The 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour season is over, but there’s been no rest for dedicated VALORANT fans. Riot has officially revealed the 30 partnered teams for its international leagues beginning in 2023, and the offseason/free agency period has gotten off to a fast start.
So many fans are looking forward to 2023, and it’s hard to blame them. But before we do, let’s take one last look back at the world championship that was the culmination of a landmark year for VALORANT esports.
Here are our five key takeaways from VALORANT Champions 2022.
Pearl is a great addition to the VALORANT map pool
Having a new map is refreshing, but only if it’s both captivating and balanced. Thankfully, Pearl seems to fit that mold without doing anything too drastic. It’s a traditional map: two sites, no dynamic elements or gimmicks, set in a unique location. Players are already finding fun ways to make special plays, like Jinggg’s ingenious Raze ultimate from B Link to B Long.
It’s time to move away from the Chamber meta
After the Patch 4.09 and 5.03 updates that nerfed all of Chamber’s abilities, the agent saw a considerable but not drastic decrease in overall usage rate. From Masters Copenhagen to Champions 2022, his overall pick rate dropped from 77 percent to 67 percent, and his rates on both Bind and Ascent dropped notably as well.
Let’s make one thing clear: there’s no such thing as a Chamber crutch at this level. Players like yay and Derke are not considered the best because of Chamber, but it would be really fun to see some of the teams with the best mechanical players who excel with an aggressive playstyle find new ways to play. After future Chamber nerfs occur, which are definitely happening, these teams will need to make these serious changes to survive.
VALORANT isn’t lacking in global star power
Speaking of names like Jinggg, Yay, and Derke, there’s no denying that VALORANT esports is stacked with star power from all regions. The Americas, EMEA, and Pacific leagues next year will not be lacking in talent, especially with partnered organizations calling to pick up players playing under teams that didn’t get in.
Some of these teams might not stay together next year
An exciting end to Champions and a new beginning for VALORANT esports is all well and good, but for some organizations and players, it might be the end of the road. A staggering number of top teams from around the world did not make partnership, namely OpTic, FPX, and XSET, among many others.
We’ve already seen these organizations move their players to the transfer window, and there’s no guarantee that the rosters in their most recent state will stay together. Even teams that did make partnership like Cloud9, Fnatic, and T1 are already considering changes, too.
LOUD’s world title makes the Sao Paulo kickoff a can’t-miss
After falling behind earlier this year, LOUD ended up winning their year-long rivalry with OpTic in the best way: back-to-back wins to clinch just the second VALORANT world championship and the first international title for Brazil.
Fittingly, they will take the trophy home and get to display it proudly in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the VCT 2023 kickoff tournament, a multi-week event featuring all 30 partnered teams. In future VCT years, the first split of the VCT international leagues will run instead of the kickoff tournament, but there’s no better way to start the new era of VALORANT esports than with a massive event in the reigning champ’s backyard.
VALORANT, esports, VALORANT Champions Tour, Pearl, map pool, Chamber meta, global star power, teams, LOUD, Sao Paulo kickoff