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VCT 2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Valorant esports. The year started with its most significant event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, i.e., LOCK//IN. The event invited all thirty franchised teams, plus two Chinese teams, to fight it out in a single elimination bracket. These thirty-two teams were then split into two groups, Alpha and Omega. Eventually, EMEA's Fnatic took their first trophy, winning the Grand Finals against the home team, LOUD, by a 3-2 in the BO5 (Best of Five) series.
After LOCK//IN, these franchised teams will see themselves in VCT leagues in their respective regions. Here, the ten teams will have a Regular Season in which the top six teams will then make their way to the Playoffs, where they will battle it out to qualify for Masters Tokyo.
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The VCT EMEA league starts on March 28, 2023, and will be held in Berlin, Germany. Viewers can expect some exciting matches and moments. EMEA has a lot of teams to watch out for. The article below lists the top five teams viewers need to look out for in the VCT EMEA League.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.
KOI and 4 more teams to keep an eye on in the VCT EMEA league
1) Fnatic
Fnatic has been one of the more consistent teams in the EMEA region. In VCT 2021, the London-based team was a force to be reckoned with. In 2021, they qualified for the first-ever Valorant International LAN and finished in second place. Later, they also qualified for Valorant Champions 2021.
In VCT 2022, Fnatic qualified for all three international events and performed well. The problem was that Fnatic always had the potential to win the trophy but would always fall a little short.
At LOCK//IN, Fnatic finally got their hands on a trophy. The team led by Boaster went on to have one of the most flawless runs and eventually beat LOUD 3-2 in the BO5 series. Fnatic is the clear favorite going into the EMEA league.
2) NAVI
NAVI is a Ukranian esports organization. Apart from being decent in a few EMEA tournaments, the organization has never made a mark on VCT. It has also never qualified for any international LAN events.
While franchising, NAVI made perhaps one of the most significant roster changes in the EMEA scene. The org decided to bring in the immensely successful FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) core and got one of the best Operator players, cNed, on the team.
LOCK//IN was the first international showing for this new team, and it didn't disappoint. NAVI demolished every team they faced and qualified for the Playoffs. However, they were ultimately defeated by their fellow EMEA team, Fnatic. NAVI is an adamant team to go against in the EMEA league and shouldn't be taken lightly.
3) Karmine Corp
Karmine Corp is an esports organization from France. They haven't done much on the Valorant scene and never qualified for international events.
For VCT 2023, Karmine Corp brought the deadly brother duo of ScreaM and Nivera from Team Liquid. This was done to help steer the team in the right direction.
LOCK//IN was this new roster's first showing. The team won one series against the Chinese FPX squad but ultimately fell to the Brazilian team, LOUD, by 0-2. Karmine Corp has the potential to make it to Masters Tokyo, and with a little more work, they can certainly achieve it.
4) KOI
KOI is another European esports organization that never made a dent in the Valorant scene. They also never really made it to any international event.
While franchising, however, the roster had a significant overhaul as they brought in a lot of great talent ranging from the World Champion, starxo to Masters Winner, sheydos, among others. The team showed a lot more promise for KOI.
Unfortunately, KOI didn't perform well at LOCK//IN and was eliminated in their first match against NRG Esports. Despite that performance, the team certainly has a lot of talented players who can take KOI to new heights during the VCT EMEA league.
5) Team Liquid
Team Liquid has been on the Valorant esports scene from the very start. In 2021, Liquid qualified for the first-ever VCT international LAN event, i.e., Masters Reykjavik. Here, they finished in 4th place.
In VCT 2022, Team Liquid qualified for a couple of international events. But despite their promising roster, they had a rather underwhelming performance. For 2023, the roster for Team Liquid has completely changed as they have brought on superstars like nAts and Redgar on the team.
However, during LOCK//IN, Team Liquid was utterly blindsided by Team Secret and eliminated by them in the first match. Despite that, anyone who sees Team Liquid can tell it's a solid roster with the potential to make it to Masters Tokyo without many hiccups.
