Champions Tour 2023 comprises Riot’s new franchising plan, where 30 international teams are split into three regions. The ten teams per region will be going head to head with each other over a two-month league to see who advances to the first Masters’ event held in Tokyo, Japan. 

Now it’s pretty early in the season, but I wanted to take the time to look back and rate my predictions from when the teams were first released in November. I’ll look at all three regions: the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and the Pacific.

From the Americas league, my predictions have kind of been flipped upside down. It’s proven to not be dominated by the U.S.-based teams, but it’s actually a lot more refreshing than what I first predicted. The biggest surprise so far is NRG, a team that supposedly should do well; with the team they built and the standard of their play in the past, it’s kind of shocking to see them lose so badly. 

Heading over to EMEA, this prediction was surprisingly accurate for the most part. The teams who were able to sign some of the better names found their ground quickly and are solidifying their spot to qualify for Masters. FNATIC redeemed their somewhat disappointing season last year with the LOCK//IN win, and they continue their dominance in the league. Team Vitality and FUT have been the biggest upsets from my original prediction; they have surprisingly found themselves in the top three of the league. 

Besides the current top two teams and a couple of middle-of-the-pack teams in the Pacific, it’s all pretty much jumbled. I thought I had a decent read on the players and teams throughout this league, but with Talon finding themselves at the bottom and Team Secret sneaking their way into the top five, there’s more to look for in this league than I first thought of. Despite my low prediction of Team Secret during pre-season, it is nice to see a team from the Philippines do well.

There’s still a lot of VALORANT to be played between everyone, and the standings are bound to change, so it’ll be exciting to spectate throughout the month.