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The Valorant scene is only a year old but it has already reached a high level of popularity. Top-tier esports organizations have become a big part of the Valorant Champions Tour including Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, Team Secret, Sentinels, and G2 Esports. This has been present in almost every esports scene and is a big reason behind its growth.
All of the named teams have become strong members of the VCT but Sentinels is the scene’s best team so far. Only Gambit Esports and Vision Strikers have come close to SEN’s dominance. However, that came to a head during the VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters in Berlin where SEN lost in the quarterfinals against Team Envy in a 2-0 series.
SEN and G2 had a rivalry that was sparked on social media because of the regional rivalry between North America and Europe. SEN was the best NA team and G2 was seen as one of the top teams in Europe. With G2’s strong social media presence, they sparked the friendly rivalry and it was prominent in the VCT Stage 3 Masters group stage and the esports betting Canada markets.
Regional rivalries are awesome
When you look at other esports, regional rivalries are also present. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the NA vs Europe rivalry is a big one for the game’s growth. With Dota 2, the Chinese region vs everyone else is always a prominent storyline which is similar to League of Legends’ South Korea vs the rest of the world narrative.
Since G2 and SEN are two of the most prominent esports orgs today, you can expect that both teams will be prominent in the big events. At Berlin, G2 and SEN played against each other twice in the group stages and they split with one series win apiece.
This did not settle the rivalry because it only made it more heated. It should not be a surprise that this intrigued VCT fans because a heated rivalry between two top teams is always a spectacle for everyone watching the tournaments.
With top players on both teams like Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo and Oscar ‘mixwell’ Cañellas Colocho, you can expect that this rivalry will continue for the foreseeable future. Fans need to recognize that this rivalry will be one of the best that the VCT has to offer. It might reach legendary status but that is yet to be determined with VCT’s one-year life so far.
It brings more eyes to the scene
Since both SEN and G2 are multi-esports orgs, you can expect that this can bring casual viewers to the Valorant scene. The VCT is barely a year old which means that it still has untapped potential in the esports scene. More fans will be aware of the Valorant scene if they can see such a heated rivalry.
Top players may possibly join the team when spots open up. CSGO is still seen as the primary first-person shooter esports title but Valorant is quickly climbing the ladder. The VCT is blossoming with each event and will be an amazing experience to see a Masters event with a loud crowd.
Riot Games already has a history of boosting a rivalry in the League scene and you can expect that can happen in Valorant too. It will be difficult to fail with the number of good teams in the VCT. Riot’s way of promoting these teams is also good since they have a healthy pay structure for the top teams.
SEN and G2 are only two of the top teams which means you can expect squads like Liquid, 100T or even Cloud9 to pop out as top contenders. They are jam-packed with talent and you can also expect top CSGO stars to move to Valorant.
The scene is thriving and you can also expect that esports betting Canada players will also grow with the game.
