Despite the extensive formats, the East Asian Challenger Leagues have kicked off smoothly. The subregion has been split into three: Japan, Korea, and Taiwan/Hong Kong, which had already begun league play throughout January.

Japan

Of the three, Japan had the most thorough qualifying process. The regional league held eight qualifiers, each funneling a team into the VCL. Every qualified roster has previously been in the limelight of Japanese Valorant throughout the 2021 and 2022 VCT. In fact, five of the eight qualified rosters fought for a Reykjavik slot in March 2022.

The other rosters — Sengoku Gaming Sengoku Gaming Japan Rank #5 Gwangboong Kim Gwang-won (김광원) Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) NOBITA Misaya gatorada Hideki Nishida , SCARZ SCARZ Japan Rank #18 MrTenzouEz Lumo Maxim Demianovskikh Allen Yoshiii John Yoshiharu Kawakami Only1 , and FENNEL FENNEL Japan Rank #1 GON CLZ RIA SyouTa Xdll Yuto Mizomori Derialy Daichi Doi — have also been commonplace names in Japanese Valorant. Notably absent are FAV gaming FAV gaming Japan Rank #2 Minty Daiki Kato TenTen Hands fukuken stand-in Phantom Hideaki Nakai bazz , REIGNITE REIGNITE Japan Rank #24 C1ndeR Ko Jae-hyuk (고재혁) MeatPieN GeomJeonG DH Luca , and BLUE BEES.ESP BLUE BEES.ESP Japan Rank #14 SID Lafura taru MerRy Has1ra14 Lim Hyuk (임혁) . The three squads lost to Crazy Raccoon Crazy Raccoon Inactive , REJECT REJECT Japan Rank #3 GangPin Chae Jung-moo Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) muto Hals stand-in BRIAN , and CREST GAMING Zst CREST GAMING Zst Japan Rank #8 Brofeld Moothie Yoo Seung-Woo (유승우) HYUNMIN sakurai Flax , respectively, and were unable to make it into the league in later qualifiers.

In essence, not much has changed for Japan. While some names are absent from the country's largest competition, the qualified names have already proven themselves on the national stage. They've also made the Japanese VCL a strong contender for the Pacific Ascension tournament later this season, concentrating all the region's talent in the league.

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Korea

Korea's VCL was the most restricted one, opening up just two slots for qualified teams. The other six organizations were invited, in a list that included familiar names such as Dplus Esports Dplus Esports Korea Rank #10 Yyy NGen Lee Jae-hong (이재홍) Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) SeliG Um Hyun-sung (엄현성) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) (previously DAMWON Gaming DAMWON Gaming Inactive Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) allow Park Sang-wook (박상욱) exy Park Geun-cheol (박근철) Estrella Park Gun (박건) Esperanza Jeong Jin-cheol (정진철) ), CNJ Esports CNJ Esports Korea Rank #8 Ziya AcMe Rain Seo Hong-seung (서홍승) DaeGi Jang Yoon-cheol (장윤철) seokJ , Maru Gaming Maru Gaming Korea Rank #24 Arduino ANNYEON Ssun Kim Sun-rae (김선래) JaEU pr0xy Lee Do-kyeong (이도경) oonzmlp , and World Game Star World Game Star Korea Rank #24 Wenty Yang Geon-mo (양건모) YUNSEUNG Xander Felix Park Hyeon-ho (박현호) apeX . There was little surprise in the open qualifiers besides Incheon On Sla2ers Incheon On Sla2ers Korea Rank #25 delas Blueming Lee Ji-ho (이지호) empty IDG Lee Dong-gi (이동기) Cloy ' defeat to Over Quality Over Quality Inactive Wolverine Cho Hyun-tae (조현태) stew Park Young-chan (박영찬) empty yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Banger in the third group.

Rio Company Rio Company Inactive SungJin Ko Sung-jin (고성진) Sunday Kim Min-soo (김민수) SeliG Um Hyun-sung (엄현성) LuZ Lim Ui-jun (임의준) Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) qualified via the first group, but hit a bump in the closed qualifier after a 2-1 loss to TEAM INDIGO TEAM INDIGO Inactive IceBear Pkm Park Kang-min (박강민) JaXe YUNSEUNG . INDIGO weren't able to replicate their success, dropping their series against TeamAceOverQuality and Rio Company, the two teams that qualified for the Korean VCL. The former was later signed by Gwangju Shadow Gwangju Shadow Inactive Ivy Distinct Francis Dambi .

Much like in Japan, the Korean VCL has allowed talent to consolidate the country's talent under one league. While the flashy names of DRX DRX Korea Rank #2 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) BuZz Yu Byung-chul (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) and On Sla2ers aren't participating, most of the Challengers teams are names the scene has grown accostumed to over the past two years of competition.

A list of the VCL Korea teams Image by Riot Games

Taiwan & Hong Kong

Taiwan/Hong Kong's VCL offered up just one invite. Griffin E-Sports Griffin E-Sports Inactive Fung3 SiuFatBB YRSelect LockM Xing Fuling (邢福凌) sora got a fast pass into the VCL thanks to their past performances in the regional VCT, having placed fourth or better in every VCT TW/HK tournament since April 2021. The remaining seven squads had to traverse the open qualifier, which saw two newcomers — AxX AxX Inactive edw1N N11 Ezw1n W4DJJ Paxton , SendTreePay SendTreePay Asia-Pacific Rank #117 yZkA1 Neko LuCyyyyy0304 C8Jason Hchang — join the VCL.

The remaining four teams all have a thorough history in regional VCT events. The TW/HK VCL has given equal opportunity to teams like LP33 LP33 Asia-Pacific Rank #106 SixTeen Ah Jia popoman4Q and Oblivion Force Oblivion Force Asia-Pacific Rank #11 riyabtw GGHuiii Hui Ying Hon (许英汉) VRI coconut CHIMEI Wong Chun Wai (王俊煒) hypathor Kiuuuu Yung Tsz Kiu (容子翘) , who have a bumpy track record in past VCT events when compared to the stronger Anti Eco Eco Club Anti Eco Eco Club Inactive MrCANI Chen Tingxun (陈廷训) FLoydQ Sing He Shengxi (何昇讳) trinity Leung Hing Yip (梁兴业) PPDBJ Qiu Zheng Yong (邱政咏) jkuro Yong Haochong (杨浩聪) and Ghetto Artist Ghetto Artist Inactive kilo Huang Zhong-yi (黃中邑) Hukz TsunTung Ho QueenElise axiongk1ng yTao Bea2 rosters.

TW/HK splits from Japan and Korea, welcoming several fresh faces to its league. Even the teams who are returning from last year's VCT, like Griffin, have brought fresh blood into their ranks, heavily disrupting the order that had been established in 2022.

The VCL Taiwan/Hong Kong teams are:

East Asia

Overall, the East Asian subregion of Valorant has seen a consolidation of its talent at the highest regional level in 2023. Contrary to expectations, though, invited rosters have struggled to kick off the league in strong fashion.

In Korea, Rio Company and Shadow Corporation lead the table with four and three wins each. In Taiwan/Hong Kong, Griffin E-Sports are currently in the middle of the pack with a 0-1 record while AxX and LP33 both share a 2-0 lead.

Finally, in Japan, Crazy Raccoon have returned to the top of the region after a lackluster 2022. They currently sit atop the scoreboard with a 3-0 lead, while former Copenhagen attendees NORTHEPTION started the league with a 1-1 record.

Much like in other regions, the three East Asian VCLs will bundle with the South Asian, Oceanic, and the five Southeast Asian VCLs for a 10-team Pacific Ascension tournament this Summer. The winner will get a two-year admission pass for the VCT Pacific League.