by The final event of the 2023 Valorant Champions Tour will be VCT Champions, which will be held in Los Angeles, United States, from August 6-26. Boasting a $2.25 million prize pool, VCT Champions is the one title that every Valorant organisation and player wants to win.
The best of the best from every region will be in attendance, with 16 teams from all over the world qualifying for the season finale. They include Fnatic, Paper Rex, Evil Geniuses, NRG, LOUD, EDward Gaming, Team Liquid, DRX, Natus Vincere, KRU Esports, FUT Esports, Giants Gaming, T1, ZETA DIVISION, Bilibili Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix.
After winning the VCT LOCK//IN and VCT Masters Tokyo during the year, Fnatic are the clear favourites at +110 with most esports betting sites as they seek to become the first team to win every international event in a single Valorant Champions Tour season.
Best Bet – Fnatic
VCT Champions 2023 appears Fnatic’s title to lose. The EMEA League winners have shown this year that they are in a class of their own. No one got near them at VCT Masters Tokyo, with the champions only losing one map for the entire event. That blip came at the hands Evil Geniuses in the upper-bracket final; however, they would clash again in the grand final, where Fnatic swept EG 3-0.
Fnatic created history after their VCT Masters Tokyo title, becoming the first team to win two international events in a single season, and they will be looking to create more history with a third international title at VCT Champions. With the likes of Jake “Boaster” Howlett and Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov leading their roster, it is hard to go past the pre-tournament favourites.
Outright winner – Fnatic
Best Value – EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming were one of the surprise packets to come out of VCT Masters Tokyo, where they knocked out Natus Vincere during the group stage and LOUD during the playoffs. Before booking their place at VCT Champions, EDG had to go through the China Qualifier. The top-ranked Chinese team went through undefeated and only dropped one map, coming in the grand final against Bilibili Gaming.
Zheng “ZMjjKK” Yongkang, also known as Kang Kang, is one of the best snipers to ever grace the Valorant servers. The 19-year-old is considered one of best up-and-coming talents in the world and is already a leader on this team. If he produces a similar show-stopping performance to what he did in Tokyo, EDG will be there when the whips are cracking on the final days of the event.
