This article is about the 16 teams from around the world that will compete in the 2023 Champions League in Los Angeles, California
Champions 2023, the biggest Valorant event this year, will feature 16 teams from the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. Not only does this Champions event include Chinese teams for the first time, but 17% of the representatives are also from China, the highest of any region (source: liquidpedia).
The LAN tournament will take place in Los Angeles, California, from August 6, making him the first champion in North America. Before the most important Valorant competition starts, let’s learn about all the participating teams.
America’s teams in the Champions League 2023
Four teams from the Americas region have been selected for Champions 2023, three of them from Champions League and KRÜ from LCQ. This is the first time we are seeing only two North American teams in the Champions League.
Evil geniuses
Credit: Riot Games
- Kelden “Boostio” Pupello (IGL)
- Ethan “Ethan” Arnold
- Alexander “jawgemo” Mor
- Corbin “C0M” Lee
- Max “Demon1” Mazanov
- Christine “Potter” Chi (Head Coach)
EG are no longer holding their title of “underdog” as they have already proven themselves to be one of the best teams in the world with Masters run Tokyo. Instead, they will be the favorites, not only between themselves and NRG from North America, but also among almost all global teams.
NRG
- Pujan “Finesse” Mehta (IGL)
- Sam “s0m” Oh
- Austin “bumps” Roberts
- Victor “Victor” Wong
- Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks
- Chet “Chet” Singh (Head Coach)
While this core is far from its glory days, being one of the best drivers in the game, FINESSE gives this team an edge, not to mention their vast experience in S-tier competition like this. Additionally, seeing the duo of Victor and Crashies in action at another Champions event is a bold highlight.
loudly
- Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro (IGL)
- Erick “blades” Santos
- Felipe “Less” Basso
- Cauan “cauanzin” Pereira
- Arthur “tuyz” Vieira
- Daniel “fRoD” Montaner (Head Coach)
From being the American League champion to a disappointing 0-2 outing at the Tokyo Masters, LOUD has had some ups and downs so far this year. However, the 2022 Champions League winners are not a force to be messed with as this Brazilian side can take on any team in the world.
KRÜ Esports
Credit: Riot Games
- Marco “Melser” Amaro (IGL)
- Angelo “keznit” Mori
- Santiago “Daveeys” Ruiz
- Juan Pablo “NagZ” Lopez Miranda
- Nicholas “Klaus” Ferrari
- Jorge “Atom” Noriega (Head Coach)
The Chileans had a completely different look at the LCQ of the Americas compared to their winless performance in the Regular Season, as they secured the Champions League with an unbeaten 5-0 trip against names like Cloud9. Their sudden change of pace has been one of the many Cinderella stories we’ve seen this year.
EMEA teams in Champions League 2023
Thanks to Fnatic’s victory at the Tokyo Masters, EMEA received an additional spot in Champions 2023, resulting in 5 teams from the region making it to the event. While the rest of the EMEA teams are currently in the shadows of Fnatic, names like Liquid and NAVI can still make waves at this LAN.
Fnatic
Credit: Riot Games
- Jake “Boaster” Howlett (IGL)
- Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev
- Emir “Alfajer” Beder
- Leo “Leo” Jannesson
- Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov
- Jacob “mini” Harris (Head Coach)
Fnatic are, without a doubt, the best team in the world right now, making them the ultimate favorites to win Champions 2023. The EMEA team started their year hot with the LOCK//IN trophy and then added another global victory to their list at the Tokyo Masters. Fnatic winning the Champions League will make history as they will then take home all three trophies of the VCT International Tournament.
Team Liquid
- Igor “Redgar” Vlasov (IGL)
- Dom “soulcas” Sulcas
- Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen
- Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin
- Saif “Sayf” Jibril
- Emil “eMIL” Sandgren (Head Coach)
Team Liquid was the only roster that was able to beat Fnatic this year, and it was in the grand finals of the EMEA League. Although their run at the Tokyo Masters was nothing short of impressive, this squad is made up of global winners, making them one of the favorites in the Champions League.
FUT Esports
- Nipi Furkan “MrFaliN” (IGL)
- “My” cherry breasts
- Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban
- Put “qw1” Falcon
- They “THEY CAPTAIN” Tan
- Eray “GAIS” Sarikaya (Head Coach)
FUT’s first year as an exclusive team has been remarkably good compared to many other teams, as the Turks secured tickets to both the Masters and the Champions League through their impressive run in the EMEA League. Although they are not among the favorites, they can certainly be counted as a dark horse in this event.
giants
- Emir “rima” Muminovic (IGL)
- Adolfo “Fit1nho” Gallego
- Žygymantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas
- Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas
- Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin
- Daniil “pipsoN” Mesheryakov (Head Coach)
The giants secured the EMEA League Playoffs through a strong regular season run, but failed to secure a Masters spot. Thankfully, they were able to make it to Los Angeles through the LCQ, where they defeated NAVI 3-0 in the grand final.
Born to win
- Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov (IGL)
- Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky
- Pontus “Zyppan” Eek
- Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin
- Mehmet “cNed” Yağız İpek
- Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (Head Coach)
This roster is made up of some of the most talented names in the EMEA region and they produced great results in this year’s League regular season. However, NAVI’s performance took a hit in the Playoffs, where they barely made it to the Tokyo Masters, only to leave with an 0-2 record. The champs will be their chance to get back to a good spot as a roster.
Pacific Teams in Champions League 2023
Of the four Pacific teams in this tournament, Paper Rex are considered the strongest thanks to their outstanding year so far, having brought Russian star Ilya Petrov “something” into the lineup.
Letter Rex
Credit: Riot Games
- Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto
- Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee
- Aaron “The Weird Mind” Leonhart
- Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie
- Ilya “something” Petrov
- Alexandre “alecks” Sallé (Head Coach)
With Russian player something, Paper Rex made 2023 their best year yet, winning their first Pacific League. Even with the star player losing at the Tokyo MastersThe Singaporeans did quite well with their replacement. Now, with their full strength and roster, they will be a strong force in California.
DRX
- Kim “stax” Gu-taek (IGL)
- Goo “Rb” Sang-min
- Kim “Zest” Gi-seok
- Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu
- Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan
- Seon-ho “term” Pyeon (Head Coach)
The former Kings of the Pacific region had quite a good run in the regular season of the Pacific League. However, their performance didn’t continue after that amid the transition between their 6th player and Zest.
T1
- Son “line” Seon-ho (IGL)
- Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom
- Joseph “ban” Seungmin Oh
- Ha “Iplayer” Jung-woo
- Lee “Carpe” Jae-hyeok
- Yoon “Autumn” Eu-teum (Head Coach)
After switching regions from North America to South Korea, T1 have found tremendous success, but not enough to write their name in history. Bringing a massive upset to the Champions League will be their chance to draw more eyes to the talented roster.
ZETA DIVISION
Credit: Riot Games
- Koji “Laz” Ushida (IGL)
- Tomoaki “the crow” Maruoka
- Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto
- Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe
- Tent “TENNN” Asai
- Hibiki “XQQ” Motoyama (Head Coach)
While ZETA, unfortunately, lost the Masters event that took place in their country, they made it to the Champions thanks to LCQ wins. This team has shocked the world in the past, and they have the ability to do it again in Los Angeles.
China’s teams in the Champions League 2023
This is China’s first appearance at a Champions event. Chinese rosters debuted at LOCK//IN, but Masters Tokyo was the event that cemented China’s name in Valorant through the incredible EDward Gaming Cinderella was running.
Edward Gaming
Credit: Riot Games
- Guo “Haodong” Haodong (IGL)
- Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi
- Wang “nobody” Senxu
- Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang
- Zhang “Smoggy” Zhao
- Lo “Pas” Wen-hsin (Head Coach)
It’s clear that the top team from China, EDG, made a name for themselves through an incredible upset at the Tokyo Masters, where their star player ZmjjKK, also known as KangKang, declared himself as a new hero to root out. Based on their performance in recent events, EDG are not only the strongest from their region, but also one of the favorites on the global stage.
Bilibili Gaming
- Lei “Yosemite” Wang
- Zhong “Biank” Jian Fei
- Li “rin” Lewei
- Wang “whz” Haozhe
- Liu “Knight” Yuxiang
- Wang “JeXeN” Linxiao (Head Coach)
This will be BLG’s debut on a global stage, as we haven’t seen them at either LOCK//IN or the Masters. While expectations are pretty low for this up-and-coming team, we should prepare for some upsets.
FunPlus Phoenix
- Zhang “BerLIN” Bo-lin (IGL)
- Zhang “AAAAY” Yang
- Tang “TZH” Zhehao
- That “WudiYuChEn” Cai
- Huang “Yuicaw” Yung-chieh
- Deng “NaThanD” Senqiao (Head Coach)
FPX has yet to win a single global match as a Chinese team, and they have only played one international LAN match at LOCK//IN. While not the strongest team we have from China in this tournament, FPX have shown potential in their regional games.
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