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According to a recent release by Riot Games, North American Valorant team The Guard has been disqualified from participating in the 2024 edition of VCT Americas League. The announcement indicates the organization failed to meet the deadline to sign the Team Participation Agreement with the developer. It also specified that the 2024 season of VCT Americas would be going forward with the pre-existing set of 10 teams.
The Guard qualified for VCT Americas after defeating M80 in the Grand Final of the Ascension tournament in July 2023. According to the rules, they had solidified their place in tier-1 Valorant esports for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The latest announcement, however, mentions they will not be participating in the 2024 season. Their fate with regard to the subsequent (2025) season remains uncertain.
The Guard's Valorant team will shockingly miss out on VCT Americas 2024
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The Guard is a Los Angeles-based esports organization that has successful teams in Valorant, Call of Duty League, and Overwatch League. Their Valorant team was one of the favorites in North America following an incredible showing in 2022.
After failing to make the cut for the partnership model, The Guard went through the NA Challengers League comfortably. Then, they dominated the Americas Ascension tournament without dropping a single series across the group stage or playoffs. They met their North American rivals, M80, in the finals, which they won 3-1.
It appeared that The Guard had solidified their spot in Tier-1. The team even tweeted on August 27, 2023, about looking forward to playing against Evil Geniuses in VCT Americas in 2024. This announcement from Riot Games comes as a shock to fans who were hoping to see the team play at the top-most level.
Some members of the community are speculating that this could be a result of The Guard having a hard time making ends meet financially. Reports of the company firing its entire staff had emerged earlier this year as well.
In the meanwhile, streamer Disguised Toast has reportedly offered to buy out the players' contracts if it means that they can participate in VCT 2024 alongside the best teams and players of the region.
It is also shocking to the community that there would be commitments in the Team Participation Agreement for VCT Americas that teams would not want to agree to.
As per the announcement, Americas would be the only league with 10 participants, while EMEA and Pacific would have 11 each. Moreover, why M80, the team that finished second in Americas Ascension, is not being considered for the spot is also a question that remains to be answered.
