VALORANT storylines and moments we wish had come true in 2023

As fans of VALORANT esports, we were spoiled by a captivating 2023 season that provided a fitting opening to the partnership era of VCT. We saw teams from all regions be competitive, including a rise to prominence from China, on a meta where no single agent or strategy proved overwhelming.

There was no shortage of great stories, and none better than the miraculous run by the Evil Geniuses roster. A team who looked dead in the water to start VCT Americas were resurrected by a crucial roster change and given a chance to compete internationally via the most thrilling of circumstances. A team that went from bottom of the barrel to overlooked, to underdogs, to villains, and finally to Champions.

It was certainly a great year. But that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have been better. Looking back, here are some storylines and endings that we wish had somehow come true.

Jinggg stays

As a fan of NA esports, I was thrilled watching the EG players and coach Potter lift the trophy, and privileged to see it happen in person. But my heart couldn’t help but ache for Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie, as he and Paper Rex fell just short of winning a world championship before he would step down to fulfill mandatory military service for Singapore.

Jinggg is one of the most talented and beloved players in all of VCT, especially by fans of both VCT Pacific and of course Paper Rex. Given that he’s so young, fans are hopeful that he will eventually make his return after he completes his service. It would have been great to see him become a world champion before he left, but it would have been even better if he didn’t have to go at all.

Fnatic caps off a flawless international year

A big talking point at this year’s League of Legends World Championship was JD Gaming and the “Golden Road,” with the Chinese team looking to become the first ever League team to win both domestic splits, MSI, and Worlds. But they weren’t the only esports team looking to complete a sweep this year, and they weren’t the only team to fall short.

While Fnatic missed out on a domestic title in VCT EMEA, the star-studded roster still had the opportunity to clean sweep all three international events this year, after holding on against a LOUD comeback in the LOCK//IN finals and dropping just a single map during their Masters Tokyo run. But despite a great start, Fnatic just couldn’t get past familiar foes LOUD, who beat Fnatic twice in playoffs to send them home.

You could still say Fnatic had the best overall 2023 of any team, but the biggest trophy of the year just slipped through their grasp.

Evil Geniuses’ victory isn’t ruined

The Evil Geniuses story had a perfect ending at Champions 2023. But sadly there were a few more pages left in the book, and the epilogue has really left a sour taste in the mouths of VALORANT fans. Weeks after their moment of glory, it was reported the players were told by EG they would have to take a significant pay cut if they wanted to stay with the organization and were also permitted to explore their options.

But even that proved to not be true, as EG reportedly shot down offers for Ethan, Demon1, and Boostio to be bought out. With the players still in contract jail, EG laid off several employees at the beginning of November 2023, after subjecting a “skeleton crew” of workers to crunch and unfair working conditions over the past two years.

At the time of writing, the players are still under contract with EG, but outside of a few rumors and reports, there’s really no telling where the players will end up. Sadly, it looks very likely the players and coaches who pulled off one of the most miraculous runs in esports history will stick together.