Absence of Oceania teams in VCT 2023 reveals unfair representation in the tournament

Riot Games has finally announced the list of all the teams that have been selected to participate in the VCT 2023 tournament season. A lot of the big names have been chosen and will be seen playing next year. However, some failed to make the cut, leaving many in the community disappointed.

The letdown is understandable because some of the teams that weren't picked for the upcoming tournament season were equally popular and talented. In the case of some regions like Oceania itself, not a single team was selected, thereby resulting in a lack of representation of the entire region itself.

Note: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.

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Is the team distribution for the upcoming VCT 2023 tournament season fair?

From the looks of it, the team distribution and team selection for VCT 2023 does not look fair at all. Many smaller teams have been given a chance, which is a very good thing since smaller teams getting exposure to the global scene is very important for the growth of the professional circuit.

However, many popular teams like OpTic Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix haven't been selected for the tournament.

Both these teams have a stacked roster full of very talented players. Both have managed to win at least one tournament in the VCT 2022 season. There was never a dull moment when they were playing, nor were they lacking a fanbase. Despite all this, they missed out on being selected for the VCT 2023 tournament season.

Oceania has had a very disappointing case in terms of representation. Despite having a decent number of teams, not a single team was picked up for the upcoming tournament season. Sadly enough, the region has been receiving the short end of the stick for a while now.

During the 2022 season, teams had to participate in the Valorant Oceania Tour Stage 1 and Stage 2 tournaments.

The winners from these two tournaments would get a place in the Valorant APAC Challengers Stage 1 and 2, respectively. A final OCE championship was also held and the winner received a spot at the APAC LCQ.

Oceania isn't as big as any other major region in the world, but having no representation in the VCT 2023 season is very detrimental for the region. The only saving grace comes in the form of VCT Challengers tournaments.

Riot Games will be organizing 21 such tournaments and the winner of this tournament will earn a spot in the Challengers: Ascension tournament, which is again broken down into three regions: Americas, EMEA, and Pacific.

While that doesn't guarantee teams from Oceania a direct shot in the VCT 2024 season, it still gives them a fighting chance.

That said, given that Riot Games is reworking their entire tournament structure, it's understandable that this situation could arise at some point of time. Some teams like PWR truly deserve a shot at being selected for a partnership slot.

However, they were denied the chance to apply for it quite early on. It will be interesting to see how the entire region performs in its respective Challengers tournament.