VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: Masters Tokyo will be Valorant’s second global international this year. Following the conclusion of regional leagues, rival teams are set for a brawl for a second time this season.
Masters Tokyo will feature double the prizepool of its predecessor VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, sitting at $1,000,000 USD.
As is a tradition, we put our Power Rankings forward a week ahead of the event. Let’s set some expectations and give our predictions to you.
VCT Masters Tokyo Power Rankings
1. LOUD
Loud are the undisputed favorites to take the top spot in Masters Tokyo. The team are the reigning 2022 Valorant Champions, and have consistently proven themselves this year, securing 2nd place in the 2023 VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, and recently dominating the Americas League. LOUD managed to finish the regular season in the Americas League almost undefeated, 8-1, and later went on to further prove their dominance with a 3-0 finish against NRG in the grand final to claim first place.
2. Fnatic
Fnatic come a close second place as they were the best team in the world earlier in the year, taking down LOUD 3-2 in the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo in the finals to claim the top spot. While Fnatic were very strong and managed to play consistently in the EMEA League, scoring a perfect 9-0 finish in the regular season, the team fumbled their grand final game, losing 1-3. While Fnatic are certainly a strong team, it is possible their mental may be lost after breaking their longtime winning streak.
Source: @Fnatic | Twitter
3. Team Liquid
Team Liquid had a rough start to the VCT EMEA League but quickly recovered as the competition progressed. This was expected as the team signed two top tier superstars, nAts and Redgar, who had to settle into not only a new team but a completely different region. With Team Liquid having found their form by recently taking down Fnatic in the finals in the EMEA League playoffs and finishing first, Liquid are set to be a strong global contender.
4. NRG Esports
Similar to Team Liquid, NRG had a shaky start to the Americas League which led many to initially doubt them. This was yet again expected as NRG completely remade their roster around star player s0m. The team quickly improved, recording a strong string of 2-0 wins in the later half of the regular season, including giving LOUD their only loss of the season.
5. DRX
While DRX are in the group stage, they rank over Paper Rex due to their overall exceptional performance in the 2023 VCT Pacific League. DRX were able to finish the regular season with only a single defeat, 8-1. The team had also finished top 4 in the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo and have proved themselves to be one of the strongest contenders globally.
Source: @DRX_VS | Twitter
6. Paper Rex
Paper Rex have great potential, but has demonstrated to be highly inconsistent despite generally having strong domestic performance. Internationally, PRX finished in the bottom half of the 2022 Valorant Champions event, and were knocked out in the first match of the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paulo, finishing 17-32nd. Domestically, the team ended the Pacific League regular season only behind DRX with a 7-2 record, but later went on to defeat DRX in the grand finals in an extremely close best of 5, ending in their favor 3-2.
7. Natus Vincere
Following a major roster overhaul, many continued to doubt NAVI early in the year given the team’s lack luster performance in 2022. However, NAVI proved doubters wrong by taking wins against top forces like Kru Esports, Team Secret and Leviathan in the VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paolo, before being knocked out by Fnatic to finish in the top 4. The team also performed strongly in the EMEA League, finishing a respectable 7-2, but had fumbled last minute with back to back losses in the playoffs
8. Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses had initially been written off at the start of the VCT Americas League due to their sub-par performance, dropping games to various low to mid tier teams.
EG barely qualified to playoffs, with many expecting them to drop out early on due to their tough opponents to come. Shocking fans all across the Americas League, they were able to make numerous achievements in the playoffs. The team against all odds managed to take down NRG in the upper bracket quarterfinals before sweeping Cloud 9 2-0 in the semifinals, and going on to take a map against LOUD, giving the eventual champions their only map loss in the playoffs. Evil Geniuses clearly have strong potential, and with Demon1’s “bald buff”, who knows what the team can achieve next.
9. FUT Esports
FUT were previously the top team in the 2022 Valorant Regional Leagues Finals and had finished in the upper half of the LOCK//IN in Sao Paolo. The team has also demonstrated to be a consistent upper mid-tier force in the EMEA League, with distinct wins and losses with no major upsets going either way. The team also most notably knocked out Natus Vincere in the EMEA League playoffs, a top contender for in league.
10. Edward Gaming
EDG had consistently been a top Chinese Valorant team with top 2 finishes in various domestic events since 2022. This includes their recent first place finish in the FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 2, where the managed to roll their opponents Bilibili Gaming in the grand finals 3-0. However, despite being strong domestically, they have struggled against international competition, effectively placing last in both the 2022 Valorant Champions and 2023 VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paolo.
Source: @EDG_Edward | Twitter
11. T1
T1 are a decent team in the Pacific League but are clearly weaker compared the other more prominent teams like DRX and Paper Rex. While they did give a challenge to DRX in the playoffs stage of the recent 2023 VCT Pacific League, bringing it to the full best of 5, the team had consistently dropped games against the top teams. While consistent, their lack of success against the best teams paint a poor outlook for the team in a competition that gathers only the best teams across the world.
12. ASE
While ASE were able to take down EDG for the top spot in the FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 1, their recent third placement in the following FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 2, and lack of experience in the global stage places them at a disadvantage compared to other teams.
Read next: VCT Masters Tokyo – Schedule, Teams & Info
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