Valorant Esports News

While VALORANT Champions Paris continues to reach new heights of excitement deep in the Playoffs Stage, the aftermath of such a massive tournament can oftentimes be difficult to bear. However, fans will not find themselves short on entertainment as they await the 2026 season to start. Plenty to Expect in the VCT Off-Season 7 major off-season events have now been confirmed between the months of November and December. This is on top of 3 more official VCT events: the Gamemore

Fnatic will be without their star sentinel, Emir “Alfajer” Ali Beder, in today’s highly anticipated upper bracket semifinal against Paper Rex due to ongoing health concerns. The team confirmed his absence just hours before the match in a statement on their official X account, noting that his recovery is progressing well, but he will miss the fixture on recommendations from medical staff and the organization. Fnatic’s announcement emphasized prioritizing Alfajer’s health and well-being. In his stead, Domagoj “Doma” Fancev willmore

VALORANT Champions 2025 Paris Playoffs has delivered its first major blow with the elimination of one of top contenders and favourites to win the entire event – G2 Esports. The organization that dominated most of 2025’s VCT Americas with triple trophy lifts domestically failed to close out against Paper Rex two days ago in the Upper Bracket and again today against DRX. The Kings of VCT Americas are Out G2 Esports came into the 2025 season with one of the strongest starts, immediately winning Kickoff and followed it up with a Grand Finals appearance against T1 in Masters Bangkok. Theirmore

Fnatic’s opening playoff clash at VALORANT Champions 2025 ended in a nail-biting 2-1 victory over DRX, where resilience and adaptation were on full display. Following an intense series marked by momentum swings and individual brilliance, Strafe Esports caught up with Kajetan "Kaajak" Haremski, Fnatic’s latest addition, to discuss the match, his journey, and the shifting landscape of VALORANT’s meta. Haven: A Test of Mental Fortitude Recapping the dramatic turnaround on Map 1, Haven, Kaajak praised his team’s ability to adapt in the moment and overcome early struggles. “I think it was a pretty intense series, like especially the comeback onmore

The conclusion of the Champions Paris Group Stage some days ago now makes way for the Playoffs Stage, where the final 8 teams face off in a grueling double-elimination bracket to earn a chance in that coveted Grand Finals and the eternal glory that comes with lifting the Champions trophy. By this point, we should all be familiar with the Pick’Ems and what they are. But for the uninitiated, the Pick’Ems is a minigame on the VALORANT Esports website (alsomore

It's been several weeks since the 2XKO Closed Beta began, and the response has been nothing short of positive so far. Now, Riot Games will be opening the game up to everyone. If you're eager to try out Riot's new fighting game but haven't had the chance to do so yet, then you'll be glad to know that 2XKO will soon be entering into Early Access – no invite required. This, however, is only the beginning. With the game heading into Early Access, Riot also announced the launch of First Impact, a new competitive play program that will sponsor 2XKO tournaments allmore

As the dust settles on the group stage of VALORANT Champions Paris 2025, the competition now enters the playoffs. After two weeks of intense matches the top eight teams have officially secured their place in the quarterfinals. The group stage concluded with MIBR sweeping RRQ 2-0 in the final series, immediately followed by the playoffs draw that determines the road to the finals. With seeding rules in place to prevent teams from facing former group opponents on the same sidemore

Riot Games has started the process of selecting a new organization to join the VCT EMEA franchise, following the removal of Movistar KOI (MKOI) from the lineup of teams. The company has invited 10 organizations with established ties to VALORANT’s EMEA circuit to apply for the open spot. VCT EMEA Open Slot Application Process The current selection is invite-only: all candidates have been chosen based on their previous involvement with VALORANT esports, including visitor teams and squads that have featuredmore

Riot Games’ latest fighting game, 2XKO, has made waves during its closed beta since September 9, 2025. Drawing both from genre classics and Riot’s pedigree, 2XKO’s first impression is a combination of polished technical execution, strategic depth, and unique takes on fan-favorite mechanics. 2XKO enters a crowded genre traditionally dominated by titles like Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat and even Super Smash Bros. While Riot promises a familiar product with League of Legends flair, the closed beta reveals a truemore

On day 7 of VALORANT Champions 2025 in Paris, the North American giants Sentinels were eliminated from the tournament after a shocking loss to XLG Esports. The result means Sentinels are going out in last place, never having reached the Accor Arena, after XLG completed a hard-fought reverse sweep to win the series 2-1. Reverse Sweep Secures XLG’s Survival Sentinels looked in control early on, taking Abyss 13-10. With N4RRATE spearheading the attack, Johnqt’s side delivered a disciplined performance tomore

VALORANT Champions 2024 winners and defending champions, EDward Gaming, are the first team to be eliminated from Paris 2025. After an intense Bo3, Team Liquid knocked out the Zmjjkk-led Chinese squad, completing a comeback on map three. A Disappointing Run After failing to qualify for VALORANT Champions Paris through VCT CN 2025: Stage 2, EDward Gaming secured their spot as the region’s 3rd seed thanks to their year-long performance. Despite their poor form, many expected them to perform well enoughmore

Earlier this year, Riot Games announced their intention to become more active in combating the widespread smurfing issue in their FPS title VALORANT. In the 5 years since the game’s initial launch, the number of smurf accounts has grown exponentially and the frustration especially among the lower rank brackets continues to expand. Smurfing: Any account that has a pattern of deliberate deception of our matchmaker to be placed into matches below a players’ true skill level. – as per Riot’s definition Yesterday evening, Riot Games finally unveiled a detailed outline of the timeline they intend to take to combat thismore

The latest VALORANT Night Market of 2025 is here. Starting from September 25th, it is set to run until October 9th. For those of you who have yet to snag your dream skin, this might be the perfect time to do so! What is VALORANT's Night Market? VALORANT Night Market is a unique recurrent theme in the game where players can buy skins at discounted prices. But it is not as simple, these discounts are randomly assigned, and players cannotmore

As the group stage of VALORANT Champions 2025 edges closer to completion in Paris, the first four teams to secure playoffs have already been decided. These squads will now prepare to compete at the Accor Arena, where the ultimate trophy of the year awaits. VALORANT Champions 2025: All Teams Qualified for Playoffs Group A: Paper Rex There was little doubt surrounding Paper Rex’s performance heading into Champions. Touted as one of the clear favorites to lift the trophy, the Pacificmore

At its core, esports is a marketing tool for competitive games to showcase the full spectrum of the possibilities. What started as local LAN parties and gaming conventions has now grown into a full-fledged industry; an industry that fills arenas, supports thousands of careers and impacts millions of lives daily. These events that started small, now support an investment market with a humble valuation of $3.7 billion (2025) and is expected to rise to $40 billion before 2034. This growingmore

The fan-favorite Prelude to Chaos skin bundle is making a much-anticipated comeback in VALORANT with the arrival of Prelude to Chaos 2.0. Riot Games has teased this iconic bundle through official social media, generating excitement across the VALORANT community. This 2.0 version aims to elevate the original’s aesthetic with enhanced visuals, new weapon skins, and the signature mechanical nightmare theme that players have long admired. Release Date and Pricing Expected to release on September 18 or 19, the pricing formore

VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 has been live for a mere 4 days and already it feels like so much has occurred. From prevailing narratives to incredible performances and shocking upsets, here is everything you may have missed from the first 4 days of Champions Paris. Pacific and EMEA On Top Following the round of opening matches for all teams, Pacific and EMEA have emerged as the predominant regions currently, which 3 teams each qualifying to the Winners match of theirmore

With the arrival of VALORANT Patch 11.06, Riot Games will finally introduce the most requested feature to the game, the Replay System. Starting September 16/17, players can download match VODs to analyze and review them in-game. How to Access Match Replays? To access your match replays for any game played on the live patch (i.e. Patch 11.06) you will need to: Complete a Match On the Match Details Page > Navigate to the Download Replay Icon Once the Replay Filemore

VALORANT’s upcoming Act 6 will see another map pool rotation, this time targeting long-time beloved and sometimes polarizing map, Ascent. Furthermore, Lotus will also see another rotation out as well, for the second time since its introduction. In their stead, Pearl and Split will be returning to the active map pool. Ascent Out?? Long requested for, Ascent is making another departure from the active map pool – the second time the map sees a rotation out since the start ofmore

VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 kicks off Friday, September 12th. With a $2.25 million USD cash prize on the line, VALORANT’s most important tournament of the year will play host to some of the biggest names in the scene, all vying for the most-sought after accolade – Champions winner. Before Champions kicks off though, here is everything you’d need to know before you begin watching: Champions Paris Anthem Featuring “templuv” and “347aidan”, VALORANT’s newest Champions anthem – “Last Shot” – is a powerful entry with lyrics attempting to capture the efforts of circumnavigating pressure and stress, perfect for a tournament asmore