All teams that will compete in VALORANT Champions 2023

Riot Games' official competition season will end with VCT 2023 - Champions. The teams who have qualified for the prestigious championship have taken their places.

Riot Games is finally bringing its largest VALORANT tournament to North America (more specifically, Los Angeles), recognizing the area for the fervor it has shown for the game since its introduction after global championships in Germany and Turkey. From today through August 26, two renowned Los Angeles locations, the Kia Forum and the Shrine Auditorium, will host VALORANT Champions 2023. There will be sixteen of the top teams from EMEA, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and China competing for the trophy that was won by Acend in 2021 and by LOUD in 2022.

Here are all the teams that will compete at Champions 2023 following their VCT season, Masters Tokyo, and the Last Chance Qualifiers.

EMEA League

• Fnatic
• FUT Esports
• Team Liquid
• GIANTX (EMEA LCQ)
• Natus Vincere (EMEA LCQ)

Americas League

• Evil Geniuses
• NRG Esports
• LOUD
• KRÜ Esports (Americas LCQ)

Pacific League

• Paper Rex
• DRX
• T1
• ZETA DIVISION (Pacific LCQ)

China Qualifer

• EDward Gaming
• Bilibili Gaming
• FunPlus Phoenix

As a result of Fnatic's victory at Masters Tokyo, EMEA will send two teams to Champions via the Last Chance Qualifier.

Fnatic

In addition to attempting to complete an unprecedented feat by winning every single international VALORANT trophy this year, Fnatic is working to establish a dynasty. The talented European roster, led by the captivating and charismatic Boaster and his all-star teammates Leo, Chronicle, Alfajer, and Derke, has won every match since VCT LOCK//IN.

FUT Esports

A tenacious FUT Esports roster, still looking for that breakthrough international performance, has gained support from Turkey. They did just enough to defeat the talented NAVI roster in the EMEA VCT playoffs as well as at Masters Tokyo, securing them a guaranteed spot in Champions. The team of mojj, qRaxs, qw1, MrFaliN, and ATA KAPTAN has a challenging task ahead of them if they want to compete in the Champions tournament.

Liquid

This year, Liquid's performance has been very inconsistent. They had a sluggish start to the EMEA VCT season before bouncing back to pull off a major upset in the grand finals, giving Fnatic their lone loss of the year while winning the domestic championship. The group of Jamppi, Redgar, nAts, soulcas, and Sayf, however, has struggled a lot on the international stage.

LOUD

Even after changing out some of their roster at the beginning of the year, the defending world champions haven't let up. With LOCK//IN's grand final appearance and first-place finish in the Americas League, LOUD was in excellent shape going into Masters Tokyo. But unexpectedly, aspas, Less, Saadhak, cauanzin, and tuzy struggled, dropping two straight 2-0 games and exiting the playoffs. Having said that, LOUD had difficulty at the Masters before Champions last year, and we all know who won the world championship.

Evil Geniuses

Since the significant upset in which Evil Geniuses defeated 100 Thieves and advanced to the Americas playoffs, the EG players have been the talk of pro VALORANT fans all over the world. After a mediocre start to the season, EG went on a legendary run that saw them finish in the top three at the Masters Tokyo and the Americas Playoffs. In Champions, everyone's focus will be on Boostio, Ethan, jawgemo, C0M, and Demon1.

NRG

One of the most talented teams in the Americas has been consistently strong all season, and they nearly won another championship in the Masters of Tokyo and the Americas playoffs. Similar to their NA counterparts in EG, NRG's sluggish start was followed by a strong performance in the second half of the season and at Masters. FNS, crashies, Victor, and ardiis are all attempting to enlarge their trophy collections, while s0m is searching for his very first trophy.

T1

When T1 left North America and relocated to Korea for VCT, they made a significant wager by bringing in a who's who of A-list celebrities. Players from Korea, Japan, North America, and even the Overwatch League are included on their roster for the Korean market. They barely did enough to qualify for Masters, but they've had trouble both times this year competing internationally. At Champions 2023, Munchkin, xeta, Carpe, Sayaplayer, and ban will need to set up.

DRX

DRX, appeared ready to make a breakthrough this year and take home that elusive international trophy that had eluded them. However, after a strong start to the year in both LOCK//IN and the Pacific season, they've hit a streak of inconsistency, alternating wins and losses through the end of the regular season, through the Pacific playoffs, and through Masters Tokyo. To advance at Champions 2023, Stax, Rb, BuZz, MaKo, and Foxy9 will require a significant recovery.

Paper Rex

After midseason roster changes put superstar Something on the starting lineup, Paper Rex went on a late-season run in which they won nine consecutive matches while only losing four maps, ultimately winning the VCT Pacific championship. As if that weren't impressive enough, Paper Rex had to compete at Masters without Something but still defeated DRX, NRG, and EDward Gaming to place third. With Something coming back, he will try to start another winning streak with mindfreak, f0rsakeN, d4v31, and Jinggg.

EDward Gaming

China officially entered the international tournament with EDward Gaming at Masters Tokyo after a tough start. Sniper master Zheng "ZmjjKK" Yongkang caused an immediate sensation in Tokyo with his reckless style of play, obvious enthusiasm, and chic celebrations. Before falling victim to Paper Rex at Masters, EDG defeated a number of notable competitors, including NAVI, T1, and LOUD. At Champions, a lot of focus will be on ZmjjKK, CHICHOO, Haodogn, nobody, and Smoggy.

Bilibili Gaming

At Champions 2023, Bilibili Gaming will make its VALORANT premiere on a global scale. Between the FGC VALORANT Invitational and the China qualification for Champions 2022, Bilibili has been practically unblemished in recent months, losing just one series versus EDG in their last twelve.

FunPlus Phoenix

With the knowledge that VALORANT will ultimately be released in China, FPX went back to the nation where League helped it establish a reputation and signed a lineup of Chinese and Taiwanese players. By losing to TYLOO in their opening match, the team made up of AAAAy, BerLIN, TZH, WudiYuChEn, and Yuicaw almost blew a bye in the China qualifier. However, they came back with three straight lower bracket victories to clinch the final berth for the region in Champions.

Giants Gaming (EMEA LCQ)

After three years, the Spanish organization has finally qualified for an international VCT tournament thanks to Giants, who have taken the first of the two EMEA Last Chance Qualifier places. With two consecutive 0-2 playoff losses, the foreign lineup, which included a significant portion of former G2 players, finished slightly above the center of the pack during the EMEA season but was unable to advance to Masters Tokyo. However, the team of Fit1nho, Hoody, Nukkye, Rhyme, and Cloud took advantage of a first-round bye at the LCQ thanks to their regular season success, and they quickly secured a Champions berth with two consecutive 2-0 victories over Karmine Corp and NAVI.

KRÜ Esports (Americas LCQ)

It would be an understatement to say that KRÜ Esports had a difficult 2023 season. The club finished the regular season with a record of 0-9. But in the VCT Americas' Last Chance Qualifier, everything for KRÜ changed. In reality, they went completely against what was expected and won all five of their LCQ series, including the championship match against Leviatán. To qualify for Champions, KRÜ stars, keznit, Melser, Klaus, DaveeyS, and Nagz had to defeat MIBR, FURIA, and Cloud9.

ZETA Division (Pacific LCQ)

With a interesting agent selection "Chamber" the Japanese team ZETA DIVISION won the Pacific Last Chance Qualifier and one of the final few slots at Champions. Laz dominated the competition with Chamber on Lotus and Fracture in both the upper final and grand final against squad Secret, winning himself the MVP award and giving his squad a chance to participate at Champions. There, Chamber and other non-meta choices from Laz, crow, Dep, SugarZ3ro, and TENNN may appear more frequently.

NAVI (EMEA LCQ)

Fnatic's impressive victory at Masters Tokyo secured EMEA an additional spot at Champions. NAVI had therefore already qualified for Champions with a flawless 3-0 sweep versus KOI in the lower bracket finals, even if they lost to Giants in the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier grand finals. When Champions kicks off in Los Angeles, ANGE1, Shao, cNed, SUYGETSU, and Zyppan will be aiming for that big victory.