VALORANT Champions 2021 looking for its first world champion
Starting on December 2, VALORANT Champions 2021 will begin in Berlin, Germany. Teams across the globe will compete for the coveted prize and the title of the first-ever VALORANT global champions.
The VALORANT Champions tournament comprises 16 of the finest teams from throughout the VCT, with twelve teams receiving direct invites based on the number of circuit points they achieved during the regular season, and the last four teams claiming their spot in the event via last-chance qualifications.
The North American team Sentinels is one of the teams already confirmed for the global championship after winning Masters 2: Reykjavik and earning enough circuit points to avoid missing out.
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CIS giants Gambit received a straight entry after winning the VCT Masters Berlin competition in September. While Cloud9 Blue secured the last spot and joined Sentinels and Team Envy as the region’s representatives in Berlin after winning North America’s last-chance qualifier.
The tournament will begin with a double-elimination group stage, with eight teams progressing to the single-elimination knockout stage.
Team Envy wants to win it all
Team Envy plans to break their own mold in order to bring home the VALORANT Champions Tour trophy.
Although they haven’t won tournaments like Sentinels or Cloud9, team Envy qualified for Champions as one of the North American teams due to their consistency. Envy’s finest finish thus far has been at Stage 1 Challengers 2, when they finished first in NA.
After losing to Gambit Esports in the grand final at Masters Berlin three months ago, the team remains optimistic for the Champions.
“There are just going to be days that you just don’t play your best, and it just happened that, for us, it was against Gambit in the final,” said Envy’s Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker. “Now that we have a lot more practice and know more about them going into this next tournament, we are much more prepared.”
Pujan ‘FNS’ Mehta, Envy’s hit shot-caller also admitted he didn’t perform up to his expectations on that match. “I’ve been on the team since the start of the year and we had some significant roster changes,” FNS said. “Being able to make those changes but still being able to win consistently is good to see, especially heading into Champs.”
Each member of the squad reacted differently to the defeat, but they all knew the season was far from finished with the Champions just around the corner.
While winning Champions couldn’t match their prior achievements, FNS stated he is looking forward to the challenge of defeating the world’s best athletes.
Sentinels unknown future in the Champions
Former 100 Thieves in-game leader Joshua ‘Steel’ Nissan believes the Sentinels are at risk of not making it out of their groups at VALORANT Champions.
Sentinels haven’t played in almost two months, and many fans are eager to see whatever version of the team will show up at Champions. Sentinels named former FaZe player Shane ‘Rawkus’ Flaherty as their coach prior to the tournament, which should help relieve the pressure on in-game captain Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan.
As Sentinels were placed in the same group as Team Liquid and KRÜ Esports, Steel believes that the North Americans aren’t guaranteed to enter the playoffs. Steel said that Liquid “have looked really strong” since adding Nabil ‘Nivera’ Benrlitom, and therefore they should take the top seed.
