Valorant eSports gaming events are on the rise since introducing the Valorant Challenger Series and other Valorant Champions Tournaments (VCTs). These events are usually region limited to identify the victor among all the teams that participate from different regions like:
- North America (NA)
- Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
- Korea (KR)
- Latin America (LATAM)
- Brazil (BR)
- Japan (JP)
- South-East Asia (SEA)
Two teams qualify for the Valorant Masters Tournament from each of these regions, except for LATAM, JP, and SEA. The latter regions contribute only one team to complete the ten-team roster for VCT Masters Series.
Region Supremacy
It is natural to observe the difference in each team’s gameplay that competes for qualification to VCT Masters based on their regions. A few reasons that are primarily responsible for the differences are the regional gameplay competition and previous eSports gaming background.
For example, it is standard for EU and NA Valorant teams to perform far better than SEA and JP teams. Those regions have a competitive advantage with numerous active and retired professional eSports players compared to teams from other regions with a dormant eSports community.
Another aspect that comes into play is that the formerly mentioned regions have more chances of gaining experienced eSports players’ guidance and witnessing multiple Valorant events in a year. However, Valorant is improving the eSports scene in the lesser participating regions to expand the number of players and make eSports a viable career for those who possess the skill.
NA vs EU
Gamers might be familiar with the existing enormous rivalry between the two regions, North America and Europe. These regions often compete against each other in other eSports titles apart from Valorant. Thus, despite being nearly equal in their gaming skills, they maintain somewhat toxic rivalry among each other.
From game tournaments of titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Overwatch and World of Warcraft and many others, teams from these regions often qualify for finals more than teams from other countries. Ultimately this scenario also pools into the Valorant Champions Tournaments and other Valorant championships.
NA Wins VCT Stage 2: Masters – The First Valorant Global Tournament
On 31st May 2021, Sentinels from the NA region became the winners of the VCT Stage 2 Masters tournament held in Reykjavik, Iceland, by competing against the finalists Fnatic, hailing from the EU region.
During the beginning of the VCT Masters tournament, it appeared that the EU region would crown the final victory. Still, over the progression of the Upper Quarter-Finals to Upper Semi-Finals, the brackets reflected strong chances of two NA teams coming out as finalists.
To less of a surprise but a definite truth, Team Fnatic from the UK became the finalists after beating every team since entering the Lower Round 2 due to facing a null defeat from KRU Esports- a team from the LATAM region. Also, it is noteworthy to add that team Fnatic won every game 2-0 to make it into the finals of Valorant Champions Tournaments, except for its 2-1 game against NUTURN from South Korea.
Why does NA Dominate the Valorant eSports Scene?
Version 1 and Sentinels are two teams that qualified for the VCT Masters from the NA region. Based on their gameplay from the Upper Round 1, they seemed better qualified to become the victors compared to the other eight teams from different respective regions. Now, those other teams weren’t half bad, but they still didn’t match the skills possessed by the North American teams.
An apparent reason NA dominated the VCT Masters held in Reykjavik in Iceland is that the valorant players that make those teams were well-versed in handling different situations based on their individual and team training that occurs on the Valorant NA server.
Read More: Five Valorant Pro Crosshair Settings!
Are NA Servers Special?
There’s nothing particularly extraordinary about the NA servers on the technical side. All the servers across all the regions offer 128 tick gameplay and similar game functionality. What makes a greater difference is the skill level of players competing in the NA server.
Galaxy Brain eSports Valorant North American Players
Valorant players from NA servers evidently experiment more with the map and valorant abilities than other regions. In contrast, teams from regions like KR and BR focus more on the FPS aspect of the game. It is not unusual to play the game according to one’s desire, but winning Valorant Competitive matches will require that you possess better skills with respect to both aspects of the game- as the NA players do.
Established North American eSports Background
Another factor that makes NA teams special, skill-wise, is that many eSports players from NA form the roster of Valorant NA teams. Many experienced NA eSports players are also coaching these teams. Their experience in asymmetric tactical shooters helps newer NA valorant players gain an edge over a completely new valorant player from other regions with no guidance backgrounds.
Hence, currently, the NA region emerged victorious if we consider the results of VCT Masters in a region-wise manner. Lastly, the clean victory of Sentinels and their immensely impressive 13W streak also depicted to the world that Valorant is more than just another tactical shooter.
