Seven things we learned from VALORANT Masters: Reykjavík 2022

The first international tournament of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2022 season is over. North America’s OpTic Gaming beat Brazil’s LOUD to conclude Masters: Reykjavík 2022, the most unpredictable tournament in VCT history. The tournament champion will always stand out when looking back on tournaments in the years to come, but there is always so much more worth remembering. From the way teams from various regions upended expectations while teams from Europe, the Middle East and Africa underperformed to OpTic’s redemption arc, here are some takeaways from Masters: Reykjavík.

No more “minor” regions

Since last year’s edition of Masters: Reykajvík, North America and Europe (EMEA) have been considered “major” regions by analysts in those regions, while the other regions around the world were considered “minor” regions. It’s a classification that has been criticized because it is Western-centric and undersells the other regions. However, until this year’s edition of Masters: Reykjavík, it’s a classification that was useful in helping to pick out the favorites at international competitions. In 2021, North American teams went 18-10 against teams from other regions, and EMEA teams went 27-8, with the region reaching its apex at Champions where EMEA teams went 12-1 against teams from other regions. No other region had more wins than losses against teams from other regions in 2021.

That all changed over the past two weeks. Forget that OpTic Gaming, a North American team, won Masters: Reykjavík. The other NA team went 0-2, and EMEA teams went 3-6. Meanwhile, a team from Japan (the worst region in 2021) went 5-3 and finished in the top three. A team from Brazil (the second-worst region in 2021) went 3-1 and reached the final. Korea’s DRX had a strong showing, going 3-2, and teams from Asia-Pacific proved they’re here to stay with a decent 3-5 showing. The top four of all three international events in 2021 always included three teams from EMEA and NA. At Masters: Reykjavík 2022, the top four consisted of one team from each of NA, Brazil, Japan and APAC. In light of this tournament, the next Masters should be even more exciting and unpredictable.

Brazilian superteam lives up to its name

Photo credit: Riot Games

LOUD was touted as a Brazilian “superteam” entering Masters. They were undefeated entering the tournament. LOUD had gone 14-0 since the roster came together under the name Pancada e Amigos in January, and 7-0 since getting signed by LOUD. They had only lost two maps across these 14 matches!

Of course, considering how poorly Brazilian teams had performed at international tournaments in 2021, analysts were right to be a little skeptical of how they would perform in Iceland. After beating G2, Team Liquid and OpTic to reach the Masters: Reykjavík final with a perfect 17-0 record, their dominance was no longer questioned. Unfortunately for them, they met the same fate that the New England Patriots did in 2008 when they entered the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record including the playoffs, only to lose the championship matchup.

Despite the loss, LOUD not only lived up to the superteam moniker, but they put some respect on Brazil’s name. Brazilian teams have been competitive internationally in other FPS titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rainbow Six: Siege, and now it appears Brazilian teams are poised to do the same in VALORANT.

Japanese VALORANT has arrived

Japan’s ZETA DIVISION deserves a shoutout for their performance at Masters: Reykjavík. Japanese teams went 1-8 in international competitions last year, and ZETA themselves went 0-2. With very low expectations heading into this tournament, they went 5-2 to reach the lower bracket final and establish themselves as the Cinderella team and feel-good story of this tournament.

ZETA exceeded expectations even they had for themselves, as one player noted in an interview that they thought it would be miraculous if they made the playoffs. When you take into account how enthusiastic the Japanese fans and casters were for this team, you couldn’t help but root for them.

ZETA’s matches mostly took place during the early morning hours in Japan, yet Japanese fans still watched in mass. ZETA was involved in three of the five most watched matches at the tournament, according to Esports Charts.

EMEA no longer the strongest region?

Photo credit: Riot Games

Any discussion of EMEA at Masters: Reykjavík 2022 has to start with the disclaimer that the region’s top seed, FunPlus Phoenix, could not make it to the tournament due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Plus, Fnatic played with two substitutes, which clearly had an effect on their performance.

Still, G2 Esports and Team Liquid are two very good teams that have performed well internationally in 2021. Just a few months ago, Team Liquid reached the semifinals of Champions, and EMEA teams went a collective 12-1 against teams from other regions at Champions. Considering EMEA was the top region in VALORANT last year, the dropoff for the region at this tournament was shocking.

Yes, teams from other regions have stepped up, and the best team from EMEA was not at this event, but the two EMEA teams that were at full strength at this event ultimately had disappointing performances based on the caliber of their rosters. All of these things can be true.

Missing NA vs. EMEA matchups

One of the unfortunate outcomes of EMEA’s early exit from the tournament and the playoffs seeding is that we didn’t get any NA vs. EMEA matchups at Masters. The rivalry between these two regions has been one of the highlights of Masters and Champions last year. Who can forget the Fnatic vs. Sentinels final at Reykjavík last year, the trash talk between Sentinels and G2 at Masters: Berlin or the fun banter between Fnatic’s Jake “Boaster” Howlett and Cloud9’s Anthony “vanity” Malaspina at Champions.

Team Liquid and OpTic Gaming were in the same group, but because of how it played out, the two did not face each other. In the playoffs though, both G2 and Team Liquid were placed on one half of the bracket, and OpTic and The Guard were for some reason matched up against each other in the quarterfinals. Seeing how different regions match up against each other is the fun of international tournaments, so it would have been better if G2 were paired with OpTic in the quarterfinals and The Guard and Team Liquid were on the other half of the bracket. The Guard and OpTic played each other twice in the NA Stage 1 playoffs, so there’s no reason that matchup should have been allowed to happen in the quarterfinals of Reykjavík.

OpTic don’t lose twice

Photo credit: Riot Games

One of the reasons OpTic Gaming ultimately won Masters was their knack for making the right adjustments to ensure that they haven’t lost twice to the same opponent over the past few months. They opened the tournament by losing to XERXIA, but in a rematch they beat XERXIA to move on to the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs they beat The Guard, a team that had beaten them in the NA Stage 1 playoffs grand final. They lost to LOUD in the upper bracket final but then won the rematch in the grand final.

Of course, the big redemption arc for them was the fact they lost the Masters: Berlin grand final last year. Victor “Victor” Wong alluded to that in a postmatch onstage interview when he said the team knew exactly how it felt to be on the losing end of an international final. It’s a credit to their coach Chet “Chet” Singh and in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta for making the right adjustments to allow this team to keep improving and raising the bar on their performance. This was the first international VALORANT tournament to have double elimination in the playoffs, and OpTic perhaps were the team best suited to take advantage of that.

Another new champion

For the fourth consecutive VALORANT international tournament, a new champion was crowned. Sentinels won Masters: Reykajvík last year, Gambit Esports won Masters: Berlin, Acend won Champions and OpTic Gaming won this year’s edition of Masters: Reykjavík. It says a lot about how competitive these tournaments have been and how new teams have stepped up at each tournament. VALORANT is still a relatively new game, and with the patches and updates throughout the year, players and teams need to constantly adjust to stay on top. Clearly, that has been very hard.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say a different team will win the next Masters. With the rate of changes to the game, the difficulty of qualifying for international events and the constant roster tinkering by teams, it’s difficult to imagine the same team repeating as international champions. It's also fun thinking about where will this champion be crowned? And will there finally be fans in attendance for a VALORANT tournament?

Lead photo credit: Riot Games