Here are the 12 teams who have qualified for Masters Tokyo through great performances in VCT Leagues and FGC
After over a month of round-robin and Playoff matches in VCT Leagues, the best of the Valorant world will meet in Japan to fight in Masters Tokyo. This is the only Masters event this year that’s going to be the first international Valorant LAN tournament in Asia.
The top three teams in the Americas and Pacific Leagues and the top two squads in China’s FGC Act 1 are going to Tokyo – while EMEA has four spots for the best rosters in the League due to FNATIC’s victory at LOCK//IN earlier this year.
Here are all the teams who will fight for the $350,000 prize and the title of VCT Masters Tokyo Champions in June –
Masters Tokyo – All 12 Teams
EMEA
- Team Liquid
- FNATIC
- FUT Esports
- Natus Vincere
Pacific
Americas
- LOUD
- NRG Esports
- Evil Geniuses
China
- Attacking Soul Esports
- EDward Gaming
Credit: Riot Games
VCT EMEA – 4 Teams
Team Liquid
After an exciting Grand Final win against FNATIC, Liquid have not only secured a Masters spot, but they are also skipping the Group Stage and will go straight to the Playoffs. The former Gambit duo Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin and Igor “Redgar” Vlasov have found a new home in this team with a plan to bring back their golden years. Moreover, Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel’s aggression was the squad’s biggest weapon as he has been consistently one of the best Duelists of the event.
Liquid ended the Regular Season with the #3 seed and a 6-3 record, and they got dominated by FNATIC in Week 3. Therefore, the 3-1 Grand Final victory against the LOCK//IN winners shows how much stronger this new Liquid roster has become over time.
FNATIC
The LOCK//IN champions ended the EMEA League with only one defeat, and unfortunately, it happened in the Grand Final. However, FNATIC are still making it to the Playoffs of the Masters, as four squads from their region are going to Tokyo.
Jake “Boaster” Howlett and his crew were the only squad in the VCT Leagues to finish the Regular Season without a single defeat, with Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev’s consistent performance making them unstoppable. After looking great in international events for years now, there’s no doubt FNATIC are on the path to becoming a legendary roster in Valorant.
FUT Esports
LOCK//IN was the first appearance of this Turkish squad in an international LAN, where we didn’t see much from them as FUT ended the run with a 1-1 record. The Regular Season of the EMEA showed the birth of a new tough contender in the region, with FUT Esports getting the #5 seed from an impressive 5-4 record.
The Playoffs showed a much stronger look from FUT as they ran through the lowers and even defeated NAVI in the process, allowing them to take the 3rd spot in the ranking and get a ticket to the Masters. Throughout these impressive few weeks, Konur “qw1” Şahin was the roster’s best member, becoming one of the strongest Duelist players we have from Turkey alongside Emir “Alfajer” Beder in FNATIC’s lineup.
Natus Vincere
NAVI ended the Regular Season with a 7-2 record, securing the #2 seed for the Playoffs. Even though they confirmed the Masters Tokyo spot, finishing the EMEA League as the 4th best team was a little disappointing for the Europeans, especially after looking so strong in round-robin games.
This roster wouldn’t be preparing for the Masters without FNATIC’s victory in LOCK//IN, which allowed EMEA to bring four teams to Tokyo while other regions have three of their representatives going to Japan.
VCT Pacific – 3 Teams
Paper Rex
The Singaporeans haven’t lost a single series after the Week 3 defeat against DRX, whom they conquered twice in the Playoffs. Paper Rex’s excellent form in the Pacific League can be significantly attributed to the Russian rookie Ilya “something” Petrov, who came as a blessing and helped his roster get their first S-tier event trophy.
The Grand Final match of PRX was one of the most exciting Bo5s we have seen so far, as they brought it back from a 0-2 to a reverse sweep, doing so with insane compositions of double-Duelists and Reyna in the lineup. With this insane 3-2 victory, they have secured a Playoffs slot in Tokyo.
DRX
After an incredible 8-1 run in the Regular Season and a #1 seed in the Playoffs, not winning the Grand Final comes as a shock for the South Koreans. Nonetheless, they are the runner-ups of the Pacific League and, therefore, will compete again in the Group Stage of Masters Tokyo.
Among the great players of DRX, Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan has had the most impact on this event, even on Controller roles. The newcomer Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung had his moments but failed to shine bright in Duelist roles. Therefore, seeing whether the rookie stays as a substitute in Japan will be interesting.
T1
Switching from North America to South Korea has been a great decision so far for T1, with former Guard Duelist Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo leading the roster to the Playoffs and securing the #3 spot.
T1 looked strong from the Regular Season, only losing 3 out of 9 round-robin matches. They almost reached the Grand Final considering how close the Lower Final encounter vs DRX was. Nonetheless, Masters Tokyo will be the first S-tier LAN for this roster since the NA chapter for this squad was hollow of grand achievements.
VCT Americas – 3 Teams
LOUD
The 2022 Champions winners have done it again after almost taking the LOCK//IN trophy. With a 3-0 clean Grand Final victory, this Brazilian roster has finished the Americas League with only one defeat, and they have proven once again that LOUD are a league above most Tier 1 rosters in Valorant.
During their dominating 8-1 run in the Regular Season, Erick “aspas” Santos has been the machine gun for the roster – but he wasn’t alone in the fight as Felipe “Less” Basso accompanied him on top of the scoreboard in more than enough matches – and together they made LOUD one of the most feared names in the League.
NRG Esports
After the former OpTic members joined the squad, NRG Esports became one of North America’s best contenders through their excellent form in the VCT League. The first few weeks didn’t look great for NRG, as they won only a single series out of four Bo3s. Their pace quickly changed from the second Superweek game, and they have continued to show dominance since then.
The Latvian British Duelist Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks had great moments in the tournament. Still, their most victories have been on the backs of the legendary North American duo Victor “Victor” Wong and Austin “crashies” Roberts, who have also been two essential members of OpTic’s golden days.
Evil Geniuses
Very few expected this roster to qualify for the Masters after their poor start in the Regular Season, even being considered the weakest North American team in the event. The unexpected upset on the 100 Thieves vs MIBR series allowed EG to write their Cinderella tale by qualifying for the Playoffs, as the squad performed two big upsets against NRG and C9 to get a spot in Tokyo.
Throughout the Americas League, EG scored a jackpot by getting the rookie player Max “Demon1” Mazanov on their lineup, who quickly became one the best North American Jett players and strengthened the team by a great margin.
FGC VALORANT Invitational 2023: Act 1 – 2 Teams
Attacking Soul Esports
Winning the FGC Act 1 and doing so with an incredible 9-1 record has made Attacking Soul Esports one of the best contenders from China. Masters Tokyo will be their first-ever appearance in an international Valorant event since they weren’t present during LOCK//IN – which makes it impossible to expect anything from this team as the new contender will plan on spicing up the event.
You would want to keep an eye on the Duelist Qu “Life” Donghao on this upcoming team’s lineup, as he was the most aggressive member of the squad in the FGC event.
EDward Gaming
EDG haven’t won a single match in the only two international events we saw them participating in – and this Masters will be their chance to show the world a new side. Fortunately, they are coming from long streaks of wins in both Act 1 and 2 of FGC tournaments, and they confirmed their spots in Tokyo by reaching the Grand Final of the first act.
Even though EDward couldn’t pick up the FGC Act 1 trophy, they were the champions of Act 2 with a 5-1 record in the event.
Masters Tokyo Dates
The Group Stage of Masters Tokyo will begin on June 11, with eight teams participating in a GSL format. Four out of these eight squads will move forward to the Playoffs starting on June 16. The event will reach its conclusion on June 25.
ESTNN will extensively cover Masters Tokyo and other upcoming Valorant tournaments, including Last Chance Qualifiers and VCT Champions 2023.
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