What orgs do you think will be dropped by Riot in 2027, Leo teased a big change incoming. Off the top of my head I got the following:
Americas:
EMEA:
Pacific:
Idk what his criteria is going to be, but teams that made obvious infractions and teams that have been horrible are surely first up on the chopping block no?
And what new orgs would you like to see?
GX most forgettable team in VCT. No reason to keep them. Let TH be the Spanish org
Don’t forget rito prioritizes money over everything when it comes to franchising
won champs and then basically stopped taking val seriously cuz they overspent on what was basically the pre-academy academy team... and then didn't get an actual academy???
Replaced 2 washed players with 2 insane tier 2 prospects, truly developing the scene.
It's true, he came straight from tier 2 and see what he's doing now. Truly a generational talent from VCL NA.
What org would you like to see? Me personally, I think Shopify Rebellion, Optic coming back, Flyquest, or Complexity would all be interesting orgs.
Na market is already saturated, we can't have 6 NA partner team, especially with how Val is slowly dropping in NA
complexity has had a south american rocket league team for like 4 years now they could theoretically do the same in val
We should think in term of structure and not in term of roster to be fair ^^
Both koi and giants are staying ngl though I wish someone could go so like fokus or someone German gets a slot
Really tbf I wouldn't mind sacrificing gx as long as someone german replaces them but I just am unsure of it actually happening
GX is probably not staying tbh, Koi absolutely, they're here for fanbase reasons
I think you don't consider the good criteria to see who is gonna be unpartner, you will always have a team that is last, if you think a tam that is bad should be unpartner, then this team should be an ascension team... the question is "whish structure would still attract fan even if they are last", KOI and KC can say yes to this, and a team like Heretics dont. I've made a full video about "What criteria will help us to know who will be not partnered in 2027"
The 5 criterias I've pick were :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRL1RtzfeSk
So basically :
100T spent 27M 3 years ago on a CDL spot, spent millions this year on a COD superteam, and according to multiple streamers/pro's they pay more than anyone in VCT Americas barring G2, Sen, NRG, Lev. They good bro.
Interesting vid tho!
Yeah, they were good 3 years ago, but at the start of last year...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKa0K1Cn0OY
Basically, it seems 100T don't have enough money for LoL roster
And just one month before they announced their exit from LCS, they spent a historic amount of money to pick up their now COD superteam that just dethroned Faze for #1.
And even after they "sold" their LCS spot, Riot kept them in the league with a guest spot. That should tell you all you need to know about Riot's opinion on 100T and how likely they'll be to stay in the league post 2027
They probably didn't have time to boot them (Since they where announced as partner), or to find a replacement, I would be surprised if they would be still here next year (But yeah it's possible)
Anyway this is the kind of org that is not "reliable", even if you keep them you will look for team to replace them and do it when you can (SR, FQ may already more juicy for Riot)
at the end of they day, SR and FQ didn't get accepted the first time around for some reason and 100T did. Saying "I would be surprised if they would be still here next year" is beyond braindead
FQ and SR not being picked where before 100T almost drop LoL, it was in late 2022, the context between 2022 and today is not the same. In 2024 SR managed to acquire a slot in LCS, while in late 2024 100T almost dropped LoL, this occured after late 2023 Valorant partner pick, and are new element that could change the outcome. You cant use the argument "They where not pick in 2022"
So you think that Team Heretics and Vitality should be booted out of all the teams in VCT? If your criteria leads you to that conclusion, maybe redefine ur criteria
In science, when the method is good and the conclusion doesn't please us, then it's the expected conclusion that is a problem. So the only question is "is the method and criterias good ?" If you have direct criticism toward criteria, then you can give them, critisism is how you progress, but you can't just say "I don't think the conclusion is realist, then that's mean your conclusion is bad"
If we take every partner team in EMEA :
FNC/TL is safe cause of history and long term partner with Riot
KC/KOI may be safe because of fanbase
FUT/BBL/NAVI may be safe because geographical market (Maybe one of TR may drop but thats the max)
GX have nothing to save them, and will be the first to die
Then you still have VIT and TH, I don't think they are that mush in danger for the moment, afterall that's 2 team that Riot trust since a long time, the danger for Vitality is that if Riot want to give a spot for M8, 3 representants for FR while Germany have 0, put them in a risk, what may save them is their CS and LoL historic (But that's counted in criteria afterall). So Vit is pretty safe, but with M8 we can never know
TH is probably the most endanger team after GX, the only things they have is the fact they have a good team and the 3 years of partnership with Riot in both LoL and Valo, if tomorrow TH become the worst team in the league, what argument do we have to keep them in the league ?
If EMEA would be reduced for 8 or 6 team, who do you think would be the 6 teams ?
Answer the question : If EMEA would be reduced for 8 or 6 team, who do you think would be the 6 teams ?
So Navi and BBL out ?
Okay, and what if we go to 6 as it is considered by Riot ?
i said bbl but can be fut, only one turkish team. I think navi dont have a big fanbase in valorant and also didnt make great teams
Then 6 teams:
And then 6 i would say m8 but depends of riot preference. Maybe heretics and vitality have more money and stability but m8 have a bigger fanbase
But genuinely ask yourself: what has Vit done for the valorant scene to deserve it more than the other teams
They dont invest in t2/gc, they dont host/invest in tournaments, they dont bring exceptional viewership (+ viewer overlap with other french orgs) and have no significant legacy here as of now.
They are carried by the fact that they are Vitality. And thats a very strong bargaining chip, since stability is one of the primary aspects Riot considers, but its hard for us to take into account since we have no insight into financials of an org.
What sets them apart positively from KC or M8 for example?
The conclusion isnt that they HAVE to be removed, but that they are an org you could replace if there are alternatives which could offer more to the scene.
That those better alternatives exist is anything but a given.
DVM get boot from the league, the player remained alone so Vita bough them (In a dominant situation), but we have no guaranties they will keep them for next year, it can be a marketing coup or just the start of a real an investment, if it's the latter then it's good for Vita
How can a team like GE represent India when every Indian pro is worse than all GC players? Is the org supposed to just lose every match to satisfy you?
India in 2021 was decent beside the scrimpool isolation, they beat 3rd best team in Korea, and loose in OT against the 5th best team in game 3.
If Korean player have the chance to play in T1 while SA don't the gap will continue to increase and the region will continue to die. If GE try to make a non SA team, they will just bring player that wasn't accepted by top KR team or top SEA team relative to their language so they will not have a competitive team (And as you can see this strategy of taking the leftover didn't work)
GE should focus on long term and nurture their own scene, yeah, you will pick 5 Indian player, yeah they will be bombed last in 1st year (And it's not even sure, because if you hire 5 Indian player, they will fly to Korea and have access to a stronger soloQ and progress faster), but they will take experience and the experience will nurture the whole scene once they get removed, on long term thats the only way to develop the scene and finally produce real T1 player
Bombing few year and have a chance to go to inter after 5 year of problem, is way more appealing that just continue to fighting to take a 6th place wish is the best they can hope
The same SA players failed in ascension even with dos9 clutching when it mattered, and this was the top team in India, While most regions have improved significantly since 2021, SA is not on of them, I don't want to go in Details why that is, but that is the issue with SA. Not saying we are not getting better, its just that we are at a very slow pace. I still see some players competing in VCL SA, who can make it to Tier-1 with good coaching, but GE needs a win-now team, because Riot wants only winning teams in Franchising.(This is what the owner has said on multiple occasions that Riot prioritizes winning)
"While most regions have improved significantly since 2021"
Exactly, you nailed it, India didn't improve while the other region did improve. And when a region doesn't improve it's not genetics or anything, it's a question of environment.
With that condition the gap will continue to grow, despite the pool of player of SA continue to grow to the point it's almost match Turkey. The competition is unfair, and India did enter in a vicious circle India since 2021, the only way to break the circle is to put top 5 Indian player in Korea and let them play against best team on high stakes games. The question is not "Does Indian player have the level", the question is "What should we do to be sure Indian player have the level in the next 4 years", if you have any other proposition I'll take them.
"because Riot wants only winning teams in Franchising.(This is what the owner has said on multiple occasions that Riot prioritizes winning)"
I suspect that to be the biggest lie I ever heard, because thats make absolutely no sense for 3 reason :
If he want to increase his chance to stay, why he doesnt have a GC team ? Why does his T2 team is composed by 20 years old player that cant do better than top 6 ? This will be criteria to pick who will stay and who will be booted.
What Riot need is a team that can hype people even if they are last
Look, I get the long-term development argument, but Riot isn't running a charity here. They want franchising to be competitive and entertaining.
There's a huge difference between being the 12th place team that can still take maps off top teams and make matches exciting, versus fielding a roster that gets 13-2'd and 13-3'd every single match. That kind of one-sided beatdown kills viewership and makes the league look bad.
You're talking about "bombing for a few years" but what if Riot doesn't give GE those few years? What if they see consistent blowouts and decide GE isn't worth keeping in franchising? Then SA loses their only T1 representation entirely.
The reality is GE needs to stay competitive enough to keep their franchise spot first. Once that's secure, then maybe they can gradually work in SA talent with proper support systems. But right now, the gap is just too massive to risk it all on an untested full-SA roster.
I'd rather have GE stay in franchising with mixed rosters and slowly develop SA players than watch them get kicked out completely for being uncompetitive. At least this way SA still has some presence at the highest level.
"but Riot isn't running a charity here"
Riot have no interest in partnering the "best" team, as I said, you can pick any team you want you will always have a 1st and 12th, whatever team you pick. If I would be fully cynical I would say if you are Riot, you rather see Sentinel win, than a no hype structure like GX win, wish mean if you have a choice between 2 structure without hype, you better pick the worst so you increase the chance of Sentinels to go in final and bring the viewers. (I don't think Riot would do that anyway even if it would be the most "efficient" thing to do.
"versus fielding a roster that gets 13-2'd and 13-3'd every single match."
That wont happen https://www.vlr.gg/399723, as you can see they didnt get 13-2 against NS, sure they get 2-0 but thats not the 26-5 you expected, and keep in mind thoose player play their soloQ on SA server, if they were in T1 they would be mush stronger because they would have access to a way better soloQ
(PS : another good series against a team that went to T1 https://www.vlr.gg/222700 )
"You're talking about "bombing for a few years" but what if Riot doesn't give GE those few years?"
Then they are dumb as fuck, they didn't pick GE because they though they were competitive, they pick GE because they access to Indian market, and if they drop GE thats only because they don't manage to access to it. Look at what they are today, did GE ever access to playoffs in 3 years ? They already semi-bombed, no playoffs, best result in 3 years top 8... If that's the result that lead Riot to keep or drop a team GE is already dead, at least with a full Indian roster they would have excuses.
"The reality is GE needs to stay competitive enough to keep their franchise spot first."
Wish they can't if the only roster they can do is with SEA leftover and KR leftover, why join GE if you can join T1, GEN, DRX, why join GE if you can join a full PH roster, or a full TH roster ? Leftover esport will never be competitive. You have way more chance to get drop by Riot if you don't represent the region you are supposed to represent and still do bad result and think only short-term-wise, than if you aim at long term try to develop your region and also do bad. And if you are Riot you will surely prefer the latter because you know India will be the next China.
Mixed roster could be a compromise, 3-IN, 2-inter is good
You can't forget this https://www.vlr.gg/289447
There's no way an indian roster would get 13-2 13-3'd every game. A mixed roster would be really good and its going to increase viewership which is what riot wants.
I admit this one is impressive, but to be fair, I don't rely too mush on offseason game.
But I definitely agree with you on the conclusion
Apparently leo faria said that for 2027 and further they are cooking something that will attract a lot of attention from other orgs to join and invest in t2
They did, and I rally hoipe it's "We allow now T2 team to go to international event"
I don't think EG is gonna leave, the org recovered pretty well and also has a decent fanbase
Hard to say, the concurrencies to be partner in NA is really tough, they didnt have invested in T2 or in GC so not sure
Depends on how many survive realistically you are looking at 4 permanent ones being dropped+ 2 ascension orgs to bring the number to 6 teams.
When you leave 6 orgs you only keep best of the best regardless of region -in Pacific I would say DFM, GE , Secret and one of the 3 korean org getting dropped.
In EMEA I would say Koi,Giantx, one of Bbl or Fut and possibly navi.
In Americas it's almost obvious Furia, Mibr, Evil geniuses nd then it will come down to cloud9 or Leviatan.
KOI? You're taking away from EMEA one of the 2 teams that brings the most views to the region... they're horrible and almost always finish last, but their fans are always there watching them. On top of that, they were the Top 4 teams in EMEA with the most bundles purchased... and if you're thinking of getting rid of LEV, then it would be C9 because LEV has been to 1 Masters, was champion of VCT Americas, and finished Top 3 in the last Champions .
I don’t see anyway EG gets dropped. They were champions in 2023, had a rough year in 2024 (to say the least), change of management and rebounded this year to be a current top 4 team in Americas.
I think their owners are looking to offload EG tho, isn't val the only esport they're still in?
Relegation thread and no one’s mentioning C9❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
I used to pray for times like this
lol c9 wasn't even supposed to be in the original partnership in 2023 no?
its true, G2 was meant to get the spot until Carlos lost his damn mind, so C9 got in
I heard it's Lev that get that spot https://x.com/neLendirekt/status/1572310748570783744, and C9 had it (Wish make sense because G2 could easily also represent Latam being a spanish org)
prx gonna get dropped since they're a small org and eg also gonna get dropped bc of y0y
KOI is one of the most profitable organizations in EMEA currently, despite being a young team they have many fans and are one of the teams that bring the most visibility to VCT EMEA, they were top 4 in bundle sales in their region, despite being horrible in results, their fans are still there just imagine if with the bad results they have fans supporting them... if they had good results they would have even more support than they have.
Death to franchising because orgs cannot hire responsible people. Good riddens to bad rubbish.
Koi's branding , content creators are gonna keep them in VCT , they arent even a poor org its like they somehow manage to make shit rosters all the time .
for APAC, Jake Sin gonna kick all SEA team and add Dplus, Nongshim, Northception, SLT Seongnam, Fennel, etc..
What happen to PRX, RRQ, BME, GE, TS, TLN??? they strip them of their PC priviledge somehow and forced them to play on mobile to promote Valorant Mobile in SEA. hoped im joking on this.
Congratz PRX f0rsakeN!!! winner of Valorant Mobile championship Manila 2027!!!!
they likely will if they continue to not develop local talent and i expect the same of LEV
KOI is uncuttable for fanbase reasons, so it follows the reverse makes sense for squandering local audiences
I dont think you understand that a team performing poorly doesnt mean they cant function in the esport, they just picked up players that dont work together or are going into retirement soon
I keep wondering how Giants got the VCT EMEA partner slot. They are an organization without fans... their fans are the same as 10 years ago and they merged with Excel to supposedly have more brand appeal and increase their money, and yet they are by far the worst organization in terms of brand, visibility, and money.... I don't know why they didn't give that spot to BIG, for example.
Dropping EG would be a terrible decision. They just lost a viewer if that happens.
Discord