First major VALORANT offseason event could move up the roster change timeline

For many VALORANT teams, the offseason after the first VCT season of the partnership era is a long one, with many having to wait months to play again. But some teams will be competing at some of the bigger official OFF//SEASON events, meaning there’s a chance that roster moves could be made sooner than later.

Look no further than 100 Thieves, who have been named as the first team to be invited to the Red Bull Home Ground tournament in Tokyo this November. 100T missed out on going to Tokyo earlier this year after a late-season slump and an upset loss to MIBR in the final week of VCT Americas cost them a chance at the playoffs and at Masters Tokyo.

The 100T roster that attends Tokyo for Red Bull Home Ground might not be the same one that competed during the VCT Americas season. General manager Daniel “ddk” Kapadia and the organization parted ways at the end of the 2023 season, leading many to believe that roster changes could come too following a significant management change.

Related: 100 Thieves VALORANT parts ways with general manager ddk, signaling impending rebuild

It was an earlier significant management change that led to a major roster overhaul when ddk first joined. Back in March 2022 after a poor start to the VCT season that year, Nadeshot brought in ddk and coaches Sean Gares and Mikes to take over and rebuild from the ground up. The gamble paid off as the team went on an incredible run at the 2022 NA LCQ to reach Champions before earning a partnered spot in VCT 2023 and signing duelist superstar Cryocells.

Given how well a rebuild went for 100T last time around, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Nadeshot opt to start over once again. 100T is reportedly looking to scale back when it comes to player salaries next year, which could line up easily with roster moves.

100T are also the defending champions of Red Bull Home Ground, but their dominant performance last year caused the team’s expectations to balloon, even though the event was played on a patch that didn’t reflect the massive impending meta shift away from Chamber. 100T weren’t the only team to debut a new roster at Red Bull Home Ground, with Cloud9, Team Heretics, and Vitality all doing the same (Liquid would have too if not for visa issues).

The 2022 event was unique, though, given it was occurring before the start of the partnership era. But some of the previously mentioned teams didn’t reach Masters, Champions, or even their own region’s playoffs last year. Considering this could be the only event where tier-one teams face off before VCT 2024 starts, these teams have a good excuse to make changes now.