Currently, the competitive VALORANT scene is enjoying a short break before the VCT Copenhagen Playoffs 2022. Accordingly, with only 4 teams left, one more weekend will determine a world champion team – let’s discuss!
Overall, the four remaining teams represent three regions within the double elimination bracket. Furthermore, the only team present to have won before is OpTic Gaming, while Fnatic has placed second multiple times.
Heading into this weekend, the following matches will take place across 22nd and 24th July:
Upper Bracket Final
Paper Rex vs OpTic Gaming
Lower Bracket Semi-Finals
FunPlus Phoenix vs Fnatic
With regards to predictions, it’s likely that Fnatic will definitely handle FPX considering they’ve already matched up at this tournament.
However, the match between Paper Rex and OpTic is definitely up for grabs. Yet, if we look at the map records, Paper Rex has looked much more dominant.
Also, the following is the full schedule for the entire weekend of competition:
Upper Bracket Final – 17:00 CEST – July 22nd
Lower Bracket Semi-Finals – 20:00 CEST – July 22nd
Lower Bracket Final – 17:00 CEST – July 23rd
Grand Final – 17:00 CEST – July 24th
We can’t wait to see if OpTic will bring it home once again or if newcomers Paper Rex can win it for APAC! Also, everything will boil down to a live audience too.
Up until 2020, the only tactical shooter esport of note was CS:GO. Released all the way back in 2012, it stood uncontested and hugely popular for several years. However, with the release of VALORANT in 2020, the genre is now being shared – how do the two esports compare right now? Read on as we discuss tactical shooter esports 2022 in this featured article!
Is VALORANT Still the “CS:GO Killer”?
Credits: Riot Games
Firstly, we need to address an essential point. Indeed, upon release, discussions in the community discussed VALORANT as a “CS:GO killer”.
However, as time passed, it became clear that the gameplay of VALORANT is hugely different to the likes of CS:GO.
Furthermore, the main difference is agent/ability based gameplay. Specifically, while CS:GO relies on barebones strategy and gunplay with grenade utility, VALORANT takes a note from Overwatch by combining multiple unique agents with unique abilities which influence gameplay heavily.
Overall, both share the elements of a tactical shooter title:
Bomb defusal gameplay – either detonate the bomb, prevent planting of the bomb or eliminate the opponents
High precision gunplay
Alternating offense and defensive halves
An underlying economy mechanic
Credits: Valve
So yes, they’re different games which both sit in the Tactical Shooter Esport genre. On a side note, while Rainbow Six Siege may be considered to be in this genre, VALORANT and CS:GO are moreso similar due to elements such as economy.
Tactical Shooter Esports 2022 – Different Structures
With the gameplay discussed, let’s focus on the esports.
Starting with CS:GO, Valve has opted for a hugely popular approach, with third-party organizers. Accordingly, Valve coordinates with multiple high profile event organizers such as PGL, BLAST and ESL.
In addition, this allows for Majors to take place every now and then while other third party competitions take place with Valve’s underlying support.
Overall, the advantages of this approach is the incredible number of events filling the year to the brim, a consistent viewership and constantly developing competition.,
Credits: BLAST
On the other hand, being a massive difference, competitive VALORANT is focusing on a first-party aproach. Cradled by Riot Games, who are known for the franchised League of Legends, this approach will only grow with time.
For the past two years, Riot Games has organized the VALORANT Champions Tour. This is an open format event allowing the best teams from each region to try and compete for international dominance.
Moreover, events not organized by Riot Games are not given much attention, making most of the esport exclusive to the publisher.
Credits: Riot Games
In the coming future, there is a huge likelihood of franchising or a form of partnership program – this has been confirmed by Riot Games.
On a side note, both esports also make efforts to support female esports, though VALORANT’s may be viewed as more invested.
Esports Viewership – CS:GO Clearly On Top
Apart from viewing differences, we need to understand which esport is more popular. Accordingly, to do so, esports viewership is a commonly used metric.
Thanks to some statistics available by Esports Charts, we’ve listed the top three peak viewership statistics for both esports:
As viewable, CS:GO is currently leaps and bounds ahead of VALORANT. Naturally, it’s unlikely VALORANT would compete with fanbase for an esports of 10 years.
Bearing this in mind, a peak of 1,000,000 views is very impressive for VALORANT – imagine where the esport will be given enough time!
Photo by Andrzej Grygiel / PAP / AFP) / Poland OUT / EASTNEWS OUT
Tactical Shooter Esports 2022 – A Clear Conclusion
So overall, CS:GO esports offers a more stacked calendar with more events, higher prize pools and better viewership. However, VALORANT is only two years old and holds its own in ever department with a promising future – though pursuing a different esport structure.
Feel free to follow future CS:GO and VALORANT events here on esportsguide!
Adapting to your regional community is essential for esport. Accordingly, in North America, college esports is a growing phenomenon full of opportunity. Bearing this in mind, Riot Games announced plans for VALORANT Esports 2022 for this area – read on to learn more below!
VALORANT Esports 2022 – Exciting Plans
Details of the first ever College VALORANT Season, consisting of three tournaments across four server regions in North America. Read on to learn about our vision for the space, the season’s format, and see the RFP for interested operations partners. | https://t.co/A6KeFjm2gZpic.twitter.com/IcHrJde8Do
— Riot Scholastic Association of America (@RSAAOfficial) July 18, 2022
Credits: Riot School Association of America Twitter
Specifically, Riot Games is partnering with RSAA to develop CVAL – College VALORANT. Here are some details discussed in the press release:
Participants: open to school-based teams at colleges and universities in US and Canada
Structure: three open regional tournaments, fall winter and spring
Rewards: scholarship prizes at all tournaments
Accordingly, the season is planning to end with the Colleg VALORANT Championship. Inviting the top 32 schools from the entire region at a LAN finals event is truly a new height for collegiate esports.
Credits: Riot Games
Furthermore, in August more information will be shared.
However, it’s clear that Riot Games is making an investment. Apart from having a strong female VALORANT esports scene, Game Changers, this collegiate scene could help expand the esport further.
Targetting a younger audience, they look to be similar to an esport such as Call of Duty but improving on the shortcomings of the latter.
Certainly, there’s no better way to beat the summer heat than a live esports event broadcasted to the entire world. Indeed, bearing this in mind, there are a tonne of events taking place from know until the end of September. Accordingly, we’ve done some research – take a look at our top 5 esports events summer 2022!
Before progressing, do note that this is an opinionated list considering multiple factors. Anyways, let’s get started!
#5 – BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022
Credits: BLAST
Dates: 19th to 28th August
Venue: Offline (Location TBA)
Organizer: BLAST
Prize: $200,000
Starting our list is none other than a premier CS:GO event. Specifically, the Tier 1 esports is known to have a small break in August for players and organizers.
Accordingly, the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022 will be an epic comeback for competitive CS:GO after this break. This could involve testing new roster changes, arising new winners for the season and upsets left and right.
Also, BLAST continues to host incredible events for competitive CS:GO – this one looks to be different with the best teams in the world competing for qualification into the subsequent Fall Finals event in November.
While the previous event kicks off the action from a break, the CDL Championship Weekend 2022 is the essential post-season event for competitive Call of Duty.
Indeed, the top 8 franchised teams from the Call of Duty League will be qualifying based on season points and hoping to cement themselves in the history books. As the peak of a competitive season, Champs is recognized for its viewership, moments and competitive intensity. All of this is celebrated by the huge prize pool which teams are playing for.
Furthermore, the winners earn rings and write themselves permanently as the best team of the entire season – in this case, CoD Vanguard.
Stay up to date with Call of Duty here on esportsguide!
#3 – RLCS 2021-22 World Championship
Credits: Psyonix
Dates: 4th to 14th August
Venue: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth
Organizer: Psyonix
Prize: $2,085,000
Continuing with this train of thought, the RLCS 2021-22 World Championship is a similar kind of event. However, planning to be a little more epic and narrative, thanks to a longer format, the event ranks higher for us.
In particular, the very best international teams for competitive Rocket League will fight to be named the best – a huge total of 24 teams will be competing offline for the $2,000,000 prize pool.
Considering the international appeal of competitive Rocket League, we’re expecting huge viewership, an epic return to the offline stage with an awesome crowd and surreal plays – the only way to end a season of effort!
Check out the tournament page here on esportsguide!
#2 – VALORANT Champions 2022 – Esports Events Summer 2022
While Rocket League remains a growing prospect, competitive VALORANT continues to cement itself and climb to a Tier 1 status.
Under the watchful eye of Riot Games, the second year of competitive VALORANT has brought with it an impressive amount of growth, community interaction and hence, we’re super excited for VALORANT Champions 2022.
Inviting the very best teams from across the entire world, VALORANT Champions this year looks to improve over last year, which was already an incredible event, in order to end Year 2.
Doing so, Riot Games has once again opted for a long format which really helps drive up the hype and makes the event incredible viewable thanks to matches being spread out properly.
Check out the tournament page on esportsguide here.
#1 – PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2022
Credits: Tencent
Dates: 11th to 13th August
Venue: Riyadh Boulevard, Saudi Arabia
Organizer: KRAFTON/Tencent Games/ESL/Gamers8
Prize: $2,000,000
Topping our list is perhaps a surprising event. Not necessarily the top event of the season, this event is a celebration of competitive PUBG Mobile and mobile esports.
Heading into each PUBG Mobile event, we need to respect the support the esport gets from across the world, especially regions such as South East Asia and Indonesia. So much so, last year the event pushed over 1,000,000 peak viewers and hence, we can’t wait to see how this event looks to push the boundaries for mobile esports.
Also, the incredible prize pool of $2,000,000 also looks to crank things up a notch to a level we’ve never seen before.
Stay up to date with competitive PUBG Mobile here on esportsguide!
Other Events
Credits: Krafton
To conclude, here are some honorable mentions taking place this summer:
We’ll be sure to provide viewership details for the top events this summer and even afterwards! As a note, remember that the likes of Worlds (LoL) and The International 2022 (Dota 2) kick off in October.
It’s been an incredible start to the ongoing VCT Stage 2 Masters event. Accordingly, kicking off last Sunday, both Groups are nearing completion. Indeed, VCT Masters Copenhagen Day 2 had some ridiculous surprises – read on to learn more!
VCT Masters Copenhagen Day 2 – A Favourite Going Home
Time is a construct, VALORANT is forever. Day 3 Hype Film has dropped. Two teams go home today, and in a surprising turn of events, one of them will be @OpTic or @LOUDgg. Who will it be?!
Specifically, as evident in the title, there will be a serious upset early on.
Heading into this event, Group A was regarded as the ‘Group of Death’. Indeed, it has proved to be so but in a different way.
Instead, the favourites of LOUD and OpTic Gaming lost their opening games. Meanwhile, over in Group B, the results have been somewhat more predictable following yesterday’s results:
FunPlus Phoenix vs Xerxia (2-1)
KRU Esports vs Guild (1-2)
Bearing this in mind, all the attention is on the Elimination Match between LOUD and OpTic Gaming. Accordingly, placing first and second at the first Masters event of the season, this will send one packing as soon as possible.
Day 2 of #VALORANTMasters Copenhagen was full of intense action as the first Playoff squad gets locked in!
Moving into Day 3, the Group B Winners’ Match between DRX and FPX will also take place which will surely shape up the second place seed. Otherwise, the only team cemented in the Playoffs so far is Guild.
We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with further updates of the event!
Before yesterday, there was one spot remaining for VCT Masters Copenhagen 2022. Accordingly, one seed remained from the LATAM vs BR Playoffs. Indeed, we now know that KRU Esports has earned the final spot – read on to learn more!
VCT Masters Copenhagen 2022 – Returning Back
Teníamos que perder PARA VOLVER A HACER HISTORIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
LATAM ACÁ TENÉS TUS MERECIDOS DOS CUPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS
Specifically, the Playoffs involved the two second place teams from the LATAM and Brazil regions. Moreover, this meant that Ninjas in Pyjamas from Brazil and KRU Esports from LATAM went head-to-head in a BO5 match.
Taking place offline in Buenos Aires, the match wasn’t all too close. Overall, KRU Esports shut down NiP with a convincing 3-0 sweep.
For those unaware, KRU Esports is known for the incredible run at VALORANT Champions 2021 last year. Surprising everyone and taking down massive teams, they finished 3-4th at the most important event of the year.
Credits: Riot Games
Considering they’re back for Copenhagen. everyone’s excited to see them play again especially since they haven’t made a single change to the roster since back then.
As of right now, we’re awaiting the announcement of the Groups which will give everyone an idea of who’s most at risk of not making it to the Playoffs stage.
Changes are coming to VALORANT esports. Specifically, the notion that VALORANT franchising is likely on the horizon has the community both concerned and excited with valid reasons. Accordingly, in this episode of State of the Community we’ll be discussing this controversial idea below!
VALORANT Esports – An Incredible 2 Years
Before we progress, we need to discuss where competitive VALORANT has arrived. Following two years, the competition is about to fire up with VCT Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen next week.
A new era of VALORANT Esports is coming in 2023. Today we want to share a preview of our vision for the future of competitive VALORANT. Watch out for more details and info later this year. https://t.co/cffyX1yo7Vpic.twitter.com/Y4khgC6IU6
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 28, 2022
So much so, considering the global situation, this will actually be the first ever international event for VALORANT esports featuring a live crowd. Overall, the title looks to be in a great spot, as evident in the peak viewership statistics below:
Considering these numbers are comparable to Tier 1 esports, VALORANT continue to climb as inspired by Riot Games. Beyond simply numbers, there are also a few more things VALORANT is doing great:
Global distribution and spread of opportunities – international events such as Copenhagen feature teams from an array of regions such as EMEA, NA, Korea, LATAM, Brazil, Japan, SEA and APAC. Furthermore, broadcasting is done in multiple languages too.
A focus on female representation and esports – the Game Changers events are the highest quality of competition for female athletes in esports.
Multiple small regional leagues permit for a viable Path to Pro to allow for new talent to enter the scene.
Credits: Sentinels
Bearing this in mind, is there even the need for change – let’s discuss this further below!
VALORANT Franchising – Reason for Concern
Specifically, the announcement which drew all the attention was what Riot Games’ mentioned in their 2023 Format Reveal press release. With regards to ‘New Leagues for the World’s Top Teams’ the following was stated:
Want more to watch? You got it. In 2023, we’re introducing entirely new premier-level leagues that will see the best players in the world compete in international competition for spots at our global events.
By creating regular competition that spans multiple regions, we expect to see some new rivalries that span global borders. Teams at this level will be long-term partners of the VALORANT esports ecosystem, and fully invested in creating the best fan experience possible.
While this is painted wonderfully, why is the community concerned? Well, there are multiple reasons, all to do with exclusivity related with franchising as outlined in the following concise points:
Restricting team entry – moving away from an Open format, allowing any random team to try compete with the region’s best and surprise the community takes away this very exciting and organic element to competition
Difficulties with roster changes – with official franchised teams, roster changes will be more difficult to execute considering the buyout costs and the regulated contracts
Reducing third party event organizers – oftentimes, due to the restrictions of a franchise, third-party organizers are not involved and separate events from the franchised league become rare
Indeed, these are some of the implications of a multi-million dollar league structure.
VALORANT Franchising – Reason for Excitement
Credits: Riot Games
However, there are also the benefits to consider for the esport. The following are a few advantages to consider for the esport and the community:
Player and team safety – for an agreed fee, your favourite teams will always be competing. Also, avoiding notions such as relegation
Player security – across a franchised leagues, professional players benefit from standardized contracts and also cuts from winnings to allow for a stable income and career
A structured approach – while third party events may decrease, the presence of a dedicated event series for lower tier competition provides an official guide for new talent to grow
Growth is possible depending on marketing and sponsorship
Indeed, what’s more, is that the most successful franchises in esports have been thanks to Riot Games. Indeed, this is exemplified by the League of Legends franchises. Bearing this in mind, it’s likely that any franchising for VALORANT will be thought out and well organized.
VALORANT Franchising – Is It Too Soon?
Credits: Riot Games
Indeed, after all these points, do we think it’s too soon?
No, definitely not. Remember, the Overwatch League for example, was started only a year after Overwatch was released!
Accordingly, with 2 years of experimenting and avoiding the former global situation, VALORANT esports is in the best spot for expansion. Also, with Riot Games at the helm.
We’ll be sure to stay up to date with any updates!
Indeed, that time of year is finally here for competitive VALORANT. Specifically, the VCT Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen event will be bringing a taste of international competition. Read on as we list the confirmed seeds for this exciting event!
VCT Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen – Starting Next Week
We are excited to share that #VALORANTMasters Copenhagen will be the first international Masters event to feature a live audience!
Accordingly, all regional competition for the event finished last weekend. Indeed, the following teams have booked a flight to Copenhagen below:
EMEA Challengers
Fnatic
FunPlus Phoenix
Guild Esports
Korea Challengers
DRX
North America Challengers
XSET
OpTic Gaming
APAC Challengers
Paper Rex
XERXIA
Japan Challengers
Northeption
LATAM Challengers
Leviatan
Brazil Challengers
LOUD
TBD – LATAM vs BR Playoffs
Credits: Riot Games
With some new names and some familiar, this looks to be an incredible event. Accordingly, the event kicks off on 10th July and will run up to 24th July.
Also, a live crowd will be present in the offline Copenhagen studio.
Otherwise, heading into the event we’ll be sure to keep you updated with regards to viewership. Beyond prize pool, note that teams are also competing for Points to help them qualify for Champions later this year.
Will North America return or will international surprises continue? We’ll have to wait and see at the first international LAN with a crowd!
Currently, all the competitive VALORANT regions are competing to earn seeds at the Copenhagen Masters event. Accordingly, the VCT EMEA Challengers event has already qualified two teams for this event – read on to learn more about the seeds!
Heading into the VCT EMEA Challengers event, there are three seeds on the line for the Copenhagen event. Naturally, the best teams in the world will make it as they try to earn world dominance.
Anyways, so far in the bracket, we’re deep in the competition with only 4 teams left. Specifically, two teams have confirmed spots in the top 3, earning spots to the Masters event.
Namely, we’re referring to the likes of Guild Esports and Fnatic.
Overall, Fnatic is no surprise considering how incredible their recent roster change was and the level of competitive VALORANT they’ve been playing.
However, Guild Esports is certainly a surprise. Having never qualified for an international event, they’re hitting a new form and reaching an unexpected ceiling.
The two final teams competing for the final spot are FunPlus Phoenix and M3 Champions. Both being phenomenal teams, the match looks to be incredible.
Accordingly, the VCT 2022 NA Stage 2 Challengers event is halfway there. Indeed, there are only 8 teams left from the original 12. Bearing this in mind, we have a small preview to enjoy before the main event kicks off below!
VCT 2022 NA Stage 2 Challengers – The Final 8
Challengers Playoffs are right around the corner! 👀
Here is everything you need to know about North America’s VCT Stage 2 Challengers Playoffs. #VCTNA
— VALORANT Champions Tour NA | #VCTNA (@valesports_na) June 14, 2022
Indeed, apart from the $200,000 on the line, there are also 2 seeds on the line for the next Masters event 2022.
Here are the teams that have made it from the Group Stage below:
FaZe Clan
100 Thieves
XSET
OpTic Gaming
NRG
Luminosity
Yet, they don’t all have equal footing in the final double elimination bracket. Depending on the performance in the Group Stage, teams have been seeded as follows:
