Since the start of August, the VALORANT Champions 2024 has been hosted in Seoul, Korea. Taking place in two phases, the tournament has now reached the semifinal stage. The top four teams in Edward Gaming, Leviatan, Sentinels, and Team Heretics, will fight it out to crown a world champion, with a prize of $1 million to the winners of the event. In this article, let’s look at each remaining team and who can win VALORANT Champions 2024.
Edward Gaming: Third place
Image Credits: Riot Games
Edward Gaming’s appearance in the semifinals is one of the team’s most significant achievements. This is the first time a VCT CN team has been present in the semifinals. In their journey to the top, they have defeated Sentinels and Paper Rex. Going into this event, Edward Gaming was in the top 8 in our VALORANT Champions 2024 power rankings, and they have proved that prediction right. With their next opponent being Leviatan, they just need to win their match to qualify for the Grand Final.
The only thing against the team is that this is their first time in such a high-pressure situation. Even in VCT CN, they have been the team that dominates the league, winning each event from the region. If the team needs to win, they must focus on their post-plan strategies, as that is one area of their game where they are vulnerable on specific maps.
Leviatan: VALORANT Champions 2024 Grand Finalist
The other team in the Upper Bracket Final is none other than one of the fan favorites, LEVIATAN. Since the start of the tournament, there have been two teams that most believed could win this event: Gen G and LEVIATAN. They are the only team with two players previously winning VALORANT Champions, Erick “aspas” Santos and Corbin “C0M” Lee. The primary thing going for them is that they have had a near-flawless run during VALORANT Champions. The only team they lost to was Trace Esports.
Having players who have played and won this event works immensely in their favor. This is because they have been in these high-pressure situations. During his time at LOUD, Aspas won the event and made it into the top 3 multiple times. Currently, the team has one of the best strategies to allow the team to plant the spike. In their game against Edward Gaming, they are the clear favorites to win and qualify for the Grand Finals. Only time will tell if they can win the tournament for the first time in their organization’s history.
Team Heretics: VALORANT Champions 2024 Grand Finalist
Image Credits: Riot Games
The only one left from the VCT EMEA is Team Heretics. This team consists mainly of younger players such as Enes “RieNs” Ecirli
and Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukaševičius. This team was close to winning their first VCT international trophy during VCT Masters Shanghai. Sadly, they lost to Gen G in an incredible final. Going into the VALORANT Champions, they were termed the dark horses within the tournament. This was due to their ability to complete the reverse sweep in multiple best of 3 matches.
While having an incredible record in B03, this team faced many more issues in the B05 series. Their first match is against Sentinels, which, tactically, they are the favorites to win. Following that, they will have to face the loser from the Upper Bracket final. It must be stated that on sheer gunplay, this team is the best among the four teams left in the tournament. Will they be able to use this to their advantage or crumble at the very end? Only time will tell.
Sentinels: Fourth Place
Image Credit: Riot Games
If there was one team that symbolizes playing well but for vibes, it’s Sentinels. They are the most popular team left in the tournament. Like or hate them, each of their matches has been one of the most highly-viewed matches during the tournament. Their last match was a rematch of the first-ever VCT Masters Grand Finals against Fnatic. Within that match, Fnatic proved why they are one of the best teams in the world, but Sentinels showed why they have the mentality to be known as champions.
This season, the team won a VCT Masters trophy during VCT Masters Madrid. Tenz is the only player to have been a part of both the VCT Masters winning teams. Even in the match against Fnatic, Johnqt performed incredibly to help the team win that matchup. The only way Sentinels can defeat the likes of Team Heretics is if the game goes to the third match, with the first match going to overtime and the second one being dominantly won by Sentinels.