Best VALORANT teams yet to win an international trophy

The uncrowned best of the best, for now.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Compared to established esports titles like CS:GO and League of Legends, VALORANT is still relatively new as of the start of 2023, with only two full years under its belt and just starting its first year of what’s to be the long-term partnership model.

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With that being the case, only seven teams have won an international trophy during the VALORANT Champions Tour between 2021 and 2023, as of the conclusion of VCT LOCK//IN to kick off the 2023 season. Fnatic lays claim to the most recent trophy, and arguably had the strongest case to be sitting on top of this list had they not been held off a furious comeback attempt from LOUD in the grand finals.

Whether it’s the team or the players themselves that count as the trophy winner is entirely up to you. Technically NAVI has never won a trophy, but all five current players have won a trophy before, and the same can be said for most of NRG.

However there are a number of talented teams in VALORANT with players and an org that haven’t won, but ones that will try to continue the trend of there being a new team to lift a trophy at each international VCT event.

Best VALORANT teams who haven’t won an international VCT trophy

DRX

Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

With Fnatic claiming victory in Sao Paulo at VCT LOCK//IN, DRX takes the top spot amongst teams still to lift a trophy. The kings of Korea have been to six straight international events between their time as Vision Strikers and DRX, and have come closer and closer to the grand finals with each tournament.

The team boasts arguably the world’s best controller player in Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan, who’s stalwart defensive presence as a tried and true site anchor is favored against any attacking side. DRX also fields and elite duelist/initiator combo in Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu and Kim “stax” Gu-taek. Their resilience is also notable; in the past two events, they’ve come incredibly close to coming all the way back from an 0-2 series deficit in two separate occasions.

Paper Rex

Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games

Paper Rex is one of the most exciting VALORANT teams in the world to watch, and their electric style of play has put Southeast Asia on the map. Their most recent two performances have been a little lackluster, but their 2022 breakout showings at Masters Reykjavík and Copenhagen were splendid.

The team has always brought a fun approach to VALORANT overall, either with their aggressive in-game play style or their silly pre-match antics led by captain Benedict “Benkai” Tan. Paper Rex fields a dynamic controller player of their own in Aaron “Mindfreak” Leonhart.

Leviatán

Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Leviatán is a thrilling team out of Latin America, one that is embodied by their resilience and sheer amount of playmaking across the roster. Like Paper Rex they came on strong in 2022, but like DRX they have been seemingly playing better and better with each tournament.

The LATAM roster fields one of the most clutch players in the world in Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena, who seems to thrive even more when the team plays on Haven, and appears to be able to play any role reliably well. And on a day where kiNgg and duelist Vicente “Tacolilla” Compagnon are on fire, Leviatán certainly looks like trophy contenders.

100 Thieves

100 Thieves' VALORANT roster grouped together.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

After a reset at the start of 2022, and another just a few weeks later, 100T was able to catapult back into international relevance by the end of the year. They reached Champions 2022 via the NA LCQ, looked dominant in their first event with Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban at Red Bull Home Ground, and reached quarterfinals at LOCK//IN.

Similar to the other teams on this list, they have a terrific player at controller Sean “bang” Bezerra. Additionally, while still only 19 years old, Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk has a tremendous amount of international experience and is a great flex option. Once Cryocells gets more acclimated to the post-Chamber meta, 100T should be back to title contention.


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Author
Scott Robertson
VALORANT lead staff writer, also covering CS:GO, FPS games, other titles, and the wider esports industry. Watching and writing esports since 2014. Previously wrote for Dexerto, Upcomer, Splyce, and somehow MySpace. Jack of all games, master of none.