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The 2022 Valorant Champions Tour will end with the year-end VCT Champions event in Istanbul, Turkey, which starts this Wednesday, August 31. The tournament will feature 16 of the best Valorant teams from all corners, battling to be crowned the world champions.
The previous edition of the VCT Champions 2022 event featured a prize pool of US $1,000,000. No one currently knows how much this year's VCT Champions event will give out to the winners, but considering last year's colossal prize pool, players should expect something similar.
VCT Champions 2022 Istanbul will likely showcase stunning performances
Fans look forward to witnessing the best Valorant esports teams take on each other in the crown jewel of Valorant's esports tour. They can't help but speculate about how their favorite team and others will perform in the upcoming clash.
Some of the teams on this list have displayed immense potential, and some have been performing consistently on the international stage. The teams will have to put their best foot forward in order to move further into the tournament. The following are five teams to look out for in the upcoming VCT Champions 2022.
1) OpTic Gaming
OpTic Gaming is pretty clearly the favorite team in most of the Valorant community, as they have repeatedly shown why they are considered the best team in the North American region. OpTic has been the most successful team in the game's first two years, consistently ending up in the top three at any Masters event.
Their weakest point has been the EMEA teams as they have only won on a single map against a team from Europe. They are 0-4 against teams from the EMEA region and will be looking to balance the equation as they head into the biggest Valorant tournament of the year.
2) FunPlus Phoenix
The FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) team consists of players who have an incredible balance in aggression and ways to defend. They are the latest VCT Masters Champions and are currently in great form. Their title run at the Copenhagen event was nothing short of a fairy tale.
Despite missing out on the Masters: Reykjavik tournament due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, has qualified for the Champions event. Every other team will be looking to beat FPX as they have now been the top-ranked European team in Valorant since April of this year.
3) Paper Rex
Paper Rex is the tournament's dark horse, as they have a pretty unique playstyle amongst all the competing teams. Their playstyle is marked by hyper-aggressive play and is extremely unpredictable when compared to other top teams.
Paper Rex became the first Asian team to reach an international VCT tournament final. However, FPX beat them brutally in the final. PRX is still one of the most promising teams and can undoubtedly become the title holder this year.
4) LOUD
The number one South American contender, LOUD, has been the most consistent team, losing only three matches in the entire year. They qualified for the VCT event quite quickly as they had amassed quite a lot of circuit points due to these invincible runs.
At Masters Reykjavík, they ended up being the runners-up but had a dismal run at the Masters Copenhagen event. Their recent display in Copenhagen may have dampened expectations for the Brazilian team, but they'll be looking to put the critics to rest on this tourney.
5) Team Liquid
Team Liquid is the most fun bunch of players with the on-tap god Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom at the helm. They have now qualified for the second year in a row for the Champions event through the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers. They didn't make waves if the stats were to be checked, but they did what needed to be done.
Fans will be hoping that Team Liquid can quickly push it through to the Playoffs. The team is well known for causing upsets and the entire esports community will be keeping an eye on this team in the days to come.
