All VALORANT teams qualified for VCT Masters Tokyo

Following VCT LOCK//IN, there will only be one tournament where the top VALORANT teams in the world will face off in international competition prior to Champions: Masters Tokyo.

Like the LOCK//IN, teams will be fighting and competing to aid their respective region, with an extra Champions-bound slot for their region’s Last Chance Qualifier on the line. But some teams will be playing for themselves as well; with four EMEA teams in attendance, the three that place the highest will also be qualifying for Champions, while the three respective teams from Americas and Pacific have already qualified for Champions.

The official tournament format has not been announced for Masters Tokyo, but we do know that 12 teams will compete: four from EMEA, three from Americas, three from Pacific, and two teams from China.

All teams qualified for VCT Masters Tokyo

• DRX (Pacific)
• Paper Rex (Pacific)
• T1 (Pacific)
• Attacking Soul Esports (China)
• EDward Gaming (China)
• Fnatic (EMEA)
• Team Liquid (EMEA)
• FUT Esports (EMEA)
• NAVI (EMEA)
• LOUD (Americas)
• Evil Geniuses (Americas)
• NRG Esports (Americas)

DRX

The kings of Korea dominated the Pacific league as many expected them to, going 8-1 in the regular season and winning against Team Secret in the upper bracket semifinal to secure a Masters Tokyo spot and a Champions 2023 spot.

World-class controller player Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan led the league in player rating, according to VALORANT stats site VLR, finishing the group stage near the very top in both K/D rating and KAST (kill, assist, survive, trade) percentage.

Paper Rex

After four weeks of the VCT Pacific season, Paper Rex were sitting in the middle of the table at 2-2. But a one-sided loss to DRX at the halfway point woke something up in the team considered an international contender last year, and Paper Rex closed out the season with five straight wins. Paper Rex notched three 2-0 wins in their last three matches, then pulled off another 2-0 win vs. T1 in the playoffs to secure a Masters Tokyo spot and a Champions 2023 spot.

The two-headed monster in Ilya “something” Petrov and Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee led the way for Paper Rex, with both players finishing in the season in the top five in K/D, while midseason addition something ended up with the highest clutch win percentage of any Pacific player.

T1

Just like Paper Rex, T1 were at 2-2 at the halfway point of the VCT Pacific season and suffered a massive loss (to Gen.G rather than DRX) that sparked something in the roster filled with decorated former Overwatch League stars. They won four straight to qualify for the playoffs and beat Gen.G not once but twice in crucial rematches in the playoffs, earning the final Pacific spots for Masters and Champions via the second match.

T1 have been propelled by the two players who honed their craft in NA: duelist Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo and initiator/controller Son “xeta” Seon-ho. Sayaplayers was one of the most highly rated duelists of the regular season, keeping pace with the Paper Rex sensation something.

Attacking Soul Esports

During the first act of the Chinese FGC VALORANT Invitational, Attacking Soul Esports nearly threw away a 5-0 group stage showing with an immediate upper bracket loss that sent them down to the lower bracket. But ASE went on another run, winning three straight in the lower bracket before defeating EDward Gaming in the grand finals.

It was a former EDward player who gave life to ASE: Qu “Life” Donghao was a top player in player rating, ACS, K/D, and opening duel win percentage.

EDward Gaming

EDward Gaming might be the one team from China with the most international recognition, having competed at both Champions 2022 and the VCT LOCK//IN. Still, China is seeking its first win at an international event and EDG have the unfortunate distinction of falling short at three of the four attempts so far.

EDG thrived during the FGC event, not losing a single series until the grand finals of the playoffs, having already qualified for Masters at this point. The duo of Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang and Wan “CHICHOO” Shunzhi were the leaders of this team.

Fnatic

During their qualifying match for VCT Masters Tokyo on May 24, Fnatic showed why they are the best team in Europe with two of the most-lopsided wins against FUT Esports. They only dropped three rounds over the last two games to earn their spot in the tournament.

The defending LOCK//IN champions are hunting for greater success, especially after only dropping a single game during the regular season, showing perfect team play and superheroic individual efforts from their star-studded roster. With at least four players in the EMEA’s top-five for ACS and KDA, Fnatic’s firepower is unstoppable, their chemistry is unbreakable, and the hype train is chugging along.

Team Liquid

Team Liquid faced Natus Vincere on May 24 and beat cNed and crew to secure their spot at VCT Masters Tokyo. Liquid stayed calm on the defending side of Bind after losing the first half 8-4, and thanks to a nAts’ masterclass (14-5 K/D on the defensive side), they won their map pick 13-11.

Despite all the confidence from the comeback, Liquid had a slow start once again on Split, and NAVI won eight rounds in the first half again, this time as attackers. Liquid, however, took control of the scoreboard with a great 5-0 run on the attacking side and NAVI couldn’t fight back. This time, it was Sayf who fueled Liquid’s recovery to win 13-10, as he got 15 frags and died just five times in the second half.

LOUD

One of the best-performing teams in VCT Americas has finally earned its place in Tokyo, with LOUD picking up the pace against FURIA for a swift 2-0 victory to book their ticket to Masters. With a combo of star power and young guns looking to make a name for themselves, this Brazilian firecracker of a roster will be a surefire favorite when the tournament begins.

Over the season, superstar Erick “aspas” Santos racked up the highest ACS of any player in the league along with the second-most kills and the most kills per map, according to VLR.gg. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Felipe “Less” Basso has performed incredibly well, playing as one of the best lurkers in the league with the fourth-highest ACS and fifth-most kills this season.

The volume is definitely being raised in Tokyo later this summer when Masters begins in June.

Evil Geniuses

The Cinderella story continues for one of North America’s most-surprising teams. With a dominant 2-0 victory over Cloud9 on May 24, Evil Geniuses have become the perfect example of one small change leading to massive results as they have snatched a spot at Masters.

Related: ‘We needed a bit of a change’: How EG turned around its 2023 VCT season

EG started off as a relatively overlooked team with only a single match win over the first half of the season. But after introducing rookie prospect Max “Demon1” Mazanov into the lineup, they’ve looked like one of the best rosters in the region. The 20-year-old currently leads his team with a sky-high 226 ACS, as he slotted in perfectly with the roster and its gameplans.

The only problem for this team heading into Tokyo, however, is that Demon1 won’t be able to travel to Tokyo to play with the squad this June. His absence will surely have a huge impact on the way this team performs moving forward and could heavily affect their chances at the tournament.

FUT Esports

We officially have a Turkish squad making it to Tokyo. Thanks to the extra spot that EMEA got from Fnatic winning the LOCK//IN tournament earlier this year, there are four teams from the region making it to Tokyo, which means that only two of the six teams in the EMEA playoffs won’t be playing internationally.

Their deciding match in the lower bracket to make it was against Team Vitality, and it was no easy feat. After getting the series lead on Split with a 13-9 victory, Vitality fought right back with a 13-9 win of their own on Haven. Yet, thanks to a great performance from Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban, Lotus swung right back to FUT. A 13-6 map led to the 2-1 series win and a spot in Master Tokyo.

NAVI

The last EMEA team to make it in is NAVI, the consistent second-place team in the region since LOCK//IN. Despite taking a bump to fall into the lower bracket, their solid 2-0 win over Giants Gaming secured their spot in Tokyo.

The series was closer than it seemed, thanks to two back-to-back 13-9 map scores on both Pearl and Ascent. However, the experienced core was able to fight it out to make it to another international competition. Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin in particular stood out, thanks to a 46-kill performance on both Killjoy and Cypher.

NRG Esports

Rounding out the team list for Tokyo is NRG Esports, who snuck through with a memorable 2-1 series win over Cloud9 in VCT Americas. NRG would enter the playoffs with a 6-3 record, outright third behind Cloud9 who sat second at 8-1.

Both C9 and NRG fell to EG in the upper bracket, meeting after wins over Leviatán and FURIA. Both teams would steal each other’s map pick leaving just Haven to decide who would book their tickets to Japan. NRG would win out in the end with a thrilling 14-12 overtime victory behind 23 kills from Victor Wong.