VALORANT Stage 1 Masters EU Preview: Are Heretics Still Favorites?

Soon, the Masters tournament is bound to commence as the culmination of the first stage of the VALORANT Champions Tour. In the European installation, eight teams will go up against each other to crown the winner of VCT Stage 1.

Last year ended with Team Heretics achieving a spectacular first place at First Strike Europe. Back then, they set themselves on top of SUMN FC, who are now playing for Fnatic. Their former Grand Finals opponents were unable to make it to Masters during the last Challengers weekend, however, and so Heretics can already cross off one of the names on their list of rivals. Nonetheless, the tournament won’t be an easy ride for them.

FunPlus Phoenix are the veterans in this playing field. Since August, Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow has led the team into battle and has helped them to quite a few solid placements. So far, however, the team has always stood in the shadows of G2 Esports, which is obviously bound to change soon. In January “Dmitriy “dimasick” Matvienko was signed to the roster and since then, they have only risen upwards. At Challengers 2, they set themselves on top of Fnatic on a 2-1 scoreline and secured their Masters spot.

Alliance and Guild Esports both beat Wave Esports to make the event. While Guild only needed two quick maps, Alliance had to go to overtime on the second map. One round gone wrong could have completely swayed the match and cost them the Masters spot, but they prevailed after a bitter fight. Still, their chances aren’t all too great at Masters. After all, FPX and NiP are a cut above the shaky Wave Esports lineup.

THE NEW NIP

In December, the Ninjas in Pyjamas completely overhauled their roster. In their VALORANT journey so far, they had only placed behind G2, FPX, and Liquid, but with Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans they have onboarded one of the most prolific and well-known CS:GO in-game-leaders of all time.

Almost instantly, Ex6TenZ has led them to success. At Challengers 1 and 2, they secured solid victories over G2 Esports and immediately made Masters on their first attempt. However, they are yet to face the likes of FPX in this constellation. At the Challengers Qualifiers, they only met weaker opposition and so it’s difficult to estimate how well they will fare against the top brass of European VALORANT.

ARE HERETICS THE FAVORITES?

The last major VALORANT event was a total success for Team Heretics. Since then, only qualifiers and smaller events have taken place, which don’t really bear a lot of significance in the bigger picture. Christian “lowel” Garcia Antoran and his colleagues swept through the Challengers Qualifier. They have brought a strong sixth man on board in the form of Ruben “RUBINO” Villaroel. At Challengers 2, he took the spot of Dustyn “niesoW” Durnas. However, it is entirely possible that Heretics will switch this lineup around again so as to remain unpredictable. Taking a look at the most recent Counter-Strike scene, this approach seems to be working just fine.

Ballista Esports, DfuseTeam, and ACEND (formerly known as Raise Your Edge) mounted victories over G2 Esports, Fnatic, and OG, respectively. A change is on the horizon for the scene and, just like at First Strike, these new and fresh rosters threaten to overthrow the established and well-known teams. This has already happened to Liquid and G2. So will the top teams like FPX, Heretics, and NiP pull through? Or will their new opposition start to ascend the throne of European VALORANT?