23-year-old Alexandre “xms” Forté is a professional VALORANT player, and former CS:GO pro. He has played with some of the top teams in Counter-Strike, mainly: Team Envy and LDLC. After a troubling 2020 season with Team Heretics, he left the team, retired and switched over to VALORANT. He hasn’t had much success yet, only getting a win at the LeStream Tournament with Team Jbzz. However, he’s had quite a lot of solid achievements on CS:GO.
Here’s some of XMS’ best results in CS:GO:
1st in DreamHack Open Atlanta 2017 – 23rd July 2017 – $50,000
5th/6th at ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals – 1st June 2017 – $45,000
5th-8th in ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 – 11th October 2017 – $35,000
Alliance adding XMS for VALORANT – Why?
A few weeks ago, the Alliance management revealed that they were parting ways with Lithuanian player krea6oN. This was quite a shocking roster change, especially after managing to qualify for the European VCT Stage 1 Masters event.
Credits: DreamHack
Alliance were originally teasing their new 5th to be KennyS or NBK, however it was all fun and jokes. Now with XMS, the team is hungrier than ever to find success in their upcoming VALORANT tournaments.
We got a new player joining the #ALLfam tomorrow looking to make his mark in #VALORANT!👀
This Frenchman is known for his time in CS:GO, can he channel his past and become the Envy of the VALORANT scene?🤔🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/balHKZ1M0C
Alliance’s next event is none other than the VCT Stage 1 Masters event. They are up against some of the best teams in Europe, most notably: NiP, FPX and Team Heretics. They will need to adapt quickly if they’re looking for a swift victory, but we’re sure that they’ll manage to pull something off nonetheless.
Czech Republican team Entropiq has announced that it is parting ways with VALORANT in-game leader VlaDéDé. Here is their announcement:
Today we bid farewell to @VlaDeDe from our Valorant team. In the name of the whole Entropiq we wish you only the best in your personal and gaming life. We will officially introduce the newest addition soon. pic.twitter.com/6ltEHe3iTt
23-year-old Romain “VlaDéDé” Mieudonnet is a French VALORANT player. He started his professional career with the Purple Cobras, and after their 5th-8th placement at First Strike Europe, the squad received multiple offers. This eventually led into the team’s disband, and VlaDéDé’s debut on Entropiq.
Entropiq parting ways with VlaDéDé – Why?
In their main announcement, they do not clearly mention the reasoning behind the departure. If we take a quick look at their recent results, the team placed 2nd in the VERSUS LEGENDS #2, a decent achievement for a team that had just been created. However a few weeks later they were tasked with the VCT Challengers 3 event. Here they placed 5th-8th after falling to Guild Esports.
All things considered, having the roster only being active for a couple of weeks, that wasn’t a bad result. Despite this, the team and management have opted to go for an IGL switch to improve their results.
What’s next?
As stated in their departure announcement, Entropiq will reveal their newest member very soon. With the VCT Challengers 3 concluding, there many options when it comes to free agents. So we’re sure that the team can bounce back on top to become one of Europe’s best in no time.
This week we’ll be seeing the VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters take place. This is going to be the biggest regional VALORANT event yet, so be sure not to miss it. Here below is all the information about the event, and how to watch it.
Every movement counts. Which team will be the last one standing?
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 9, 2021
Tournament’s background
The VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters is the first Masters we’ve seen in VALORANT so far. With the introduction of the VALORANT Champions Tour we’ve seen a lot of up and coming teams take place of other organizations and this is a perfect opportunity for any organization interested in entering VALORANT to pick up a solid roster.
How to qualify for the main event
All of the teams that qualified for the regional Stage 1 Masters got their spot due to their placement in the Challengers 2 and 3 events. All of the teams that placed in the top 4 of both Challengers events got a direct qualification to the Masters event.
Prize distribution
The European prizepool has been declared to be $150,000 in total. The North American prizepool has not yet been disclosed, however we can expect a similar sum. This is how the prize money will be distributed in Europe:
1st – $60,000
2nd – $30,000
3rd/4th – $15,000
5th-6th – $10,000
7th-8th – $5,000
Credits: Riot Games
Tournament Format for VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters
Both events feature different formats for the Stage 1 Masters, this is how they’re going to be played out:
Europe:
Consisting of a group stage format with 2 groups of 4 teams.
Only 2 teams will qualify to playoffs
All of the matches are in a best of 3.
Playoffs are played out in a 4 team single-elimination bracket
Playoff matches are Best of 3, and Finals are Best of 5.
North America:
Consisting of a double elimination bracket.
All of the matches are in a best of 3.
Finals are in a Best of 5.
Teams Participating at the VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters
A total of 8 teams from each region are participating, totalling up to 16. All of these teams have qualified through Challengers events and are preparing for one of the biggest VALORANT events ever. Here is a list of all the teams participating, sorted by their region:
Europe:
Alliance
Ninjas In Pyjamas
FunPlus Phoenix
Team Heretics
Guild Esports
DfuseTeam
Ballista Esports
Raise Your Edge Gaming
Credits: Valesports_EU
North America:
Team Envy
Sentinels
Immortals
XSET
FaZe Clan
100 Thieves
Luminosity Gaming
Gen.G Esports
Credits: Liquipedia
Schedule list
The event is set to start on the 11th of March, and keep playing out till late March on the 21st. Here’s a brief run down of the first few matches for the North American Stage 1 Masters (Since European Groups still haven’t been revealed yet):
Watch the VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters stream on esportsguide.com
You can also watch the VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
With the VCT 2021 Stage 1 Masters being the first ever Masters event in VALORANT, it’s quite tough to predict who will come out on top. Considering Team Heretics had the most success in First Strike EU, we think they have the highest chances of winning it all in the first Masters event. North America on the other hand, is much tougher. With different teams winning all the recent events we can’t just safely pick a team to win. If we base our predictions on recent results however, we can conclude that FaZe Clan, Sentinels or 100 Thieves have the highest odds of victory.
Be sure to keep yourself updated with www.esportsguide.com for all your esports news!
It has been revealed publicly that former G2 awper kennyS was practicing or playing with the VALORANTAlliance roster. kennyS is now denying a possible switch over to VALORANT. Here’s more information about the situation:
Yes it is, valorant is a great game but I want to grind CS rn
KennyS denying switch to VALORANT – What happened?
As you may know, G2 has recently announced major changes to its CS:GO roster. These changes include JaCkz returning to the roster, and NiKo going into a more hybrid role. These changes leave kennyS with the option to either search for another CS:GO team, or switch over to VALORANT.
Credits: DreamHack
KennyS to VALORANT; Is it possible?
Just recently, he was spotted playing VALORANT alongside the Alliance lineup of Fearoth and Co. This led into many questions and quickly circled around twitter. Everyone was worried that the AWP god would depart from the game that made him into what he is now. In fact, he has been hinting or teasing a switch for quite some time now.
However, as stated in one of his tweets, his main focus at the moment is Counter-Strike and only that. Esports reporter haloofthoughts has also addressed the possibility of kennyS switching over to VALORANT, however he stated that he still has options in CS:GO.
Valorant: According to sources former G2 CSGO player Kenny "KennyS" Schrub, has been having a trial with Alliance. As it seemed on an earlier accidental leak.
Sources also believe that KennyS hasn't fully committed on a switch to Valorant yet with options in CSGO.
— Arran “Halo” Spake (@haloofthoughts) March 8, 2021
Whatever kennyS decides to do, we’re sure that he’ll stun the world anyway. That being said, we can’t wait to see what lies in the future for kennyS and what he’ll be able to achieve in 2021.
EXCEL Reveal Davidp as captain for VALORANT – Origins
26-year-old David “Davidp” Prins started his VALORANT career with the G2 Esports roster. Whilst he was with them, they were considered as the most dominant EU roster, and quite possibly the best in the world. However, after a couple of disappointing results, leading up to a 3rd/4th placement in First Strike, the team opted to release David. The main reason for this was due to the team struggling without a proper in-game leader. Since his departure, G2 was inconsistent with their results. Only grabbing one win at the Red Bull Home Ground event.
Credits: Excel
Now Davidp is joining Excel on a new project to create something very strong within the VALORANT competitive scene. Here on Esports Guide, we’ve already written an article based on a report that indicated Excel’s interest in entering VALORANT. In that article we mentioned that the roster will consist of 2 British members, a French player, as well as a Russian player.
Here is the rumoured ExcelVALORANT lineup:
David “DavidP” Prins
Oscar “ozzy” Scott
Morgan “B1GGY” Madour
Harry “DPS” MacGill
Danila “Sunset” Soloviov
Excel entering VALORANT is huge for the scene. Along with getting another supportive organization in Europe, the potential of having another dominant team is massive. We can’t wait to see what Excel and Davidp have to offer for this 2021 season, but be sure to get notified on all the news here on www.esportsguide.com!
Heading into the 2nd act of Episode 2, Riot Games have added a couple of VALORANT competitive changes. Here’s everything you need to know.
You know Act II brings Astra and a new Battlepass. Patch Notes 2.04 lays out the rest, including extensive Competitive matchmaking updates and more Agent VO to help with call outs.
With a new act, players are usually required to finish off their placements before getting their actual rank. This patch however, will no longer lower the ranks of players if they had already placed in Episode 2 Act 1. After your first match (the placement) in Act 2, you rank will be shown. Although if you haven’t played a competitive game in Act 1, you are required to play out all 5 placements before your rank is visible.
Regional requirements for Radiant cut off:
LATAM & KR: 100 RR
BR: 200 Rank Rating
NA & APAC: 300 RR
EU: 400 RR
What else was changed?
The VALORANT ranks are not going to be shown in Agent select or in-game any longer. However, they will still be available at the end of the game. One cool thing that Riot have added is that they have widened the group of ranks to play with.
Riot have acknowledged that a huge part of their community are at the lower ranks. In order to help the lower ranked players learn and improve, they have lessened the rank disparity which will allow Iron 1 players to play with Silver 3 players. Here’s an image showing how it will work:
Once activated, Astra enters Astral Form, where she is able to palace stars with Primary Fire. One thing to note is that the stars can be activated at a later time, transforming them into another ability. The stars can’t be grabbed again, so once placed, they stay there for the entire round. The most important part about this ability, is that without the stars, Astra is unable to use an ability (except the ultimate).
C – Gravity Well:
Once a star is activated with this ability, the players in the area are pulled towards the centre before it explodes.
Q – Nova Pulse:
This ability is one of her strongest, since it is considered as a stun. If a star is activated with “Q”, The Nova Pulse charges briefly, and then strikes, concussing all of the players in its radius.
E – Nebula:
If activated with this ability, the star turns into Smoke, concealing all vision in its path.
F – Dissipate:
If F is used on a star, it can be placed into a new location after a slight delay. Once the ability is used, it turns into a fake Nebula at the Star’s location before returning.
X – Cosmic Divide:
This is the Ultimate ability in Astra’s ability kit. Cosmic Divide is charged, if secondary fire is used in Astral Form, it can be used to aim at 2 locations. If fired with the primary the locations are selected and an infinite Cosmic Divide connects the two points. Cosmic Divide also blocks bullets and heavily dampens audio.
If you still don’t understand the potential of Astra, and what her abilities do, head over to the video below made by HITSCAN
How will she compare to other agents?
This is the first “new” controller agent in the game, and will certainly be a feasible choice in professional VALORANT. Obviously it will take some time until everyone figures out her neeks and tricks. But in the end, we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out
Yes this is real, offline tournaments are finally back. Riot Games have just released their announcement for the VCT Stage 2 Masters. Here’s everything you need to know.
We’re going international! VCT Stage 2 Masters will be our first international #VCT event. 10 teams from around the world will be competing in Reykjavík, Iceland on May 24-30. pic.twitter.com/H0fvzZbXDY
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 1, 2021
VCT Stage 2 Masters – What is it?
The VCT stage 2 Masters event is the second major event of the 2021 VALORANTChampions Tour. In this tournament we’ll see all the strongest VALORANT teams around the world compete against each other to determine who is the best. Here is how the regional team qualifications are going to work:
Credits: Riot Games
Not many details have been disclosed as of right now, but we’re sure to get some as we get closer to the event.
If you’ve forgotten how the VALORANT Champions Tour Roadmap is going to play out, here’s a quick image to refresh your memory:
Credits: Riot Games
When and where?
As shown in the video above, the Stage 2 Masters event will take place in the Laugardalshöll, located at Reykjavík, Iceland. The tournament will commence between the 24th and 30th of May and obviously, due to the current health situation, the players are required to quarantine upon arrival.
Credits: Riot Games
The Stage 2 Masters will be the first VALORANT tournament that will play out in an offline setting. This is sure to be one of the biggest events in esports history, and we can’t wait for more information to come out! Until then, be sure to visit www.esportsguide.com for all your important esports news!
18-year-old Rahul “curry” Nemani is an up and coming prodigy when it comes to FPS esport titles. He kicked off his career in CS:GO, back when he signed with InControlGaming in 2018. Curry kept on climbing the ranks and tiers of American CS:GO until he reached a whole new level with Triumph. It’s fair to say that he found most of his success in 2020, mainly with this squad.
He has now switched over to VALORANT with hopes of finding even more success in another esport title.
Here are some of Curry’s best achievements:
1st in ESEA Season 33: Premier Division – North America Finals – 7th August 2020 – $12,500
5th/6th in BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 American Showdown – 5th Junge 2020 – $10,000
2nd at NCS Grand Finals 2019 @ Fragadelphia 14 – 15th December 2019 – $9,000
Credits: T1
What’s next for T1?
Hopefully with this roster change T1 can build a strong chemistry heading into the Stage 1 Challengers 3 event of the VALORANT Champions Tour. These tournaments are crucial to qualify for, especially for a big organisation such as T1. For now, we can only speculate what this team will be able to achieve, but we’re sure to see them on top in no time.
Be sure to keep yourself updated on all the important esports news here on www.esportsguide.com!
Team Envy win VCT Challengers 2 – How did they do it?
Envy started the event with a 2-0 victory over XSET’s newest roster. This win got them versus Sentinels in the Upper bracket semifinals, in which they won and got into the upper bracket final. Here they took on Immortals’ updated squad, which was no problem at all for Envy as they took the 2-1 win and advanced to the grand final.
In the final they had an opportunity to rematch Sentinels as they managed to climb up from the lower bracket. Team Envy already had a 1 map default win due to staying in the upper bracket, and this made things much simpler for them. They first took a victory on Haven 13-9, and eventually went on to dominate Bind as well (13-3), securing the series and tournament win.
First NA team to secure a Masters spot ✅ Back on top in NA ✅
Team Envy has established itself as one of North America’s best VALORANT teams. After beating teams like XSET, Immortals, and Sentinels twice in one event, they’re certainly a team to look out for in the 2021 season.
Be sure to visit www.esportsguide.com for all the latest and important esports news!
