Tag: video-games

5 Players To Keep An Eye On During VCT Americas Kick-Off

With the kickoff to the 2024 VCT season only a week away there are notable changes to teams across the Americas league with the MVP of last year moving teams and the leading kills for last year not even in the VCT!

Today we will list 5 players who fans will definitely need to keep an eye on with their possible roles changes and team changes across the 11 teams in the kick off tournament for the Americas League.

5. Max ‘Demon1’ Mazanov

Image courtesy of thespike.gg

The MVP of VCT Champions 2023, Demon1 has a new spring of life playing for NRG this year. He has moved on from Evil Geniuses but stayed together with Ethan to join Marved, Crashies and Victor to form a super team for the 2024 season with a roster fans are saying is the best in the world.

Most notably known for his clean and smooth aim, the player will most likely be playing jett in the upcoming season however as displayed, he is very versatile and can play either brimstone or Astra if the comp asks for it.

4. Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo

Image courtesy of afreecaTV_gl on X

Some people might be surprised to see TenZ on this list since his performances as of 2023 have not been anything to scream and shout about. However he has left his jett/raze picks in the past and with new IGL JohnQT, he has moved to the flex role where he plays characters like Omen, Harbour and KAY/0.

Once called the GOAT of VALORANT, he had a poor season last year riddled with injuries, health issues and personal issues evolving around his fiancée, Kyedae.

Despite all the issues he was faced with he seems more determined than ever to make it to the top of Valorant once again and prove to everyone that he wasn’t just a one year wonder.

He did show this during their off season tournament where he showcased his skills on the controller rather than the duelist out performing players such as MaKo, Forsaken and MindFreak.

3. Erick ‘aspas’ Santos

Image courtesy of Leviatangg on X

Being named the MVP of the VCT Americas league last season on LOUD, Aspas is highly praised by the valorant community as being one of if not the best player in the world.

Despite this high appraisal, he is on a new team this year, Leviatan, who have also created a super team in VCT with bringing in 2 world champions in Aspas and c0m. It is unknown how this roster plays as a team of five but on paper they are assumed to be one of the best teams in the world.

If Aspas can carry on his form from the last 3 years, he will be able to bring success and trophies to the South American organisation alongside a huge cult following that he has amassed for his flicky aim and crazy operator shots.

2. Jimmy Marved Nguyen

Image courtesy of Riot Games

After his 2022 Masters win, Marved announced that he was stepping back from competitive play and decided to sit out for the start of the franchising since his team, Optic gaming, wasn’t chosen for the partnership.

It only took 3 months for him to return however, despite announcing he was stepping back. He signed for sentinels as their 6th man after Hunter ‘SicK’ Mims was forced to step back from his spot on the team. He then got a place on the starting lineup after Dephh retired from professional play and moved onto a coaching role in M80 as the Counter Strike 2 coach.

Despite not winning last year, his hunger for competition and victory is sky high as he joins his former OpTic team mates on the new NRG roster touted for greatness.

1. Zachary ‘Zekken’ Patrone

Image courtesy of AfreecaTV_gl on X

The number one player who should be on everyone’s watchlist this season is Zekken from Sentinels.

He is one of the most underrated talents that NA has to offer. With last season being a rough one for sentinels, Zekken was primarily on the flex role playing agents like Sova, Omen, Killjoy and Raze throughout the year.

Sentinels seemed to have figured out that Zekken is a player you want to be the main star of the team despite having TenZ on the team. This year he has seemed to move onto the primary duelist role playing jett and raze whilst his team sets him up for success.

Players such as Curry, FNS and S0m have given such high praise to zekken with Curry most notably saying he is the best talent that NA has to offer after Demon1 who has just won the best title VALORANT has to offer.

Being only 18 years old, his aim is crispy and his game sense is still improving. With the help of 3 world champions in TenZ, Sacy and pANcada, we believe that Zekken can leave his mark on the world by winning his team a spot in Masters Madrid by getting top two in the kick off tournament.

VCT Kick-Off 2024

The season is set to kick off on the 16th of February with the new superteam NRG, looking to leave their mark on the league facing off against FURIA.

The games will be streamed on VALORANTS official YouTube and Twitch accounts whilst also being co-streamed by huge personalities such as Tarik, FNS, s0m and Subroza.

The first match is set to be played at 22:00 London time on the 16th.

Sentinels, Leviatan, 100Thieves and LOUD In Group Of Death

The VCT Americas kickoff format has been announced and due to last years rankings, a group of death has been determined with the favourites to win the entire tournament, Leviatan, the most in form team in the league, Sentinels, and the fallen kings, LOUD and 100T.

With the grouping being based off of last year results, some teams have made dramatic changes to their rosters. Especially Evil Geniuses who despite winning Champions in LA, they sold nearly their entire roster and currently are not the favourites to even make it past the group stage against either G2 Esports or KRU Esports.

Sentinels were looking heavy favourites to come in and win it all however with this group stage, it is up in the air as to whether or not they can live up to the standard they have set and can win the group stage.

The Americas are the first region to kick off the start of the 2024 VCT season with the so-called SuperTeam in NRG facing off against FURIA on the 16th of February at 22:00 London time.

The games will be streamed on their YouTube and Twitch channels however, most fans are awaiting the co-stream from streamers such as Tarik, s0m and FNS who have been eagerly awaiting the start of the VCT season.

Coming into the tournament, ideas of who will win are up for debate since most of the rosters are brand new and haven’t seen action. However going off of what has been seen, Sentinels should be favourites to win it all with TenZ playing flex and Zekken as the primary duelist, they are looking very strong despite dropping pANcada to the bench.

VCT Pacific Kick-Off Tournament Format Announced

With matches starting in less than a month, the format for the kick off tournament in APAC has been announced with Paper Rex getting the advanced spot with their success in last years VCT.

After coming second in Champions and third in Masters Tokyo, they guarantee themselves a spot into playoffs if they can beat the winner of GenG or RRQ.

The first game of the tournament will include the debut of Champions 2022 MVP, yay, who currently plays for BLEED esports who will face off against T1. This game will be his debut for the team in official tournament as he came down with illness when the team travelled to face off against NaVi and others in the off-season.

Image courtesy of Riot Games.

With the 10 teams chosen for franchising by Riot Games, BLEED joins them after winning franchising last year and earning themselves a spot in the league to face off against some of the worlds best players in PRX something, DRX MaKo and now T1 Xcurrate.

With the APAC kick-off tournament being the only one announced, fans are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Americas kick off tournament with Sentinels looking incredible and NRG announcing their super team to the world.

Which team will come out on top this year? Will it be the newly promoted BLEED with the addition of yay, will it be the uncrowned Champions FNATIC or will Sentinels regain their title as the best with JohnQT taking them to new heights?

Cloud9 Knock 100 Thieves Out Of Ludwig x Tarik Invitational 2

After a long fought overtime match against 100 Thieves, Cloud 9 come out on top against this new roster beating them 2-1 in the lower bracket taking them out of the tournament completely on day 1.

Both of these tier 1 teams took losses in their first games to tier 2 opponents leaving them with one last chance to stay alive in this invitational staged in LA.

Stats Courtesy of vlr.gg

Cloud9 Oxy starred in this thriller match dropping a combined 73 frags across the 3 maps with his direct counter part, Cryocells, dropping only 54.

The debut of new IGL Boostio, didn’t go down as well as 100T might’ve wanted to but there is promise shown with him coming as the second frag for the team, which shows that his fragging potential shown on EG last year hasn’t gone to waste with this new roster dropping 59 frags across the maps.

Tomorrow is set to be the final day of the invitational with Cloud9 facing off against Oxygen Esports for a place in the final to face off against Moist x Shopify for the grand final.

There will also be a showmatch at the tournament with Team Ludwig vs Team Tarik where the face of VALORANT, SEN TenZ, will be on team Ludwig in a BO1 match.

These stream will be available on Ludwig’s YouTube stream and Tarik’s Twitch stream.

Real Madrid Superstar Vinicius Jr Becomes Co Owner Of LOUD

After Leo Messi became co owner of KRU Esports with Sergio Aguero, Vinicius Jr has followed in their footsteps to become a co owner of huge esports organisation LOUD.

LOUD are a Brazilian Esports organisation that is well known for being the best and biggest Brazilian org in the scene.

They are currently most known for being one of the best Valorant teams in the world with 1x Champions win, 1x VCT Americas win and they are currently the top organisation for $929 651 in winnings from official tournaments overtaking Sentinels in 2023 after winning VCT Americas.

With football players such as Messi, Aguero and now Vinicius Jr joining the esports world, there is many more eyes being brought to the space. With many more organisations without big names tied to them, there are options to explore now with organisations.

With Sentinels being undoubtably the biggest organisation in the world of Valorant, bringing names into the space alongside them would be good for both parties.