LOUD are currently the best Valorant team in the world having recently taken out first place in the 2022 Valorant Champions event. The team’s victory at VCT Champions left no room for doubt, especially with LOUD went nearly undefeated in the Playoffs stage, suffering only a single game loss against Optic Gaming in the finals.
Unfortunately not even a full month after their win, two of the five LOUD members were acquired by Sentinels, pANcada and Sacy.
LOUD – Roster revamp on a budget
Rumors emerged LOUD failed to offer Bryan “pANcada” Luna and Gustavo “Sacy” Rossi good enough offers to stay, resulting in the pair’s departure to Sentinels. This spelt disaster for LOUD, heading into 2023 with two big holes to fill. Given the team’s rumored budget constraints, it was unlikely they would be signing top important talent, leaving them a small pool of domestic talent in Brazil.
Recently, LOUD announced their starting roster for 2023, with the two new additions being Cauan “cauanzin” Pereira and Arthur “tuyz” Vieira.
Cauanzin came off the 2022 season with Ninjas in Pyjamas, the closest competitor against LOUD in the 2022 Brazil Challengers Stage 1 & 2 events. Tuyz on the other hand, failed to find success with TBK Esports earlier in the year, as they quickly became the underdogs of the VCT South America LCQ. They were only a single win away from qualifying for Champions. As the primary duelist for TBK Esports, Tuyz was instrumental in the team’s quick improvement.
With the new additions, LOUD are giving themselves enough time to boot camp and prepare for Kick-off, but it’s going to be a long road to replicate last season’s success.
Placing LOUD in the Power Rankings
Let’s figure out where this current roster fits in our overall Power Rankings. Cauanzin had been a very solid player year around, while Tuyz’s flexibility will allow the team to evolve to try maintain their current standing as one of Valorant’s best teams. Given the two new additions’ lack of experience in the global stage, LOUD may continue to dominate domestically, but struggle as international events roll around.
When compared to Sentinels’ 2023 VCT roster, LOUD seems relatively weaker. We may see a season long rivalry develop, especially when former teammates meet.
With only a limited number of teams chosen by Riot to take part in the new franchise model, we may see less domestic practice overall and a tougher times for teams to adapt and develop a unique style. We have to wait and see how these changes impact the teams with special playstyles and meta approaches.
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