Best VALORANT teams yet to win an international trophy

Compared to established esports titles like CS:GO And League of Legends, VALORANT is still relatively new at the beginning of 2023, has only two full years under its belt and is just beginning its first year of the long-term partnership model.

Only seven teams have won an international cup so far VALORANT Champions Tour between 2021 and 2023, upon completion of VCT LOCK//IN to kick off the 2023 season. Fnatic lay claim to the latest trophy and would arguably have the strongest arguments for being at the top of this list were it not for an angry comeback attempt by LOUD in the grand final would have been held.

Whether the team or the players themselves are considered the trophy winners is entirely up to you. Technically, NAVI has never won a trophy, but all five of the current players have won a trophy before, and the same goes for most of NRG.

However, there are a number of talented teams VALORANT with players and organization that didn’t win but will try to continue the trend of there being a new team lifting a trophy at every international VCT event.

The best VALORANT teams who have not yet won an international VCT trophy

DRX

With Fnatic’s victory in Sao Paulo at VCT LOCK//IN, DRX takes first place among teams yet to win a trophy. The Kings of Korea have appeared in six straight international events between their stints as Vision Strikers and DRX, getting closer and closer to the grand finals with each tournament.

The team boasts arguably the world’s best controller player in Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan, whose unwavering defensive presence is favored as a tried-and-true ground anchor against any attacking side. DRX is also fielding an Elite Duelist/Initiator combo in Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu and Kim “stax” Gu-taek. Also noteworthy is their resilience; In the last two events, they have come incredibly close to bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit in a row on two separate occasions.

Paper Rex

Paper Rex is one of the most exciting VALORANT Watching teams around the world and their electric style of play has put Southeast Asia on the map. Her last two performances have been a bit lackluster, but her 2022 breakout shows at the Reykjavík and Copenhagen Masters have been great.

The team has always brought a fun approach VALORANT overall, with either their aggressive in-game playstyle or their goofy pre-game antics, led by Captain Benedict “Benkai” Tan. Paper Rex uses its own dynamic controller player in Aaron “Mindfreak” Leonhart.

Leviathan

An exciting team from Latin America, Leviatán is epitomized by their resilience and sheer amount of playmaking throughout the roster. Like Paper Rex, they’ve come a long way in 2022, but like DRX, they seem to be playing better and better with each tournament.

The LATAM roster fields one of the best clutch players in the world in Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena, who seems to thrive even more when the team plays on Haven and seems able to play any role reliably well. And on a day when KiNgg and duelist Vicente “Tacolilla” Compagnon are on fire, Leviatán certainly looks like a contender for the trophy.

100 thieves

After a reset in early 2022 and another just a few weeks later, 100T was able to catapult itself back into international relevance by the end of the year. They made Champions 2022 via the NA LCQ, looked dominant in their first event with Matthew “Cryocells” Panganiban at the Red Bull Home Ground, and reached the Quarterfinals at LOCK//IN.

Much like the other teams on this list, they have a great player in controller Sean “Bang” Bezerra. Additionally, despite being only 19, Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk has a tremendous amount of international experience and is a great flex option. Once Cryocells gets more comfortable with the post-chamber meta, 100T should be back in contention for the title.