If you've been following the VCT scene for more than a year, you know that the moment Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker showed up by joining Team Envy, it was never the same scene again. He is undoubtedly one of the most consistent and skilled players out there and helped his former squad become the highest earning team during VCT 2022. Until now, Cloud9 matches have not been the most watched team, but with yay joining the squad, we are pretty convinced that will change. | © Cloud9
ScreaM and Nivera are other players the whole scene has its eyes on. These two brothers will now be shooting the same headshots for Karmine Corp, with a slightly less experienced lineup than before. However, both are convinced that they will dominate the international Valorant scene, and the other teams are not ready for Karmine Corp. Alright, but what about their previous squad – Team Liquid, for whom they played for so long? Has the organization found a suitable replacement for them? | © Riot Games
Oh, absolutely, and it seems like it couldn't be better. Headshot brothers have been replaced with Igor "Redgar" Vlasov and Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin from Gambit Esports (also known as M3 Champions due to their win at Masters Berlin in 2021). As Team Liquid lost IGL due to ScreaM's departure, the fact that they just got Redgar in their roster is just fantastic. We haven't seen these players in a while, mostly due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and it will be good to see them coming back. With them, Liquid's roster really screams that this could be a fantastic time for Valorant eSports. | © Team Liquid
Speaking of Gambit Esports' previous lineup, we can't leave out Chronicle's new home, which is Fnatic. Chronicle was one of the best (if not the best) Initiator and Duelist players in the CIS region, and just like his former teammates, we haven't seen him in action for a while. His ability to really play any Agent and be so flexible with his playstyle is something unique, and we can't wait to see that in the upcoming VCT 2023 matches. | © Chronicle
And now a transfer that suggests the Sentinels will return to the top. 2022 was not a good year for TenZ and his teammates, and instead of victories there was a lot of drama and controversial decisions, such as the addition of Shroud to the lineup for the VCT Last Chance Qualifiers. But now, they will have two Valorant world champions in the squad – Gustavo "Sacy" Rossi and Bryan "pANcada" Luna from a previous LOUD roster. They will most likely player Initiator and Controller roles, and looking at the rest of the roster, it looks like they will surely win something this year. | © Sentinels
Speaking of world champions, here's another one and it's Mehmet "cNed" İpek from the victorious Acend squad from the first VCT Champions. He will be playing along the former FunPlus Phoenix players, another successful Valorant roster, who were the winners of VCT Copenhagen last year. All that under the banner of one of the biggest eSports organizations ever! cNed was often pointed out as the best Jett player in the EMEA region, and, well, when he held the world champion trophy, no one absolutely denied it. Let's see if he's still in such good shape! | © Natus Vincere
Lastly, a transfer that could be the icing on the cake for 100 Thieves. This organization has been going through all sorts of lineup changes all year, and it's what it was known for. At the end of the season, they managed to qualify for the VCT Champions through a Last Chance tournament and did it in a lovely style. With the addition of Cryocells from the previous XSET roster, many believe that 100 Thieves could be the dark horse of VCT 2023 and beat other flashy super teams. Honestly, looking at how Cryo represented his previous organization and combining that with 100 Thieves' recent matches, it seems like it will be hot. | © 100 Thieves
Riot changed the entire Valorant competitive scene in just a few months by introducing franchising, and no roster looks the same anymore. It also involves a lot of player transfers, and we've selected the most exciting ones to give you a glimpse of what to expect over the next few months.
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