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VCT Americans League is Back for the 2023 Season

The VCT Americas league starts this weekend. We break down the preseason favorites and the first week's schedule.

The wait is finally over for Valorant fans in the Americas as the Valorant Champions Tour 2023: Americas League will start their regular season this weekend. The eight-week season will see 10 of the Americas’ best Valorant teams face off in a single round-robin. The teams that end the regular season in the top 6 in the standings will qualify for playoffs, while the bottom four teams will be watching from home. 

The Competitors

The ten teams that will be competing for the title of VCT: Americas League champions are: 100 Thieves, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, FURIA Esports, KRU Esports, Leviatan, LOUD, MIBR, NRG, and Sentinels. The field is filling up with fan favorites from North America, Latin America, and South America. 

The clear favorite going into the regular season is Brazil’s LOUD. LOUD had a stellar showing at the VCT: LOCK//IN tournament earlier this year, coming in 2nd place after losing a hard-fought championship match that went all five maps. They were also the only team in the Americas League to make it to the Top 4 of the tournament, so many believe that LOUD will have a somewhat easy time throughout the season. 

NRG is another team to look out for this year. This squad also had a good showing at the VCT: LOCK//IN tournament making it to the Round of 8 before having their tournament run ended by LOUD in a series that went all three maps. This team has already proven to be competitive against LOUD and will be looking to avenge their loss sometime this year. 

Leviatan was another team that made it to the Round of 8. However, their run ended less gracefully, losing the Natus Vincere 2-0 and losing the last map 13-2. Leviatan’s run was flawless up until that point, though against questionable competition. I expect Leviatan to be a top team in the Americas League. Still, I am unsure what expectations to have for any international appearances they may be made in the future.

100 Thieves is the other front-runner going into the start of the year. They would go on to lose in their Round of 8 match to the future LOCK//IN champions Fnatic. Being pushed to their limit throughout the LOCK//IN tournament, with their two wins being 2-1 matches. 100 Thieves has proven to be able to compete with the top teams in the world; how will they fare in the regular season play? 

VCT: Americas League Schedule and Betting Odds

My first match of the week is Evil Geniuses vs. Cloud9 on Sunday. There are a lot of questions surrounding these two teams, both representing fan-favorite organizations. With both having disappointing runs in the LOCK//IN tournament, expect both teams to come in motivated to get an excellent start to their season. 

My match of the week is Leviatan vs. NRG on Monday. Wrapping up what should be a fun and exciting opening week is this match which sees two of the top teams coming into the season face off right away. Oddsmakers see Leviatan as slight underdogs, but as any Valorant fan knows, that means nothing.

All times listed are in Eastern Time. 

Saturday, April 1st

Sentinels (+105) vs. 100 Thieves (-135) – 3 PM

KRU Esports (+150) vs. FURIA Esports (-200) – 6 PM

Sunday, April 2nd 

LOUD (-1200) vs. MIBR (+575) – 3 PM

Evil Geniuses (-210) vs. Cloud9 (+160) – 6 PM

Monday, April 3rd

Leviatan (+115) vs NRG (-150) – 3 PM