The off-season of 2023 gave LOCK/IN some original storylines, some super-teams, and a new champion to begin the year with.
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The VALORANT ecosystem has been drastically altered by the start of a new year and a new franchised league, which has seen the entry of some new teams and brands into the top esports division. The off-season of 2023 gave LOCK/IN some original storylines, some super-teams, and a new champion to begin the year with.
The top five VALORANT teams of 2023 are listed below, starting with the inaugural tournament LOCK/IN and continuing through the regular season. This post will be updated to reflect the conclusion of major competitions, but as of the time of writing, this list is valid as of April 30, 2023. Not only has the league’s first LAN tournament been completed, but teams from all over the world are also well along in the process of qualifying for Masters Tokyo.
Here are the top five starting lineups for VCT 2023, listed in descending order.
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In black and yellow attire, the former FunPlus Phoenix team has rejoined the Ukrainian organizationIn spite of the fact that the team is experimenting with its composition by frequently using agents like Gekko, they have had a strong start to the regular season regionally. NAVI is undoubtedly a top-four VALORANT team given their knowledge of the game and ability to compete internationally, even though they are currently only sitting below Fnatic in the standings.
NAVI. Mehmet “cNed” Pek, a significant free agent signing, will become a member of the team in November 2022 and will make up 4% of the entire roster. In a single-elimination tournament, NAVI seemed to be one of the strongest teams that Fnatic eliminated. They beat everyone they faced up until they were beaten by the eventual champions.
Cloud9 has shocked everyone and emerged as one of the favorites in the Americas League despite roster changes that occurred between LOCK/IN and the regular season. Despite having some highlights during their LOCK/IN run, including Erick “Xeppaa” Bach’s Pearl performance against Paper Rex, they ultimately lost to DRX, another team on this list. Even with the departure of both star player Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker and former captain Anthony “Vanity” Malaspina, they suffered a close 2-1 loss, and it appeared that their regular-season fortunes were in decline.
However, after signing Jake “Jake” Anderson and Dylan “Runi” Cade, Cloud9 barely went through a rebuilding phase and started to succeed right away. The only loss for Cloud9, who have the best record of any North American organization, was to the LOCK/IN finalists in LOUD. The two new additions, who were discovered by Matthew “mCe” Elmore, have blended in almost perfectly, especially now that Runi is the in-game leader.
In 2021 and 2022, DRX was regarded as a dominant regional team that failed to compete against teams from other countries. However, the curse was broken and DRX came in third at Champions towards the end of 2022. They kept getting better into 2023, rising to the occasion with their semi-final showing at LOCK/IN.
However, it is DRX’s regional performance that elevates them to the second-best team of 2023 so far. In four games against formidable opponents from the Pacific region like Paper Rex and ZETA DIVISION, the team hasn’t conceded a map. They are currently 10-1 overall, and it appears that the team is maintaining its reputation as a fantastic regional team despite moving to the more difficult Pacific competitive region. DRX’s ability to maintain its position is yet to be seen, but for the time being, they are a deserving second.
A little less impressive than the LOCK/IN finalists, but not because of anything they did. After winning a championship, LOUD surprised everyone by making some roster changes and sending two of their players to the Sentinels, a local rival team. Even after adding some new Brazilian players, the team continued to play like the LOUD of 2022, making a strong run to the LOCK/IN championship. They came close to winning as well, finishing the five-map series 3-2 down.
They have also performed admirably locally, going undefeated but losing some unexpected maps in the process. Why then did I fall to third place? Because it appears that the team that nearly defeated them in the semifinals of LOCK/IN is only getting better.
This should not come as a surprise given that the best team in 2023 so far, VALORANT, pulled off one of the greatest comebacks on a single map to win their first world championship. After a nearly faultless tournament where they finally won their trophy, the team in the EMEA region has maintained its form into the regular season.
Emir “Alfajer” Beder, one of their key players, was unable to play at the beginning of the season, but their sixth player Maks “Kamyk” Rychlewski has surpassed all expectations. Fnatic is also almost unbeatable in their region, having lost just one map while going 5-0 in series victories. It’s up to them to maintain their position as VALORANT’s top team going into the new season.
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