event without losing a single match and taking the Grand finals in a 3-0 fashion.

Roster: 

Featuring the best Valorant player of 2022, all eyes will be on Cloud9 in the new year. The el diablo of Valorant, Yay has carved a name for himself due to his calm demeanor on stage while massacring opponents on the server. 

Popular for his Chamber gameplay, Yay could single-handedly turn the tide of several matches with clinical precision and timely rotations. But all good things must come to an end as his former team, OpTic did not find a place in Riot’s plans for 2023 esports. Most of his teammates went to NRG, but Yay was the only player from the former OpTic roster to join Cloud9. It will be interesting to see whether he can thrive in a new environment with new teammates.

Speaking of teammates, the rest of the Cloud9 roster is nothing short of impressive. Featuring names such as Xeppaa, Vanity, Zellsis, and Leaf, this roster is stacked with names that have earned respect and found their way into the FPS scene. Most of the players are former CS: GO professionals who transferred to Valorant soon after launch.

The bigger problem for Cloud9 will be to find a level of synergy similar to what Yay had on OpTic. But this is a problem that most of the VCT kickoff teams will face at Sao Paolo. At least Cloud9 has a stacked roster that reeks of firepower left and right.

Roster: 

Evil Geniuses added Ethan and Bcj to its existing roster. Ethan was formerly on NRG while BcJ joins the team from XSET. While the additions are definitely praiseworthy, what is probably more important for Evil Geniuses is their plan on the final playing roster for every match. The EG roster features six players and we might undoubtedly see a plan implemented as to when to field which player. With maps in Valorant undergoing constant change, it will be interesting to see whether EG decides to focus on specific maps or agents to make changes to its playing five.

Evil Geniuses 2022 saw them unable to qualify for any Masters event finishing 11-12th in the Stage 1 Challengers and 5-6th place in the Stage 2 Challengers. Their final opportunity was in the Last Chance qualifiers, but they ended it with a 7-8th place finish losing once again to NRG.

The Evil Geniuses roster remains pretty much the same for 2023. So expectations from the roster are not very high. However, there have been instances when a single roster move can reap massive benefits and improved results. And maybe this is the case for Evil Geniuses. But it is still … a maybe.

Roster: 

FURIA qualified for the VCT Champions 2022 via the Last Chance qualifiers. The team went out in the group stage losing both of its Group D matches, first against DRX and later against Fnatic.

The team had a few changes to its roster post VCT Champs Istanbul, adding mwzera and ableJ. However, expectations from the team are low and it will require quite a change in their approach to the game if they are to stand out in the Americas region. 

FURIA are probably not even the best when it comes to teams from South America. The team does well in a lot of things, but it does not stand out in either firepower, strategy or team synergy. An average performance at the highest level of the game won’t help you make the cut.

Roster: 

Featuring several players from South America, Kru esports was one of the standout performers of 2022. The team was dominant throughout various Challenger events, although they failed to replicate similar results when it came to international events against stronger teams. 

However, their consistency and regular appearances at international events makes them much more experienced than many of the other teams from the Americas region. The issue, however, is that much of this experience has moved on from the team. With keznit, delz1k and Mazino parting ways with the team, Kru esports will wear a new look for 2023. 

But the support staff for the team remains the same with no changes to the Head Coach, Strategic coach, and General Manager positions on the squad. The major responsibility of helping the new roster rise to similar levels as the previous one will rely on this support staff. 

The team finished in the top four at the Red Bull Home Grounds #3 in December with victories over FOKUS and Team Liquid. The strong showing in Manchester is bound to give their fans some confidence, although VCT Kickoff in Sao Paolo will undoubtedly feature much better-prepared teams.

Roster: 

Coming into the VCT Champs Istanbul as the most explosive roster, Leviatan has signed players from FURIA and Kru. The Argentinian roster raced through to the top eight at VCT Champs Istanbul, but they hit the brakes when they lost 0-2 to FunPlus Phoenix. 

Leviatan’s current roster features a mix of firepower and experience, having drawn on players from other teams in the region. Coming into 2023, Leviatan is surely a force to reckon with, however, they will need to show some results to get fans to believe in them again. Their VCT off-season has looked nothing short of exceptional having won two events - Valorant LATAM Gods and FITCHIN The Final Series. Carrying the momentum from these victories, one can expect Leviatan to hit the ground running in Sao Paolo.

Roster: 

LOUD won VCT Champs Istanbul 2023 after a dominating 3-1 victory over the tournament favorites, OpTic Gaming. LOUD’s former roster featured a healthy mix of firepower and strategic gameplay, giving them an edge over the star-studded OpTic roster. 

But in the off-season, LOUD’s roster has changed. Two of its players moved on to Sentinals and LOUD made new signings for 2023. More interesting, however, is the fact that Matheus "bzkA" Tarasconi, the team’s coach has also parted ways with the team. With a new coaching staff and the loss of two of its most important players, the LOUD we see in 2023 might not get fans to scream as loudly as they did in Istanbul. Fans can expect a change in the team's playstyle and approach to the game.

That being said, with players such as aspas, Less, and Saadhak still present on the team, this squad has immense firepower and potential to improve.

Roster: 

MIBR is in a unique place in the VCT Americas. The org did not compete in any international tournament through 2022 but it has added a few players that have some international experience. 

The team signed heat, Murizzz, RgLM, and Txozin in November. But more importantly, they signed the former LOUD coach, Matheus "bzkA" Tarasconi as their coach. BzkA was instrumental in helping LOUD reach the international stage and win the biggest Valorant event of 2022. His guidance and systems will enable MIBR to improve.

There’s not much to be said about the MIBR Valorant roster, mostly because of a lack of information and data against top-tier teams. However, bzkA has been instrumental in LOUD’s performance and the players will look up to him constantly for guidance on their gameplay as well as how to approach the game. The question is… will it be enough?

Roster: 

NRG features some of the most popular Valorant players out there. Featuring FNS, Crashies, and Victor from OpTic Gaming, NRG already has an exceptional core group of players. Behind them will be Chet, who was the coach on OpTic Gaming essentially bringing the majority of the VCT Champs finalists to NRG.

Joining them will be Ardiis who played for FunPlus Phoenix previously. FunPlus Phoenix was one of the most dominant teams from the EMEA region but geopolitical tensions meant they weren’t always able to play at their best or even attend some tournaments earlier last year.

A player in a unique position on NRG is s0m. The 20-year-old duelist has some resemblance to yay’s playstyle, although he has never achieved similar levels of success. But yay has often attributed FNS as one of the major reasons for his success and if FNS can replicate similar performances from s0m, this NRG roster is truly an NA juggernaut.

Roster: 

Arguably the best non-best Valorant team in 2022, Sentinels will hope to bring back their status of being #1 in the Americas region. They have a former world’s best Valorant player in TenZ and you can add the experience of Sacy and Pancada as well. With Dephh leading the team up front, Sentinels’ ranking in the Americas will be an interesting watch. 

Right now, Sentinels roster looks good on paper, but despite having some big names, the team doesn’t really inspire a lot of confidence to be the very best in the region. After all, they couldn’t really manage a strong showing last season and with two new additions from LOUD, Sentinels has a different mix of players and potentially, playstyle. 

The former LOUD members are used to excellent synergy and supreme confidence in their communication. Coming into a brand new team, it will be a tougher task for the team to reach its full potential. 

But the team has potential, a potential to probably be the best team, but more importantly be the kingmaker in the Americas region. Any team that does not take Sentinels seriously is inviting failure. 

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