The last chance for teams to make their mark in the VALORANT professional scene this year will take place less than one week from now. Learn more about VALORANT Champions 2021 by the numbers.
READ MORE: Road to VALORANT Champions – viewer’s guide
Country Representation
Except for the Philippines, the other 17 participating countries have raised their flag in one of the two prior Masters events. Brazil once again has the most representation in Berlin. They were also among the highest in country representation in the past two Masters.
| Brazil – 13 | Canada – 3 |
| United States – 11 | Japan – 3 |
| Thailand – 10 | Finland – 3 |
| South Korea – 8 | Poland – 2 |
| Philippines– 5 | Belgium – 2 |
| Russia – 5 | Turkey – 1 |
| Chile – 4 | Croatia – 1 |
| United Kingdom – 4 | Czech Republic – 1 |
| Argentina – 3 | Ukraine – 1 |
(Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
Notable players who have professional Counter-Strike background prior to VALORANT:
Shahzeeb “ShahZaM” Khan from the United States is on the list. The 28-year-old has a lengthy list of prior teams with whom he has played in Counter-Strike. Some of his accomplishments include making the FACEIT Major London 2018 playoffs with compLexity Gaming.
Seon-ho “xeta” Son, who hails from Asia, is one of the high-profile players who also made the switch to VALORANT. He formerly played with MVP.PK and China’s TYLOO. He had the chance to compete in IEM Katowice 2020, one of the last major Counter-Strike tournaments staged before the pandemic took control.
Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom is the most recent addition to the VALORANT elite echelon. Formerly a member of Team Vitality as their sixth player, he still had the potential to be one of the greatest in Counter-Strike based on his most recent performance, but he chose to join the side of Team Liquid with his elder brother, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom in VALORANT. In an interview with Dexerto, the Belgium player said that he is making this career change out of choice rather than necessity. It will also mark his international debut, since the 20-year-old has never participated in any offline competitions throughout his stint in Counter-Strike.
| 🇺🇸 ShahZaM Current: Sentinels Previous notable teams: Cloud9, Complexity | 🇰🇷 Rb Current: Vision Strikers Previous notable teams: MVP.PK | 🇺🇸 Xeppa Current: Cloud9 Previous notable teams: Chaos EC, Cloud9 |
| 🇺🇸 SicK Current: Sentinels Previous notable teams: Complexity | 🇰🇷 k1Ng Current: Vision Strikers Previous notable teams: MVP.PK | 🇺🇸 vanity Current: Cloud9 Previous notable teams: Chaos EC |
| 🇺🇸 dapr Current: Sentinels Previous notable teams: eUnited | 🇯🇵 neth Current: Crazy Raccoon Previous notable teams: Ignis | 🇬🇧 L1NK Current: Team Liquid Previous notable teams: Vexed |
| 🇨🇦 TenZ Current: Sentinels Previous notable teams: Cloud9 | 🇹🇭 foxz Current: X10 Esports Previous notable teams: Lucid Dream | 🇧🇪 ScreaM Current: Team Liquid Previous notable teams: Titan, G2, Kinguin |
| 🇨🇦 FNS Current: Envy Previous notable teams: CLG | 🇵🇭 DubsteP Current: Team Secret Previous notable teams: Mineski, RRQ | 🇫🇮 Jamppi Current: Team Liquid Previous notable teams: ENCE |
| 🇺🇸 yay Current: Envy Previous notable teams: Complexity | 🇵🇭 BORKUM Current: Team Secret Previous notable teams: TNC Pro Team | 🇧🇪 Nivera Current: Team Liquid Previous notable teams: Team Vitality |
| 🇺🇸 Victor (food) Current: Envy Previous notable teams: eUnited | 🇵🇭 Dispenser Current: Team Secret Previous notable teams: Mineski, RRQ | 🇧🇷 xand Current: FURIA Esports Previous notable teams: INTZ, Yeah |
| 🇧🇷 heat Current: Keyd Stars Previous notable teams: Red Canids | 🇵🇭 witz Current: Team Secret Previous notable teams: Bren Esports | 🇹🇭 JohnOlsen Current: FULL SENSE Previous notable teams: Lucid Dream, Beyond |
| 🇬🇧 Boaster Current: Fnatic Previous notable teams: exceL Esports | 🇺🇸 leaf Current: Cloud9 Previous notable teams: Chaos EC | 🇹🇭 PTC Current: FULL SENSE Previous notable teams: 5POWER, 7642, Lucid Dream |
| 🇰🇷 stax Current: Vision Strikers Previous notable teams: MVP.PK | 🇰🇷 xeta Current: Cloud9 Previous notable teams: MVP.PK, TYLOO |
(Photo courtesy of HLTV)
Returning Teams:
Sentinels, KRU Esports, and Crazy Raccoon are the only teams who have continuously qualified in three of this year’s three major VALORANT competitions.
Returning from Masters 2: Reykjavik: Sentinels, Team Liquid, Fnatic, Vikings, KRU Esports, Crazy Raccoon, X10 Esports
Returning from Masters 3: Berlin: Gambit Esports, Acend, Sentinels, Envy, KRU Esports, Keyd Stars, Vision Strikers, Crazy Raccoon
(Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
Ten of the Highest ACS in Champions (according to VLR.gg):
| Player | Team | ACS |
| 🇹🇷 Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek | Acend | 277.7 |
| 🇧🇷 Leonardo “mwzera” Serrati | Keyd Stars | 276.3 |
| 🇨🇱 Angelo “keznit” Mori | KRÜ Esports | 271.7 |
| 🇧🇪 Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom | Team Liquid | 269.0 |
| 🇺🇸 Tyson “TenZ” Ngo | Sentinels | 262.1 |
| 🇺🇸 Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker | Team Envy | 254.9 |
| 🇹🇭 Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong | X10 CRIT | 251.4 |
| 🇫🇮 Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev | Fnatic | 251.1 |
| 🇹🇭 Kititkawin “PTC” Rattanasukol | FULL SENSE | 249.6 |
| 🇺🇸 Nathan “leaf” Orf | Cloud9 Blue | 247.7 |
(Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
VALORANT Champions Tour – Challengers across Asia
| VCT Stage 1 – Masters | Korea | Vision Strikers |
| Japan | Crazy Raccoon | |
| SEA | X10 Esports | |
| VCT Stage 2 – Masters: Reykjavik | Korea | NUTURN Gaming |
| Japan | Crazy Raccoon | |
| SEA | X10 Esports | |
| VCT Stage 3 – Masters: Berlin | Korea | Vision Strikers, F4Q |
| Japan | ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon | |
| SEA | Bren Esports, Paper Rex |
(Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT Esports/Riot Games
