Ranking the 8 opening matchups at VALORANT Champions

The groups at VALORANT Champions are set and the matches start Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET. We know it’s early for those of you on the West Coast and maybe even for some of you on the East Coast, so which matchups should you set your alarm for? Here’s a ranking of the eight initial group stage matchups, from one you can probably hit snooze on to a must-watch clash.

8. Team Vikings vs. Crazy Raccoon

Wednesday 12 p.m. ET

There isn’t much to get excited about in this matchup. Brazil and Japan have proven to be two of the weakest regions at international competitions based on results from Masters: Reykjavík and Masters: Berlin. Brazilian teams have gone 2-8 and Japanese teams have a record of 1-6. Crazy Raccoon have represented Japan at the previous two Masters and are clearly the best team from the region, with a couple of former Overwatch players -- Byeon "Munchkin" Sang-beom and Park "Bazzi" Jun-ki -- who competed on Cloud9 Korea in the early days of competitive VALORANT before moving on to Crazy Raccoon. We haven’t seen Team Vikings since Iceland, where they beat X10 but lost to Sentinels and Team Liquid. Other than a coaching change, their roster remains unchanged.

7. Sentinels vs. FURIA

Thursday 3 p.m. ET

Sentinels are one of the funnest teams to watch, but this matchup is low on the list because of how one-sided it should be. We have not seen FURIA Esports on the international stage yet. They qualified for Champions through the South America Last Chance Qualifier, beating Australs, Gamelanders Blue and Sharks Esports along the way. Sharks were in Iceland but didn’t win any games. Although Sentinels disappointed at Berlin, the Reykjavík champions are still one of the best teams in the world. The only question is whether they can bounce back at Champions and how they’ll look now that they finally have a coach.

Photo credit: Riot Games

6. Team Liquid vs. KRÜ

Thursday 12 p.m. ET

Like the previous matchup on this list, this matchup should be one-sided. These two actually faced off in Iceland, with Team Liquid beating KRÜ 2-0. Although Liquid didn’t qualify for the last Masters, they appear to be back and better than ever after cutting through the competition at the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) LCQ. KRÜ have proven to be one of the best teams outside North America and EMEA, but they have yet to beat any teams from either of these two regions.

5. X10 Crit vs. Envy

Friday 12 p.m. ET

Here we have a matchup between a team that was at Masters: Reykajvík (X10) and a team from Masters: Berlin (Envy). Although Envy should easily win this matchup, this should be entertaining to watch simply because of the antics of X10’s Patiphan “Patiphan” Chaiwong and the intensity that Envy’s Austin “crashies” Roberts will bring. Plus, we’ll get to see some high-level Jett play from Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker, aka EL Diablo. Both teams' rosters remain unchanged since they last set foot on an international stage. Patiphan was briefly away from the team to recover from a wrist injury, but he has since returned.

Photo credit: Riot Games

4. Gambit vs. Team Secret

Thursday 9 a.m. ET

Gambit Esports proved to be the best team in the world at Masters: Berlin, so it’ll be interesting to see their effort to stay on top at Champions. We saw the Masters: Reykajvík champion Sentinels get knocked down a peg in Berlin, so it’s not a sure thing that Gambit are still the best in the world. The first team they’ll face is Team Secret, and how they’ll look on the international stage might as well be a secret. Visa issues prevented the team (then known as Bren Esports) from competing at Masters: Berlin. Given Southeast Asia’s underwhelming results (1-4) at previous Masters, this is likely to be a blowout in favor of Gambit.

3. Acend vs. Vivo Keyd

Friday 9 a.m. ET

This match features a couple of the best Jetts in the world: Acend’s Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek and Vivo Keyd's Olavo "heat" Marcelo. Although Brazilian teams have not looked great on the international stage, Vivo Keyd might be the best Brazil has to offer, and they added another star heading into Champions. Leonardo "mwzera" Serrati has long been considered one of the best players in Brazil, but his team Gamelanders Blue did not qualify for either international Masters tournament. Now on loan to Vivo Keyd, he’ll get a chance to prove himself on the world stage. Meanwhile, Acend will be looking to prove that they’re more than just cNed’s team.

Photo credit: Riot Games

2. Vision Strikers vs. FULL SENSE

Wednesday 9 a.m. ET

Vision Strikers are undoubtedly the best team outside of NA or EMEA, but there’s a lot of excitement about FULL SENSE given how they did in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) LCQ. It was widely expected that a Korean team like NUTURN Gaming, who finished third at Masters: Reykjavík, would qualify for Champions. However, Southeast Asian team FULL SENSE beat NUTURN as well as Korean team DAMWON Gaming. FULL SENSE are the only team from the region to beat Korean teams. Maybe Vision Strikers are just head and shoulders above the other teams from Korea, but still, this should be an intriguing matchup. Plus, this group at Champions is stacked, so the loser here will have a tough time qualifying for the bracket stage.

1. Fnatic vs. Cloud9 Blue

Wednesday 3 p.m. ET

This is easily the most exciting opening round matchup at Champions. It’s the only NA vs. EMEA matchup and it should be a good one. This will be the first time we’ll see C9 in an international competition and Fnatic’s first appearance since Iceland. The two teams won’t be totally foreign to each other though as Anthony “vanity” Malaspina was on the Version1 team that faced Fnatic in Reykjavík. Fnatic won that matchup, so vanity will be hungry for some revenge. Not only will this likely be a tight series, but they’re in the same group as Vision Strikers and FULL SENSE, so it’s possible the loser of this match might not make the bracket stage. Fnatic, C9, Vision Strikers (and maybe even FULL SENSE) likely belong among the top eight teams at this tournament, but only two can make it out of the group.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games