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Trent and vayln touching hands in VCT
Photo via Riot Games
Category:
Valorant

New guard? G2 VALORANT will start VCT Americas run in same group as KRÜ, Evil Geniuses

A long-awaited first match for the Ascension-winning players.
Image of Nadine Manske
Nadine Manske
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Published: Jan 30, 2024 03:03 pm

G2 Esports, the newest team in the VCT Americas league, will finally have their initiation into the tier-one circuit next month with a match against KRÜ Esports—and, if they win, Evil Geniuses.

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A tumultuous offseason saw many changes in the VALORANT Champions Tour, from individual players adjusting their contracts to league-wide format changes that affect every facet of the VCT in 2024. Among the two most notable storylines from the offseason were the transition of the Ascension-winning The Guard roster to G2’s management and EG losing nearly all of its Championship roster from last year.

The Guard's valyn and coach JoshRT celebrate a victory on stage at VCT Americas Ascension.
The Guard’s players will now represent G2. Photo via Riot Games

VCT Ascension was introduced last year as a new pathway for organizations and players to gain entry into the main VCT leagues. The winner of VCT Ascension Americas was The Guard, but the team infamously missed the deadline to fulfill Riot’s team agreement, leaving the players with few options. Eventually, G2, a well-established org that had failed to make the original round of VCT partnership, signed four of the five Ascension-winning players, giving them a second chance.

Now, the roster of G2, which includes the four former The Guard players plus former Cloud9 player Nathan “leaf” Orf, will begin their first season as a team in the VCT Americas league next month. The league will begin with a Kickoff tournament instead of rotational weekly play, starting the year with high-stakes matches.

G2 was shuffled into Group C of the Kickoff bracket alongside KRÜ Esports and 2023 VCT Champions EG. As the winner of Champions in 2023, EG received a bye out of the first double-elimination bracket round.

The groups for the first tournament in VCT Americas for 2024.
The luck of the draw. Image via Riot Games

G2’s opening matchup against KRÜ should be an exciting affair. While G2 have faced adversities in the past year, KRÜ have become known as one of the most unpredictable teams in the VCT after making it through to Champions last year in the VCT Americas LCQ. The surprise upset left Leviatán and leaf’s former team, C9, out of Champions.

If G2 get through KRÜ, they’ll have to face EG. Though this sounds like an incredibly tough matchup—the newest team in the league against the reigning world champions—EG look nothing like the team that lifted the trophy last year in Los Angeles. With just their coach and one former champion player remaining, the expectations for EG are up in the air.

G2 will play their first VCT Americas match on Feb. 18 at 4pm CT.

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Author
Image of Nadine Manske
Nadine Manske
Nadine is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She covers VALORANT and Overwatch with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region and marginalized genders in esports. Before joining Dot Esports as a freelance writer, she interned at Gen.G Esports and the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her favorite Pokémon is Quagsire.