This year's VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Kickoff signaled a direction change for the partnered teams. This became apparent when T1, second-placed roster in the VCT 2025 Pacific Kickoff, won the Valorant Masters Bangkok despite the odds favoring G2 Esports, the VCT 2025 Americas Kickoff champion.
Now that we know how the teams play out, we can make some early predictions for Stage 1. This may also apply to the succeeding splits, but not the Masters and Champions tournaments.
What is the VALORANT Champions Tour?
VCT is the official tournament ecosystem of the popular tactical-FPS shooter, VALORANT. It consists of four main tournaments:
- VALORANT Champions Tour (Tier 1)
- VALORANT Challengers League (Tier 2)
- VALORANT Ascension (teams from VALORANT Premier League)
- VALORANT Game Changers (women and marginalized genders)
The Tier 1 leagues include the Kickoff, two Stages, two Masters, and one Champions tournament. Stages are the regular season games to determine who goes to Masters, and each comes with a playoff format for the top 4 teams of each region.
Each Masters tournament gives qualified teams Championship points to qualify for Champions. For example, if T1 doesn't qualify for Masters 2 but keeps their top seed for their region, they have a high chance of qualifying for Champions. To be the VALORANT world champion for the year, they must win the Valorant Champions 2025, which will take place in Paris, France.
VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 Schedule
What Teams are Participating in VCT 2025?
Teams participating in VCT 2025
Forty-eight teams are participating in this year's VCT. The majority of the teams are the "partnered" teams that Riot Games signed back in 2022 after Champions Istanbul. Meanwhile, some teams came from the Ascension League.
Here are the 48 partnered teams:
1) VCT Americas
- G2
- Sentinels (SEN)
- Cloud 9 (C9)
- Evil Geniuses (EG)
- KRU Gaming (KRU)
- Made in Brazil (MIBR)
- LOUD
- FURIA Esports (FUR)
- 100 Thieves (100T)
- Leviatan (LEV)
- NRG
- 2GAME Esports (2G)
2) VCT EMEA
- BBL Esports (BBL)
- Fnatic (FNC)
- FUT Esports (FUT)
- Karmine Corp (KC)
- KOI
- Natus Vincere (NAVI)
- Team Heretics (TH)
- Team Liquid (TL)
- Team Vitality (VIT)
- Gentle Mates (M8)
- GIANTX (GIA)
- Apeks
3) VCT China
- EDward Gaming (EDG)
- All Gamers (AG)
- Bilibili Gaming (BLG)
- FunPlus Phoenix (FPX)
- JD Gaming (JDG)
- Nova Esports (NOVA)
- Titan Esports Club (Titan)
- Trace Esports (TE)
- TYLOO
- Wolves Esports (WOL)
- Dragon Ranger Gaming (DRG)
- XLG Esports (XLG)
4) VCT Pacific
- DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM)
- DRX
- Gen.G Esports (GENG)
- Global Esports (GE)
- Paper Rex (PRX)
- Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ)
- T1
- TALON (TLN)
- Team Secret (TS)
- ZETA DIVISION (ZETA)
- Nongshim RedForce (NS)
- BOOM Esports (BOOM)
Teams to Watch in VCT 2025 Stage 1
Out of the 48 teams, some stand out. While I'm basing this on how they did during the Kickoff and Masters Bangkok events, there is still an element of bias involved with some teams.
So, without further ado, here are the teams to watch out for in VCT 2025 Stage 1.
VCT Americas
Sentinels 2025 roster
- G2 Esports - While G2 came from the Ascension League, they have already played in a professional setting many years ago. This incarnation is probably the best version of the team and it shows. Their second place finish in Masters Bangkok is the highest placement for an Ascension team. As for their game, I think they have a solid strategy in map picks like Pearl and Lotus especially for their defensive sides. Couple that with good utility usage, and we have ourselves a powerhouse team.
- Sentinels - This Sentinels team is not the one that came back from the ashes last year. Two of their star players, TenZ and Sacy, have since retired and acquired N4RRATE and bang as replacements. What makes SEN a team to watch out for this year is how they switched up the role of their in-game leader, johnqt. That alone is already a lot of impact. With that change, they also adapted quickly to a possible new meta with Tejo (the new Agent released days before Kickoff). We may see a Champions run for SEN this year if they keep this up.
VCT EMEA
Team Vitality 2025 roster
- Team Vitality - VIT has shown the best VALORANT in the EMEA region since the Fnatic and Team Liquid days. Sure, Team Heretics revived the region's vitality by reaching the Grand Finals of last year's Champions (where they lost to EDward Gaming) but it is VIT that kept that fire burning. Sayf and Derke are the 1-2 combo that EMEA should keep in check.
- Team Liquid - This is probably the resurgence of TL after ScreaM and Nivera left the team in 2022. Having nAts as the in-game leader proved to be the best decision for the team. Their 5th - 6th place finish in Master's Bangkok is an indication of things to come for TL.
VCT China
- EDward Gaming - This is the only one from VCT China that everyone should watch out for. They have been a force to be reckoned with since their first international appearance in 2022. If you have watched any matches from VCT China, you'll know why EDG stands out from the rest. A 3rd place finish in Masters Bangkok after winning Champions 2024 is still a feat no other team in VCT partnership history has accomplished.
VCT Pacific
DRX exiting Masters Bangkok
- DRX - I call DRX the VALORANT equivalent of the Netherlands football team. They always come on top of the region but never reach the top of the world. While I am certain that they will have a challenging Stage 1 due to T1's win in Masters Bangkok, DRX is still one of Pacific's threats.
- DetonatioN FocusMe - DFM is Japan's top team this season. I admittedly am a ZETA DIVISION fan but DFM's upset over Paper Rex in Kickoff showed some hope for this Japanese squad. I don't think they will progress much in Stage 1 but I am predicting they will do better than ZETA.
- T1 and Gen.G - I'm putting them together since they seem to me like two peas in a pod... and they did take 2nd and 3rd place in Kickoff. The two Korean powerhouses have shown the world how Asians play VALORANT with stellar results: Gen.G won Masters Shanghai (2024) and T1 won this year's Masters Bangkok.
With these teams in mind, we are officially entering VCT 2025 with high expectations and unparalleled excitement.