The Valorant Champions circuit for the 2024 season has already been unveiled to the public eye. As the hype is going up, here’s everything you need to know about the VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff!
Start date
The VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff will begin on Feb. 16 and it will conclude on Mar. 2. The teams will be playing in an offline competitive environment in Los Angeles, United States.
Format
The VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff will follow a format with three stages: group stage, play-ins, and playoffs. Here’s a brief look at all of them:
Group Stage
The first stage will divide the eleven teams into three groups. While Group A and Group B will have four rosters each, Group C will only have three.
The format used in the group stage will be a double-elimination bracket with BO3 matches. The winner of each group will qualify for the playoffs, while the second-placed team will move to the play-in stage.
Unfortunately, the groups haven’t been unveiled yet. However, we expect Riot to release an announcement any time now! We will update this article as we get more information about the state of the groups.
Play-In
The play-in will have three rosters and only the best one will qualify for the playoffs. All of the matches will be BO3 games.
Playoffs
The four remaining teams will be put in the final bracket, where Group A’s first seed will play against the play-in winner. Meanwhile, Group B’s first seed will play against Group C’s first seed. The winner of each match will qualify for the Masters Madrid.
Teams
Heading to the 2024 season, we can now confirm that the VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff will have eleven teams. Here’s a brief look at all of the squads in the tournament:
Evil Geniuses
Although Evil Geniuses’ situation inside the esports industry is uncertain, nothing can’t change the reality: we’re talking about the current Valorant Champions winner.
With the departures of four of their five players, Alexander “Jawgemo” Mor is the only world champion remaining in the squad. Can the American organization replicate its past success?
LOUD
The Brazilian-majority squad is one of the best Valorant teams in the world. After finishing in first place in the VCT 2023 Americas League, the green roster collected a Top 8 finish at the Masters Tokyo and a Top 3 finish at the Valorant Champions 2023.
Since the team’s last performance, the organization added Gabriel “qck” Lima to the roster as they replaced Erick “aspas” Santos.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:br Felipe "Less" Basso
- #flag@20:ar Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro
- #flag@20:br Cauan "Cauanzin" Pereira
- #flag@20:br Arthur "tuyz" Vieira
- #flag@20:br Gabriel "qck" Lima
NRG
Despite finishing in second place in the VCT 2023 Americas League and reaching the Top 4 in the Masters Tokyo, NRG’s disappointing performance at the Valorant Champions 2023 was followed by three roster moves.
As Austin “crashies” Roberts and Victor “Victor” Wong were the only ones to be kept from last season’s team, NRG added the former Evil Geniuses duo of Max “Demon1” Mazanov and Ethan “Ethan” Cole and the former Sentinels member Jimmy “Marven” Nguyen.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:us Austin "crashies" Roberts
- #flag@20:us Victor "Victor" Wong
- #flag@20:us Max "Demon1" Mazanov
- #flag@20:us Ethan "Ethan" Cole
- #flag@20:us Jimmy "Marven" Nguyen
Cloud9
Cloud9’s current roster was completed in Sep. 2023 with the return of Anthony “vanity” Malaspina and the signings of Francis “OXY” Hoang and Maxim “wippie” Shepelev.
Since the team’s announcement, Cloud9 have competed in multiple off-season tournaments with their best result being first place at the TEN Valorant Global Invitational.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:us Erick "Xeppaa" Bach
- #flag@20:us Jake "jakee" Anderson
- #flag@20:us Francis "OXY" Hoang
- #flag@20:us Anthony "vanity" Malaspina
- #flag@20:ru Maxim "wippie" Shepelev
Leviatán
Heading to the 2024 season, Leviatán decided to invest in players from the United States while keeping their Latin American spirit. In Oct. 2023, the Brazilian Erick “aspas” Santos and the American Ian “tex” Botsch were followed by the signing of the current world champion Corbin “C0M” Daniel to complete the team’s roster.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:cl Francisco "kiNgg" Alberto
- #flag@20:cl Roberto "Mazino" Francisco
- #flag@20:br Erick "aspas" Santos
- #flag@20:us Ian "tex" Botsch
- #flag@20:us Corbin "C0M" Daniel
FURIA Esports
Despite playing at the VCT 2023 Lock-In in São Paulo, FURIA Esports’ 2023 season was underwhelming. The team missed out on the Masters Tokyo and the Valorant Champions 2023, which led the organization to make three roster changes heading to the new season.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:br Khalil "Khalil" Schmidt
- #flag@20:br Leonardo "mwzera" da Silva
- #flag@20:br Ilan "havoc" Eloy
- #flag@20:br Vitor "kon4n" Hugo
- #flag@20:br Felipe "liazzi" Galiazzi
Sentinels
Sentinels have shown signs of improvement recently as they won the Afreeca TV Valorant League in December after beating Paper Rex twice, DRX, and Team Liquid.
While the Americans are still far away from the organization’s best results in Valorant, the fans hope to see an improvement from the current roster. So far, so good.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:us Zachary "zekken" Jude
- #flag@20:br Bryan "pANcada" Vinicius
- #flag@20:us Gustavo "Sacy" Henrique
- #flag@20:ca Tyson "TenZ" Van
- #flag@20:ma Mouhamed "johnqt" Amine
100 Thieves
During the last half of 2022 and the first months of 2023, 100 Thieves looked like they were cooking.
However, despite the team’s international appearances at the Valorant Champions 2022 and the roster’s Top 8 finish at the VCT 2023 Lock-In in São Paulo, 100 Thieves finished in eighth place at the VCT 2023 Americas League.
The organization started 2024 with the news of the signing of the current world champion Kelden “Boostio” Elric, which excited the fans. But, will it be enough?
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:us Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk
- #flag@20:us Sean "bang" Christian
- #flag@20:us Matthew "Cryocells" Dylan
- #flag@20:ca Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic
- #flag@20:us Kelden "Boostio" Elric
MIBR
Although MIBR is massive in other esports like CS2 or Rainbow Six Siege, the Brazilian powerhouse is still far away from the top positions in Valorant. The organization is hoping to improve its ninth-place finish at the VCT 2023 Americas League in the upcoming month.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:br João "jzz" Pedro
- #flag@20:br Leandro "frz" Gomes
- #flag@20:br Matheus "RgLM" Rodigoli
- #flag@20:br Arthur "artzin" Araujo
- #flag@20:br Matheus "mazin" Araújo
KRÜ Esports
Sergio “El Kun” Agüero’s esports organization is far from the team that led the South American community during the 2021 season. Although Nicolás “Klaus” Martín is the only remaining piece from the team’s sweetest moment, the Argentinian will try to lead the pink roster to new heights.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:ar Nicolás "Klaus" Martín
- #flag@20:cl Marco "Melser" Eliot
- #flag@20:cl Angelo "keznit" Mori
- #flag@20:cl Nicolás "mta" González
- #flag@20:cl Fabián "Shyy" Patricio
G2 Esports
Following The Guard’s win at the Ascension League, G2 Esports picked up the roster to join the VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff. The news came two months after having dropped their previous Valorant roster.
While it’s difficult to predict how G2 Esports will do in its first season, the team’s huge fan base expects nothing but victories in Valorant’s esports circuit.
Expected lineup:
- #flag@20:ca Jonah "JonahP" Pulice
- #flag@20:us Michael "neT" Bernet
- #flag@20:us Trent "trent" Cairns
- #flag@20:us Jacob "valyn" Batio
- #flag@20:us Nathan "leaf" Orf