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The VCT//LOCK tournament, scheduled to be held this February in Sao Paulo, will kickstart the 2023 season of the Valorant Champions Tour.
LOCK//IN is set to be the most significant event yet in the history of the VCT. 32 teams will fight it out in a single elimination tournament to win an extra spot in this year's Masters event for their region.
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The 32 teams consist of the 10 partnered teams from each of the three regional leagues (Americas, EMEA, and Pacific) and two Chinese teams that Riot Games have invited.
This tier list attempts to classify the teams based on the experience their members have in playing at the highest levels of the VCT and how they are looking heading into the LOCK//IN tournament.
Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.
VCT LOCK//IN: All teams ranked from best to worst
At the outset, each team on this list consists of some of the best talents in the Valorant scene. The rankings are based on their relative performance with the ones they are going up against and their recent team performance.
The 32 teams have been classified into five tiers based on factors like:
- How long has the team played together
- What level have the players been competing at so far
- What achievements have the members of the team have
- How the roster changes in the last off-season have affected the team dynamics
Here are the five tiers:
- S tier
- A Tier
- B Tier
- C Tier
- D Tier
S-tier teams
The teams in the S-Tier are those whose core has remained constant heading into the tournament. They are forces to be reckoned with at top-tier competitions like the VCT Masters and Champions.
The S-Tier teams going into LOCK//IN are:
- NRG Esports
- Natus Vincere
- LOUD
- Paper Rex
NRG Esports, Natus Vincere, LOUD, and Paper Rex are all teams with three or more players who have played in the finals of international VCT tournaments in 2022, either winning them out or finishing second. These are the teams that are the favorites going into the 2023 season.
NRG Esports and Natus Vincere have built their teams around the core members of OpTic Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, respectively. The two teams were the most consistent in 2022.
Paper Rex, who finished second at Masters Copenhagen, has kept their entire team together. Meanwhile, the winners of Champions 2022, LOUD, decided to let two of their players go but kept the rest of the core team intact.
A-tier Teams
The A-Tier teams consist of players who have shown great promise throughout 2021 and 2022 but have failed to achieve a great degree of success. Another factor considered when putting teams into this tier is how long the core roster has been around and how long the members have played together.
The following teams fall under A-Tier:
- DRX
- KRU Esports
- Fnatic
- 100 Thieves
- Team Liquid
- Leviatan
- Sentinels
- Cloud9
- ZETA Division
DRX and ZETA Division are coming into LOCK//IN with the same team as last season. KRU, Leviatan, 100 Thieves, Fnatic, and Cloud9, have retained at least three squad members. The new additions that they have made have also been from the absolute top-tier teams that failed to make it into the partnership model with Riot.
Sentinels and Team Liquid are considerably new teams, retaining only one or two members from the earlier roster in the team's starting lineup. However, they have made additions from teams that have been winners of Masters, in the case of Team Liquid, and Champions, in the case of Sentinels.
The teams in this tier show the most promise in terms of teams that could easily be S-Tier by the end of the season but haven't reached that level yet.
B-Tier Teams
The B-Tier has teams entering VCT for the first time, with teams made up of players who have played in the regional Challengers Leagues, where they have seen a lot of success. Some players have also played at international tournaments but have yet to leave a lasting impression in VCT history.
Teams in the B-Tier are:
- Karmine Corp
- Team Vitality
- KOI
- Team Heretics
- T1
- Talon Esports
- GenG
- Team Secret
Each of these teams comprises popular star players who have made their mark as exceptional players and newer, lesser-known talent from the region. Only time will tell what impact these teams have in the upcoming VCT LOCK//IN tournament and their regional leagues.
Another common thread that ties these teams together in this tier is that these are all freshly formed teams yet to compete in any Riot-organised tournaments. Sao Paulo will be the first showing of their potential as a team in the upcoming days.
C-Tier Teams
The C-Tier is made up of teams that have yet to set any expectations because they have barely made appearances on an international stage. Even those that have played in international tournaments have had extremely forgettable performances.
The teams in the C-Tier are:
- Global Esports
- FURIA Esports
- Evil Geniuses
- DetonatioN FM
- Giants
- EDward Gaming
Teams like Global Esports and Giants have outstanding players like AYRIN and nukkye, who are well-known figures in the Valorant esports scene worldwide because of the organizations they were associated with. The rest of the team consists of big players in regional tournaments but didn't make it to the international stages of the VCT.
Evil Geniuses and DetonatioN FM are regional powerhouses that haven't made it to the top tiers because of how the tournaments were structured. FURIA and EDward Gaming did make international appearances but failed to make a mark for themselves there.
D-Tier Teams
These are brand new teams with some globally known names but mostly regional talent. It will be the first time these players will play on such a big stage.
These are the teams in the D-Tier:
- Rex Regum Qeon
- FUT Esports
- BBL Esports
- MIBR
- FunPlus Phoenix
They will be considered the underdogs in most matchups they face. However, there is no reason to count them out. The tournament format allows for upsets and fairy-tale runs as each stage cuts down the number of participants by half. This means each of these teams has win four matches to get to the grand finals.
Every match they win counts as a feather on their caps, and they will only get better as they keep playing at this level.
These rankings are based on past performances and fans' expectations of the teams. There may be significant upsets in the tournament, and the ones everyone least expects take home the trophy and earns their region the coveted extra seat at VCT Masters Tokyo.
