Strafe's Selections: Best VALORANT Teams of 2023

Valorant reached greater heights in the year 2023. With the introduction of the new VCT system and three leagues, we saw some of the best Valorant to date.

The thirty teams (and Chinese teams) played and delivered amazing games and incomparable moments. They played a total of 256 matches excluding the LCQ and China qualifiers and gave it their all to win the tournaments they played.

While every team put in their best effort, only a few managed to achieve expected results. These teams out performed their peers and displayed amazing consistency and talent throughout the year.

It is only natural to commemorate these teams. A list of five teams that played a version of Valorant that yielded much better results. Let’s talk about these five teams.

#1 Fnatic - The Back-to-Back Champions

The European Giants, Fnatic, has been a force in Valorant for a while. They were the first International tournament finalist but lost to Sentinels at VCT Masters Reykjavik 2023. Since then, Fnatic continuously made changes to bring in just the right pieces.

Finally in 2023, Fnatic became a well-rounded super team after they brought in Leo and Chronicle. The team started really strong with Off//season tournaments but started to shine more and more when VCT LOCK//IN 2023 rolled around.

At the tournament, Fnatic dominated the first four teams and played LOUD in the Grand Finals. They dominated the first two maps but got dumped by LOUD in the next two. In the final map, Fnatic were down 3-11 and came back to win the series 3-2.

Fnatic ran it back again at Tokyo. They won the tournament without dropping a single series. With the win, Fnatic set a precedent and became the first team to win back-to-back championships in Valorant.

At the Valorant Champions 2023, they did comfortably qualify for the playoffs, but lost to LOUD twice and placed fourth at the tournament. Their ‘worst placing’ for the year.

Why is Fnatic number one?

EG definitely can make a case for number one team of the year. But the sheer indomitable nature of Fnatic’s team definitely makes them number one.

Valorant Champions 2023 wasn’t the best tournament for Fnatic but they still managed to secure a fourth place finish.

Their version of Valorant had no mistakes, had little gaps and at their peak they looked unbeatable.

They consistently had a better year and lost to only two teams over the year. It's hard to make a case for other teams when you think about this.

Moreover, going into the next year, Fnatic still will continue as the only unchanged top team of the year. That not only speaks to the team’s confidence in themselves but also their trust in each other.

#2 Evil Geniuses - The Valorant Champions 2023

The North American savior Evil Geniuses are a relatively unknown squad of players who took the international scene by storm in 2023. Four out of the five players played their first international game in 2023. EG is the only unknown squad out of the top three teams in Valorant.

EG started their year as a butt of all jokes, They were the one of the last organizations to announce their experimental squad for the year and it featured three unknown international quantities.

At LOCK//IN, EG won the first game but lost to Talon 0-2, the team’s results only worsened as they had a weak start to VCT Americas. Middle of the season, the team decided to bench BcJ for an ‘open tryouts’ demon1.

Potter was criticised harshly for her decision to make such a switch but the unconventional move worked. Potter and EG started climbing back. And a 100T loss gave them a chance at Playoffs, where they took down Cloud9 to secure a VCT Masters Tokyo 2023 qualification.

At Tokyo, EG took down DRX to secure the playoffs. Followed it up with a win over LOUD and Team Liquid and Paper Rex to reach the Grand Finals. They did fall to Fnatic in the Grand Finals but it was a statement from the squad and Potter, that they are one of the best teams in Valorant. But some still called it a fluke.

At Valorant Champions 2023, they ran it back and secured the trophy, solidifying themselves as the year’s champion, completely destroying all the haters!

Why is EG number two?

With EG winning the biggest tournament of the year, they stand in contention for being the number one team of the year.

But in terms of consistency and overall performance and results, Fnatic had a better overall year to make them number one. But compared to the other 28 teams, EG definitely played amazing Valorant, and concluded the year as the best team.

EG and Fnatic played a very similar style of Valorant and both achieved amazing results. Unfortunately, the EG team has broken apart and won’t be playing together anymore. But the individual players have found good teams to play.

It will be interesting to see how the new EG will play and if Potter continues, what can she make of the new team.

#3 Paper Rex - The W Gaming Legends

The team that put Pacific on the map, Paper Rex have to be the outliers in every way, when Valorant is discussed as a game. They rarely follow the ‘meta’ and play an unconventional style of Valorant.

Starting the year with an unfortunate loss at VCT LOCK//IN’s single elimination hell, Paper Rex struggled to achieve consistency in their starting games of VCT Pacific too.

But their new player ‘something’ joined them during mid-season. With something, Paper Rex started being more aggressive, while they still played the same style, they had a new spark.

They benched their IGL Benkai and started playing an IGL-less version of Valorant led by the lead attackers in f0rsaken, something and Jinggg. Without a primary caller, the team seemed unstable but as they progressed, they became really strong.

They concluded VCT Pacific by defeating DRX and becoming the VCT Pacific Champion. Without their new duelist ‘something’ playing at Tokyo, Paper Rex displayed their new found resilience and defeated multiple strong teams and placed third at the tournament with a substitute.

At Valorant Champions 2023, with their full team, Paper Rex were in contention for the championship. They displayed exactly that, and made an undefeated run for the Grand Finals. In the finals though, the team slipped and lost to Evil Geniuses. While they could not win the tournament, they ended the year with a VCT Pacific trophy and a second place finish at Valorant Champions.

Why is Paper Rex number three?

Valorant as a game is mostly about the results, a team or player is only as good as the results they achieve. However much a team is liked or plays extraordinarily cannot rise about the results.

A large part of Paper Rex not being either of the top two teams are the results. While they did have to play with a substitute at Tokyo, Paper Rex placed third. Some might say it was unlucky that they could not have their full strength but in the end, that’s how the game is.

At Valorant Champions Grand Finals, Paper Rex hesitated and the pressure took over them. The pressure led to them making mistakes and eventually a loss. And for a team to be one of the best, they have to be able to handle the pressure put on by other teams.

Going into the next year, Paper Rex will miss their superstar duelist in Jinggg and have brought in another strong player in monyet and it’d be interesting to see what they cook up for next year.

#4 LOUD - The Brazilian Power House

The 2022 Valorant Champions lost two of their strong players in pANcada and Sacy to Sentinels. But they did not falter. They brought in cauanzin and tuyz to fill in the gaps. Not many considered them a strong squad going into VCT LOCK//IN 2023, but LOUD proved everyone wrong.

With their rookie players, LOUD defeated their first two opponents with relative ease. Facing NRG, they played one of the best games of the tournament, and won. Following the game they took down DRX and faced Fnatic in the finals.

They almost toppled the unbeaten Fnatic but unfortunately could not close the final map. They did dominate VCT Americas and won the tournament. At Tokyo, LOUD struggled and were eliminated in the Lower Round 1.

Following Tokyo, multiple rumors regarding the team's inner turmoil surfaced. The poor performance at Tokyo only amplified these rumors.

At Valorant Champions, the team had a rough start but had a resurgence which resulted in them taking on Fnatic in the first round of the playoffs. They defeated Fnatic and moved and also eliminated Fnatic to place third in the tournament.

Why is LOUD number four?

In comparison to other contenders, LOUD had amazing domestic results and a great start but struggled internationally. There’s definitely a case where they rank higher, but their poor Tokyo placement, despite the direct playoffs qualification, has to affect their rankings.

Going into the next year, they will play without Aspas, another crucial member of the squad and it’d be interesting to see if the rest of the squad can display the same level of performance.

#5 - EDward Gaming - The Chinese Juggernauts

EDward Gaming made their international debut at the Valorant Champions 2022. Despite the hype around them, they did not necessarily shine and fell flat.

Coming into 2023, they were amongst the two Chinese teams that were invited to the LOCK//IN. At LOCK//IN, they stumbled and fell to 100 Thieves, the noise surrounding them quickly went quiet.

Coming to Tokyo, EDG weren’t expected to finish in the top three but they displayed amazing skills and defeated LOUD to secure a fifth-sixth place finish. Most of the team’s hype started with ZmjjKk’s explosive OP’ing which led them to the fifth-sixth place finish.

At Valorant Champions 2023, EDG defeated European GIANTS to qualify for the playoffs but lost to LOUD and EG, ending on another 5th-6th placement.

Why is EDG number five?

LOUD definitely had a better year, hence they are ranked higher. But then why not Team Liquid who were the EMEA Champions or NRG, who had a decent year.

As a counter to NRG, EDG has dominated their region and have won all the tournaments including the three after the conclusion of Valorant Champions. Additionally, they had consistent Masters Tokyo and Valorant Champions results.

Liquid did defeat Fnatic once to win EMEA, but internationally struggled more, even failing to qualify for the Valorant Champions playoffs, making EDG a better choice over Liquid.

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Compared to these five teams, the rest of Valorant Tier 1 looks pale in comparison. These teams continuously thrived to become a better team. This concludes our list of Best Valorant teams of 2023. There is still atleast 45 days until the season starts but it’d be a better season as we see the level of competition rise.

Stay tuned on Strafe as we bring more Valorant to you!

Featured Image Credits: Riot Games

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