Valorant Esports News

The Esports World Cup Fantasy Game allow fans to interact with the world's largest esports tournament. For the first time in the tournament's history (EWC 2025), spectators can actively participate in the competition beyond just watching, creating a more immersive and engaging experience. What is EWC Fantasy? EWC Fantasy is a free-to-play fantasy sports platform that allows fans to create virtual teams using real professional esports players and compete for cash prizes. Developed in partnership with Genius Sports, the platform features a massive $200,000 prizemore

VALORANT has entered a groundbreaking era with the introduction of a comprehensive map pool overhaul and its historic transition to Unreal Engine 5, marking the most significant transformation in the game's five-year history. These dual announcements signal Riot Games' commitment to evolving the tactical shooter while maintaining its core competitive integrity. Fresh Battlefield: The New Competitive Map Pool The current competitive map pool for VALORANT Season 2025 Act 4 features seven carefully curated battlegrounds that have reshaped the tactical landscape.more

The Esports World Cup has returned for its second year with even more games and prestige on the line. With all the excitement of major titles as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and VALORANT to name a few participating, as well as well-established organizations such as T1, Sentinels, and Team Liquid in attendance, the EWC has become a collecting centre for esports fans to enjoy all their favorite titles in one extravaganza. Recently, Strafe Esports sat down with Fabianmore

The Indonesian controller-main Aaron "mindfreak" Leonhart has decided to explore his options outside Paper Rex. Mindfreak is now a restricted free agent, concluding a five-year relationship that started in 2020 with Counter-Strike. Pacific's Best Mindfreak, along with the rest of Paper Rex, transitioned to VALORANT in February 2021. Quickly rising up the ranks, they qualified for Masters 2021 Berlin. They couldn’t get past the group stage and later failed to qualify for VALORANT Champions 2021. The squad made their namemore

On one of the biggest stages of the year inside Riyadh’s STC Arena, two EMEA titans - Fnatic and Team Heretics - clashed for more than just the $500,000 prize. At stake was pride, legacy, and redemption. While Fnatic came in as favorites, it was Heretics who stole the spotlight, defying expectations to clinch a dramatic 3-2 series win and claim their first-ever trophy at the inaugural Esports World Cup. Team Heretics 3-2 Fnatic: From Collapse to Control Team Heretics’more

The group stage of EWC 2025 featured 16 teams clashing in four groups to survive the competition. After the intense double-elimination brackets, we have the eight remaining teams that will move on to the single-elimination Playoffs stage. Let's find out what the upcoming stage has in store for us. Teams and Format The eight teams qualified for EWC 2025 VALORANT Playoffs are: Group A Paper Rex Karmine Corp Group B BBL Esports Sentinels Group C NRG Team Heretics Group Dmore

VALORANT’s newest map, Corrode, has been out for just over 2 weeks now, and understanding of the map continues to evolve the more exposure we gain on it. When first released, the map appeared incredibly defender-sided, with powerful positions for multiple defenders to decimate rushing attackers. This has shifted dramatically in the last week, and the map is now one of the most exciting to play tactically. Let’s break it all down in our guide to Corrode. General Map Layoutmore

VALORANT’s newest map, Corrode, is still in its early days, but the meta is quickly taking shape. While ranked data points to popular picks like Reyna and Clove, higher-level compositions are already gravitating toward agents that can control mid, pressure both spike sites, and thrive in close-quarters combat. Based on competitive pick and win rate data, plus a breakdown of agent utility, here’s an analytical look at what team comp is emerging as the strongest on Corrode. Note: All data andmore

VALORANT enters the Esports World Cup (EWC) catalogue for the first time in 2025, as part of the 3-year deal between Riot Games and the EWC Foundation. Set to run from July 8th to the 13th, it will serve as yet another opportunity to watch some of the best VALORANT teams in the world clash live on stage. Schedule and Format After extensive qualifiers, a total of 16 teams will be participating in the EWC this year for VALORANT. Groupmore

The latest VALORANT Night Market of 2025 is here. Starting from July 10th, it is set to run until the 24th of the same month. 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 cannot choose the skins they can buy. In sort of a lucky draw, players receive six drawsmore

The competitive gaming world shifted their attention to VALORANT after Tencent posted job listings specifically for “VALORANT Mobile Esports Operations”, signaling concrete plans for a dedicated VALORANT Mobile esports scene. The listings include responsibilities such as event creation, promotion, and production; all clear signs that Tencent isn’t just preparing for a single tournament, but is laying the groundwork for a full-fledged esports ecosystem around VALORANT Mobile. VALORANT Mobile’s China-First Strategy VALORANT Mobile will launch exclusively in China at first, withmore

After securing their third consecutive Masters title at VALORANT Masters Toronto, the Pacific region enters VCT Pacific 2025 Stage 2 with unmatched momentum. From Gen.G’s historic win to T1’s redemption arc and Paper Rex finally claiming a trophy, the region has firmly stamped its authority on global VALORANT. Now, all eyes turn to the 12 Pacific teams gearing up for one final clash to crown the Stage 2 Champion and punch tickets to Champions 2025. With only two guaranteed Championsmore

The BEACON Game Changers Contenders Series 2 Qualifier is now open for signups, offering aspiring amateur and semi-pro female players across the UK and Nordics a unique opportunity to break into the professional VALORANT scene. With registrations closing on Thursday, July 3 at 2:00 PM BST, the tournament promises to be a launching pad for Europe’s next generation of esports stars. A Gateway to Game Changers EMEA BEACON serves as an official gateway to Riot Games’ Game Changers EMEA Contendersmore

Following Paper Rex’s historic victory at VCT Masters Toronto earlier this month, the climb to VCT Champions Paris begins now in earnest as we enter the latter half of the year. VCT EMEA Stage 2 is set to kick off on July 16th with the 12 teams battling for the coveted 4 spots to Champions. Who will it be? The Toronto runners-up Fnatic? Stage 1 dark horse Team Vitality? The rising challengers Team Liquid? Or will be it 2024’s supermore

Top tier VALORANT is set to return to the Americas when the VCT 2025 Americas Stage 2 kicks off on Friday, July 18th. With a thrilling Masters Toronto now behind us, teams will now set their sight on VALORANT Champions 2025. This means that Stage 2 will do more than crown the final champions of the Americas, as it will also decide which four teams will head to Paris to represent their region at the biggest VALORANT tournament of themore

One of North America's most prominent esports organizations could be making a significant expansion into Counter-Strike within the next few years. Sentinels, the Los Angeles-based organization known for dominating the VALORANT scene, is seriously considering entering Counter-Strike 2 as early as 2026. Speaking in a recent interview with Sheep Esports, Sentinels CEO Rob Moore revealed that Counter-Strike 2 is currently the most discussed potential expansion within the company. Moore stated: "It's probable that we go in, maybe in 2026 ormore

On June 26, Riot Games announced that Tier 1 VALORANT and League of Legends teams in the Americas and EMEA will now be allowed to sign sponsorships with betting companies. Riot claims this move is aimed at supporting long-term sustainability by opening up a previously restricted revenue stream. While Riot insists that it has created strong rules and systems to ensure that betting doesn’t harm competitive integrity or the fan experience, the timing of this decision couldn’t be more concerning. The Tier-2 VALORANT scene was recently rocked by match-fixing allegations linked to illegal gambling. So, why now? Balancing Sustainability andmore

Valorant's Patch 11.00 marks one of the most significant updates of 2025, introducing a lot of exciting changes aimed at shifting the game's meta back toward precise gunplay while addressing long-standing balance issues. The patch, which launched today (June 24th) attempts to continue the effort to reduce the impact of overwhelming agent utility and create more opportunities for strategic counterplay. Major Agent Updates in Patch 11.00 Waylay Buffs Waylay emerges as the biggest winner in Patch 11.00, receiving extensive improvements across her entire kit. Since her release, Waylay has shown a steep mastery curve where her win rate significantly improvesmore

After weeks of intense competition and dramatic upsets, VALORANT Masters Toronto concluded with one final shock: Paper Rex defied expectations and took down Fnatic 3-1 in the Grand Finals, capturing their long-awaited first international trophy. A Composed and Clinical PRX Paper Rex entered the Grand Final with an expected map veto strategy, removing their usual bans: Haven and Ascent. Starting on Sunset, PRX’s star and IGL f0rsaken led with confidence and clutch play, earning a 13-10 victory. Fnatic hit backmore

Corrode is VALORANT’s newest competitive map, set to launch on the 25th of June 2025 with Season 1 Act 4’s arrival. Inspired by medieval French architecture and landscapes, Corrode is the first VALORANT map to environmentally reflect the drastic changes to the landscape brought on by the arrival of Radianite. Assault the Castle: Corrode Map Key Features Attacking players will find themselves challenged in their efforts to breach the gates by the high walls and many corridors of the map.more