The Regions are All Competitive
The intensity of Valorant’s inter-regional rivalry is palpable. It fuels discussion, debate, and, unfortunately, childish flaming wars on internet forums alike. But it’s fair to say that while sometimes the rhetoric goes too far, it also makes every international competition hugely exciting. Europe versus North America is always likely to give rise to both the best teams and the most hotly contested competitiveness; after all, they house the world’s biggest organizations and most popular players.
But after Masters 3 Berlin, it’s obvious the gap between them and the rest of the world is not as big as it once seemed. Korea, Japan, South East Asia, and the teams from South America all proved themselves extremely worthy of their places at the competition. Standout performances from the likes of Paper Rex’s ‘f0rsakeN,’ Vivo Keyd’s ‘Heat,’ and Vision Strikers’ ‘BuZz’ demonstrated that the individual skill level of many players in smaller regions is equal to Europe and North America’s best.
No team from either of the major regions should take their matches against minor ones for granted. Valorant is a fledgling esport, and it’s exciting because teams are constantly innovating new tactics and team play. That’s why we love it, and that’s why Champions is still wide open in terms of who can make it through to the latter stages and compete for the title.
