Several pro VALORANT teams look great this offseason, but be wary of preseason hype

A very busy VALORANT offseason, which still hasn’t sorted out all the starting rosters for next year, has already produced some interesting must-watch rosters. Despite this, last year should be a reminder that pre-season hype doesn’t mean a thing when VCT 2024 starts.

One team that really stood out was Cloud9, in part due to how much game and screen time they had during the official 2023 OFF//SEASON. Over the past month and a half, they’ve been on a worldwide tour, going from San Jose to Busan to Tokyo to Colombia, facing teams from all three international leagues.

While they eventually ran out of steam at Superdome 2023 in Colombia, the team performed well across their entire run, but the standout performance came from young duelist OXY. His playmaking abilities and mechanical skill caught the attention of everyone watching, and he’s clearly not afraid of facing against the top teams; I saw him bouncing in his chair between rounds at Red Bull Home Ground. With OXY being so skilled with both Jett and Raze, it also opens the door for C9 to have a lot of more flexibility with their agent comps.

C9’s global tour came to an end at the hands of both FURIA and Leviatán, and while both teams played well at Superdome, it was Leviatán who easily turned the most heads. Exceptional play is nothing new for aspas, who picked up where he left off after leaving LOUD, dominating on the duelist role. Tex has integrated well into the team, but kiNgg put on a Viper masterclass across the tournament that stole the show.

Across the VCT ecosystem, several other teams put on noteworthy performances as well. New in-game leader Redgar led Giants to a Crossfire Cup victory, Fnatic looked as great as always at Red Bull Home Ground, and Sentinels went undefeated at their own tournament.

Hype can be hard to resist. Already, I’ve seen fans talk about OXY like he’s a shoe-in for rookie of the year, while some have pegged Leviatán to win Masters Madrid. But last year proved that preseason hype doesn’t always mean regular season success.

The best example of this is 100 Thieves, who ran through the competition at last year’s Red Bull Home Ground, but their performance declined throughout the 2023 season, resulting in them missing the VCT Americas playoffs and making a quick exit from the LCQ. Cryocells faced difficulties throughout the season due to a dip in his own personal performance and the team struggling to set him up for success.

The other top four teams at Red Bull Home Ground 2022 also struggled in 2023; that version of Cloud9 didn’t last past LOCK//IN, Vitality limped into the EMEA playoffs and were quickly dispatched by Liquid, and KRÜ went 0-9 in the regular season and only played well all year in the LCQ.

This isn’t to say OFF//SEASON results mean nothing, just that they don’t translate to guaranteed success in VCT. It’s going to be an even longer season next year, and as Evil Geniuses proved, it’s not always the teams that look the best right away that end up becoming champions.