Valorant EMEA League: Who are Giants?

Giants Gaming, one of the ten Valorant teams from EMEA accepted into the VCT 2023 partnership program, is a lesser-known esports organization housing rosters for several competitive video games. Its current Valorant roster consists of diverse talents but hasn't participated in any major competition as a team yet.

Riot Games recently announced the names of all thirty teams who fit the company's requirements for the partnership program. Several major teams from EMEA and the Americas missed out, leading to heartbreaks. The American video game developer clarified that the selection process wasn't based on past competitive performances.

This article will introduce one of Riot's partnered teams, Giants Gaming, and detail their known achievements in the past and their potential in the upcoming VCT 2023 season.

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Everything you need to know about Giants Gaming ahead of Valorant Champions Tour 2023

Giants Gaming, also known as Vodafone Giants, is a Spanish esports organization founded in 2008. The organization houses rosters in video games like Call of Duty, League of Legends, Valorant, CS:GO, Mortal Kombat 11, Fortnite, Dragon Ball Z, Tekken, and Street Fighter. Their presence in LoL esports and the fighting games circuit is hugely well known. However, they are yet to make a name in Valorant.

The Giants' current Valorant roster is a mixture of athletes from different ethnicities, namely:

1. Vladyslav “Kiles” Shvets (Ukraine)
2. Tobias “ShadoW” Flodström (Sweden)
3. Adam “Jesse” Čtvrtníček (Czech Republic)
4. Batuhan “russ” Malgaç (Turkey)
5. Adolfo “Fit1nho” Gallego (Spain)

Their head coach, Oliwer “LATEKS” Fahlander hails from Sweden. Kiles was previously a part of Acend, while ShadoW played for FunPlus Phoenix in 2021.

Giants Gaming, like all other selected partners, was scrutinized based on three factors:

1. Organizations that share Riot Games' values of always putting fans first, celebrating diverse communities, and are committed to supporting pro athletes.
2. Organizations with a strong fan base have built the same through engaging content, a compelling brand, and an exciting roster.
3. Organizations that show long-term promise and are based on sustainability.

Giants Gaming has seemingly built a strong brand and organization to grab Riot Games' attention. The VCT EMEA league, consisting of three regions, namely Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, features some of the biggest names on the circuit, like Team Liquid, Fnatic, NAVI, and Team Vitality, as partners. The EMEA international split will be based out of Berlin, as announced by Riot Games.

The pre-season transfer period will start soon, allowing partnered teams to seek and sign new talented athletes to their Valorant rosters. Giants Gaming will probably make use of the same to build a stronger roster for the VCT EMEA League.

The upcoming VCT 2023 is all set to change the face of Valorant esports forever. The international league will have a separate set of tournaments, consisting of a kickoff tournament, an international league split, a Masters, an LCQ, and finally, a Champions. Unpartnered teams will prove their worth through Challengers splits and territorial Ascension tournaments.

One non-franchisee team from each of the three territories that outperforms its regional competitors will be promoted to the international league the following year. Each international league will accommodate up to 14 members. Unpartnered teams who are promoted to the league will remain in it for two years before returning to Challengers-Ascension status.