After seven days of intense competition, the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters has come to an end. From rivalries to utter domination, the ten participating teams all gave their best in a bid to lift the first international VALORANT LAN trophy.
Sentinels came out on top of VCT Stage 2 Masters 2 but this is how we ranked those ten teams in our latest Power Rankings.
10. Crazy Racoon
Crazy Racoon was the only team at VCT Masters 2 to fail to win a map before leaving the tournament. Version1 took them down 2-0 in their debut matchup on Day 1; KRÜ Esports did the same on Day 3 in the lower bracket. The Japanese team was a question mark coming into the international event based on the lack of knowledge known about the region for VALORANT.
While Crazy Racoon may not have been able to showcase what they were truly capable of at Masters 2, they still have powerhouse players like Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom on their roster. The Overwatch star still has a lot left to prove in his remaining days of competitive VALORANT. Hopefully, Crazy Racoon will have a better showing at the next international event.
– Danny Appleford
9. Sharks Esports
Sharks Esports were the second team to exit VCT Masters 2 after their disappointing performances against NUTURN Gaming and KRÜ Esports. They were able to take a map off of the Korean powerhouse team but were unsuccessful to close out the series. After falling to the lower bracket, they were simply outclassed by the only team from Latin America to make it to Iceland.
While they may have left the tournament earlier than expected, the Sharks are still one of the top teams in the world. They bested the odds to make it as the second team from Brazil to go to Iceland for the first international VALORANT event. With superstar players like Wallacy “Prozin” Sales on their roster, this will not be the last we hear from the Sharks.
– Appleford
8. KRÜ Esports
Although KRÜ Esports exited VCT Masters 2 early, they faced many of the top teams there and had great performances. Their opening match was against a dominant looking Fnatic who quickly knocked KRÜ into the lower bracket. After that, with top teams — Team Liquid and Fnatic — in lowers, it was only a matter of time until they were eliminated. KRÜ won their first lower bracket match to eliminate Sharks Esports. However, they fell to Team Liquid in their next match.
While KRÜ Esports didn’t have a deep run, they managed to establish themselves in the international scene. Players Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda and Nicolas “Klaus” Ferrari showed their worth through playing well against Fnatic and Liquid. The team has the firepower to be a top team but they’re still working on strategies. When the next international LAN comes around, fans can expect KRÜ to be back and looking better than their debut at Iceland.
– Zain Merchant
7. X10 Esports
Going into VCT Masters 2, X10 was the epitome of a wildcard team. Coming from a much smaller region, in comparison to NA, EMEA and Brazil, fans didn’t know what to expect from the top team of SEA. However, X10 certainly impressed with their hyper-dynamic playstyle and individual mechanics. From beating Crazy Raccoon to taking Team Vikings to overtime, it was apparent that they had a lot of potential and star quality on the team.
Fans and analysts were excited to see what Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong can do in a new game and, oh boy, did he deliver. The rest of their players also stepped up, with Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard being one of the standouts on both Sova and Jett. While they placed in the bottom half of the participating teams, there’s no doubt that there is huge upset potential in this roster and you can’t help but root for and love the friendly and funny Patiphan.
– Yinsu Collins
6. Team Vikings
The top Brazilian seed left the tournament in fifth-sixth place which was fitting for the squad. Team Vikings and Skarks Esports were not the strong teams that some had hyped them up to be. Both teams looked outmatched in the utility battle. Vikings even admitted to feeling out of place in the current meta; their normal Raze pick was not seen much in the meta. They dealt with X10 in quick fashion but failed to measure up to the North American and European teams.
Vikings can beat those ranked below them but they struggle against those above. Back in Brazil, they will face another gauntlet of teams, like Gameladers and Furia, who will test them in terms of mechanics. Hopefully, they can make it back to international play after taking a few lessons away from this tournament.
– Declan McLaughlin
5. Team Liquid
Team Liquid entered VCT Masters 2 as a favorite to win the tournament. However, in their opening match against Version1, they heavily faltered. After narrowly taking Map 1, Version1 shutdown Liquid as they failed to find a solution to Erik “penny” Penny. Then, they gave up Map 3 with V1 winning 13-4. Team Liquid went on to lose to Fnatic in the lower bracket to be eliminated from the tournament.
Team Liquid might have firepower and strong CS:GO influence Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom to point the team in the right direction. At Iceland, the team seemed unprepared for the different styles of play that other regions had. As they work towards qualifying Berlin, ScreaM and Liquid must prepare for new compositions and playstyles. Hopefully, with this, they’ll do better at their next LAN.
– Merchant
4. Version1
Version1 had the odds stacked against them. Initially, we ranked them at No. 6. They just needed to show consistency in the long run. V1 seemed poised to prove us wrong, though. They were a single round win away from reaching the top three. However, after losing, they seemed to fall into a downward spiral and were unable to climb back up. Still, their performance against highly seeded teams with a stand-in was impressive. It makes one wonder what they could have done with more preparation.
IGL Anthony “vanity” Malaspina forged a team that is here to stay. Not many expected Version1 to make it to Reykjavík. But, even at VCT Masters 2, surrounded by the world’s best, they continued to show that they belong among the top. They will head into Stage 3 not as an underdog, but a team to be reckoned with. The North American road to Berlin will be extremely competitive indeed.
– Michael Kloos
3. NUTURN Gaming
NUTURN Gaming came into VCT Masters 2 as the only Korean seed after surpassing Vision Strikers at Challengers Finals. They wanted to make their region proud by making it to the finals of Masters 2. However, they fell short to Sentinels in the upper bracket. That brought them to the lower bracket, where they faced a hot Fnatic who made a run through the lower bracket to make it to the finals themselves.
With two players on their roster over the age of thirty, Kang “solo” Keun-chul and Jung “peri” Bum-gi, NUTURN out-classed the teams with players much younger than them. Korea placed third overall at Masters 2 after only having one team from their region attending. Both Europe and North America, who had two regions, played much higher but had more chances to do so. There is a lot of room for improvement with NUTURN in the coming weeks before Berlin.
– Appleford
2. Fnatic
Fnatic did what no other team could: they posed a threat to Sentinels. They dropped to the lower bracket early in the tournament at the hands of the North American champions but immediately started their journey on the way to revenge. With just a single map loss throughout the lower bracket, the fairly inexperienced Fnatic boys fought their way through four regions. X10, Version1, Team Liquid and NUTURN all had to bow down to allow Fnatic to get their rematch in the grand final. And, this time, things were even closer. They were the only team that managed to reach double digits against Sentinels and they did so in every single map. Although Sentinels has not looked to be threatened by any team throughout VCT Masters 2, Fnatic made it look like Sentinels could lose.
The 0-2 and 0-3 score lines against Sentinels do not paint the whole picture and their lower bracket run certainly was no easy task. But, ultimately, it cannot be disputed that Fnatic is the clear No. 2. No other team could have made Sentinels’ victory this hard-won, and they stole the hearts of many fans while doing so.
Fnatic is only barely behind Sentinels and their future looks quite promising.
– Kloos
1. Sentinels
Sentinels didn’t just put the NA vs. EU debate to bed; they managed to win the first international VALORANT LAN without dropping a single map. Yes, they were undefeated on every single map they played throughout the entire tournament. This is an incredible feat, as they solidified themselves as the best team in the world. While Fnatic gave them a good run for their money, they absolutely decimated every other team they faced.
Every single player stepped up throughout the tournament and, under the leadership of Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, they looked almost flawless. If there were any doubts about how Tyson “TenZ” Ngo would perform on LAN before, there would be absolutely zero doubts after his outstanding performances. There is definitely a gap between the top two teams, compared to the rest of the bunch, but Sentinels proved that they are in a class of their own.
– Collins
