Americas 2027 prediction

#1

AlexSMTx

Rumor is that they're most likely having 8 franchised teams, thus only kicking 2. If I had to guess, accounting for historical performance, brand/marketing and investment I would do the following. I'd kick FURIA, MIBR and then I'd additionally kick EG and give their spot to G2. If u wanna know why I'm kicking/not kicking a team feel free to ask and I'd gadly explain my reasoning. I can be wrong but I think my thought process makes a lot of sense. Thoughts? I wanna hear what teams yall would have.

I'd have:

NRG
SEN
KRU
LEV
LOUD
G2
100T
C9

#2

thanatos11

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i’ll be there

#3

AlexSMTx

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what team u signing for thanatos11

#5

thanatos11

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were bring back AcNed just sorting out negotiations currently they’re way off my market value rn imo

#4

YvngKurry

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ngl c9 prolly wont make it

#12

AlexSMTx

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u think? pretty sure as an org EG is more in shambles than C9. RIOT values that a lot

#6

bronzil_enjoyer

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hi alex

#11

AlexSMTx

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hi bronzil_enjoyer

#7

Pyrenix

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id kick C9/100T for shopify

#15

bobwoblob

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100T/C9 clear shopify

#17

sexocum

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C9 because it's an og org imo. Still, they're struggling financially no? Which goes against franchising's principle and shi

#23

Pyrenix

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its never about which current team clears who you want a sustainable org which has put in dedication into the scene you take shopify anyday not teams like C9 and 100T who are very volatile atm with 100T already pulling out of many esports and C9 due to financial reasons

#25

AlexSMTx

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you argument is not bad but u cant expect some people to understand when there are some asking why EG shouldn't stay simply bc of a miracle run in 2023 when pretty much everything else they do in valorant is subpar to several other orgs in and out of franchising.

#28

Docta

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What esports did 100t pull out of? To my knowledge it is just league and imo that’s a good decision for a dying scene

#8

Hyxagon

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i think everyone can agree that sen, nrg, kru, and loud are all guarenteed, as they’re the most well rounded orgs from their regions.
i feel like lev might be replaced with another latam org, and furia will almost definitely be kicked. i don’t think they’d want to have just 1 brazilian team, so mibr probably stays
for the last two na teams, id probably say 100t and g2 since they interact a lot with the community and have shown high potential every year they compete

#13

AlexSMTx

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lev might be replaced with another latam org

and replace them with who? 9z is the best candidate and they are mainly a CS org and have been stuck on LATAM tier 2 for ages, hell they're even losing to LEV's academy rn. LEV has always been semi-competitive other than this last year and more than MIBR (Who you want to keep) historically for example. Marketing wise they do lots of content on social media and their bundles have been top 3 and top 1 respectively in americas. Investment wise they are one of the few teams that has both invested in GC and an Academy. It just wouldn't make sense tbh

#30

Hyxagon

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yea ur right my b. i forgot that lev had decent things going for it besides the mixed team thing.
also ig mibr might also be swapped for a different brazil team

#9

Two_Percent

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hot take furia is making it #justiceforurangoat #makebrazilgreatagain

#14

AlexSMTx

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urangoat might just save furia

#20

Two_Percent

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my humble king will use one of his billion dollar stacks of cash to buy leo furia and make sure that furia will stay in vct until the end of time #vamosfuria #isleofariabrazilian

#10

sexocum

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to me it's still criminal that acend didn't make it into franchising, especially now that gambling sponsors are allowed and therefore Raise Your Edge wouldn't be an issue for rito's "image"
offtopic because I'm an acend cocksucker I don't care about americas

#16

bobwoblob

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MIBR should stay. Kick LOUD. They just keep putting up budget after budget roster. MIBR are at least investing more into their roster.

#18

femboyhater

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Why are u kicking EG they won champs

#21

AlexSMTx

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I highly doubt Riot bases partner team decisions solely on performance. Even then, EG hasn’t shown consistent top results outside of their impressive 2023 Champs win, and their overall investment in the scene is minimal because they don’t have a Game Changers team, no academy, and spend little on rosters. Even their champs roster was mostly rookies who happened to find success with Potter. Marketing and brand wise, they don't make much content, aren't among the top teams in bundle sales, and it is a very barebones org who has exited pretty much every other eSport. At this point, it feels like they’re only sticking around in Valorant because of Riot’s yearly stipend.

Ofc that's how I see it, you can disagree but if not EG who would you kick?

#29

Yamaljr

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Acend also won Champs

#19

pkkkk

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why eg

#22

AlexSMTx

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comment above :)

#24

cameran

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less teams?? bruh I would be really curious then to see what formats they implement then with 8 teams in the league

#26

AlexSMTx

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if I had to guess it'd be to have more teams through ascension that actually deserve to be there bc they did well and less teams like FURIA for example. Though idk how they would do the format in 2027 with so few teams to begin with, unless the promote 2 teams from ascension in 2026?

#27

cameran

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oh yeah more ascension teams would be really cool to see I forgot about that

#31

alienista1

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man kicking both FURIA and MIBR while adding G2 would literally be the final nail in the coffin for the SA valorant scene. AMER is already NA heavy and this would wipe out Brazil completely from the partnered league. that is not just bad competitively, it kills viewership, sponsorship interest, and the talent pipeline in a region that is already struggling to keep up. you’d basically turn AMER into NA with a couple of LATAM teams for decoration. if Riot wants this to be a true “regional” league, killing SA representation is the worst move possible.

#32

AlexSMTx

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I get what u mean and ur probably right but I'm basing my choices based off merit. Like, historically FURIA and MIBR have been the worst Americas teams in terms of performances, marketing and investment. If you need to kick teams and it's not them then who do you kick? Every other team in the league has done better historically, it wouldn't be fair. The fact that both happen to be from SA is just unlucky. If riot wants to have 8 teams in 2027 tough choices need to be made sadly, and add to that an additional team getting kicked bc G2 needs to be in franchising. My guess would be EG getting replaced by G2.

But based off merit which 3 teams would you kick?

#38

alienista1

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it is not just “unlucky” that both are from SA, it is the way VCT AMER is structured that naturally favors NA teams and widens the gap over time. i am not denying NA has historically performed better, but the current system makes it harder for SA teams to catch up: less infrastructure, less sponsor money, worse practice opportunities, and a league format that requires constant travel and adaptation to NA schedules.

your “merit-based” approach doesn’t take into account that the playing field is not level to begin with. if you remove both SA teams now you are not just rewarding performance, you are locking in that inequality forever. at that point the gap becomes unbridgeable, and AMER basically stops being a true regional league.

#41

AlexSMTx

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that's all fine but give me the 3 teams u'd kick then and why they deserve to be kicked, get ur hands wet.

#49

alienista1

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EG, FUR, and C9. i don’t think this "fix" actually solves anything, since it keeps the status quo.

#33

sleepydeer333

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i would take mibr over c9, sure c9 is a legacy org but so is mibr, and they have a very good gc team and an academy, c9 barely invest in the scene
And i would like 2 br, 2 latam and 4 NA teams better

#34

south_america_best_region

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Alex no queiro que lev pierda mañana

#36

AlexSMTx

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veremos, igual si despues pierde LOUD estamos dentro pero es mejor entrar por merito propio. De todas formas si queremos ir a Champions tenemos que tener nivel de sobra para ganarle a 100T. Si no les ganamos a ellos, aunque entremos a playoffs no tenemos chances de ganarle a SEN/G2 para ir a champs

#50

south_america_best_region

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a ganar nomás

#35

brahianv

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EG and f0ria should be kicked as fast as posible

#37

AlexSMTx

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if u had to kick a third to add G2 who would u kick

#39

Anguibok

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6 NA team is criminal x)

LOUD
MIBR
KRU
A LAN team (EXL, Lyon, 9K) Sorry LEV betrayers
SEN
C9
G2
Last spot for 100T or NRG depending on finances go in 2027 (GC 100T is a good sign, the deciders line will be if they drop them after champions or not)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRL1RtzfeSk I was skeptical about 100T at this time, but they did buy a GC team so all good, I just hope it was not a cynical move with the approach of champions

#40

KGad03

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Mfer has C9 but debates between NRG and 100T

#43

Anguibok

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Becaus C9 is the NA structure that Riot trusts the most, they have been working together for more than 10 years without interruption, and no drama between them and Riot.

100T is here since 2018 on LoL, but they have a financial problem and ask to be removed from LoL, Riot want to keep them
NRG as a structure didn't accomplish anything, 95% of their aura comes from Optic times (5 remaining percent was 2023 a top 4 on Masters and a humiliation on Champions), topping that, NRG they proved not to be really reliable on LoL. They are no way Riot drops a 10-year-long year partnership for a structure that only made a 4th place in a masters, that's the reason C9 is safe, it's NRG they have to compete against, not Optic

Don't overestimate the importance "result of the structure and achievement", Opric wasn't pick as a partner despite being the 2nd best structure in NA history, and NRG has a structure that has absolutely nothing as an argument despite "But... we bought Optic core"

#42

AlexSMTx

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see ik ur clueless when u say EXL cuz even though they doing good, their insfrastructure is several times worse LEVs, 100T and NRG. RIOT ain't picking them up in 10 years unless they fix their shit. They've literally had problems with not paying players lol. Also who tf is 9k

#44

Anguibok

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I admit picking a LAN team is an audacious choice, but I have argument to use.

Faria's once says "More team doesn't make cake bigger, it makes slice thinner", that's not true when it comes to give a slot that represent an unrepresented T2 region, with Faria's logic, and in his shoes : I rather have a way smaller org that can make me win a new market, than takes another NA structure where the market is saturated (3 ascension team + 5 partner slot would be the start of a snowball and destruction of SA, plus making the slice even smaller), so picking a 5th NA team isnt a good choice in a strategic POV. You can't just pick the team that have the most result and aura, that's not a good gameplan.

The only question there is :

Do Latam people feel represented by LEV even in a roster that would have no Latam player
Do LAN people care if it's a LAN or a LAS team
If it's okay to have no LA player and people doesnt care if it's LAN or LAS, then it's okay to keep LEV, I don' thave the data.

About LAN team : If EXL is successful in 2026 they are a darkhorse, they are an historical team, and the historical #3 best LA team. With a little bit more success in the past they could have been the surprise. But the huge Darkhorse that is really important to notice is in fact Lyon-6K, it didn't exist 4 years ago, it's a really recent thing, thoose 2 org did fuse together on LoL, probably the LAN structure with the most money with the LAN structure with most aura (In Riot POV), if today they try to have a slot, Ithink Riot would really consider it.

But I'm really open to have your opinion about LAN (You probably know better the structure in there, as you can see my argu:ment rely more on strategic, than on knowledge you LAN structure), is they are any structure that you think could take LAN spot ? Do you think LAN is doomed ?

#45

AlexSMTx

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I think some orgs are up to the task like Lyon, they have a LoL team in the north division and are doing just fine. As for representation... Well, LAN does have good players but they aren't abundant, plus the few good LAN players tend to have pretty hefty buyouts. Look at Xolos for example, best team in LAN and 2 of their players are from LAS. Also worth mentioning that KRU and LEV have tried LAN players in the past but haven't signed them because the LAN teams charge a lot. So while I see ur argument of putting in a LAN team in VCT to give more representation to LAN players, it's by no means a guaranteed. The first example that comes to mind is Darker, he would've probably been in VCT way before Virtyy if it wasn't bc Xolos was asking too much money for him, even for an org like KRU.

So yeah, you can give an org like Lyon the spot, but that won't mean they will have the resources to suddenly pick up the best talents of LAN. They would probably either have to pick average LAN players (Which I heavily doubt would do good in VCT) or pick from LAS where players are cheaper

#46

Anguibok

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"it's by no means a guaranteed."
Oh I definitely agree with that, it's a bold predicition more than a 100% sure things

#48

AlexSMTx

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Right, the reason there aren't many LAN players in VCT isn't bc LEV or KRU dont wanna sign players due to their nationality. It's because the talent there is scarce compared to LAS and they are expensive to sign. If LEV and KRU who have more money don't sign them, I don't see why another org would.

#47

FrogGrenade

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Furia and EG I think. Have they publicly stated they want to shorten to 8 yet?