It’s been an eventful weekend for VALORANT esports, with each main region’s Game Changers finals taking place, as well as more and more drama pouring out of the tier-two scene every day. Today, Riot themselves has been involved in this dialogue and was met with criticism left and right from players, coaches, and bystanders after one particular suggestion.
On Saturday, Riot’s global head of VALORANT esports took to Twitter to address mounting discussions on the VCT, mainly the second tier and addition of Ascension tournaments. He was met with criticism from various parties, notably one player from The Guard, who was upset at his team being called a “guest” lineup.
Player Jacob “valyn” Batio, who is a controller for The Guard, expressed his disappointment with global head Leo Faria’s word choice in a July 30 tweet that was meant to indicate support towards second-tier teams rising through the ranks.
In a reply to Ludwig, Faria indicated his support for more tier two tournaments and other initiatives, including more opportunities for tier two teams like The Guard to make it through to the main VCT stage.
Unfortunately, the way he referred to The Guard’s earned spot in the 2024 VCT as a “guest slot” didn’t land right with fans or several VALORANT players themselves.
The VCT Ascension tournaments are a new initiative added to the franchised VCT league by Riot this year. The winners of each league’s Ascension are given a slot in the main VCT league for the following two years. The tournaments cap off the Challengers leagues, which are comprised of tier-two VALORANT teams. Many of these teams are run by organizations and made up of players who didn’t make it through the tough franchising period of late 2022.
Recent criticism of Riot’s franchising model has left fans upset about the difference, or lack thereof, between the level of teams in Challengers versus the main VCT league. Ludwig, in particular, has been vocal about certain tier-two teams performing better than franchised teams.
Teams that haven’t performed well in the main VCT league—like Japan’s Detonation FocusMe, for example, who went the entire season without a single win—should be relegated, Ludwig says, so that teams like The Guard who have proven themselves in tier two by winning the Ascension tournaments can join the league.
Though winning Ascension teams were never promised permanent or even franchised league spots for the year, the tournaments are meant to bridge a gap between tier one and tier two. And fans have criticized the true value of winning an Ascension tournament if teams can never truly “ascend,” or move up into the big leagues.
“Call it guest slots, visitor slots, Ascension slots, non-partnered slots, it doesn’t change the fact teams qualified for a two-year stint,” Faria responded in another tweet the same day. “It also doesn’t make them less than.”
Dot Esports has reached out to Riot for further comment.
