Who are the VALORANT VCT Americas partner teams? 

Riot Games’ VALORANT esports ecosystem is centred around three partnered semi-franchised VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) leagues: EMEA, the Americas and Pacific. Going into 2025 these leagues will each comprise of 10 partner teams and two organisations that gained promotion after competing in VALORANT’s Ascension series (one each year).

Ultimately, international leagues look to continue the growth of VALORANT esports by providing long-term support, stability and revenue opportunities to select organisations.

But who are the teams that are representing the Americas (North America, Brazil and LATAM)? This article provides a brief background and history of VCT Americas’ participants.

A staple of North American esports since its formation in 2013, Cloud9 made its debut in the VALORANT scene in 2020. Notably, the organisation reached the quarter-finals of VALORANT Champions in 2021, ultimately losing to Team Liquid. Since, VCT Americas’ inception in 2023, Cloud9 has yet to qualify for an international VCT event.

Outside of VALORANT, the organisation has garnered competitive success in League of Legends, Counter-Strike and Halo, among others. In 2024, Cloud9 also made its return to Call of Duty after acquiring the New York Sublimers.

Some of Cloud9’s notable esports achievements include winning Intel Extreme Masters XVII – Dallas (Counter-Strike) and the Halo Championship Series 2021 Kickoff Major. Additionally, the organisation has claimed six League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) titles, the second-most in North America.

Formed by former Call of Duty player Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, 100 Thieves quickly grew to become a prominent organisation within the League of Legends ecosystem since joining North America’s franchised league (LCS) in 2018. 

The organisation was originally founded in 2016, fielding a Call of Duty roster, however, the team disbanded in the same year. 100 Thieves has a strong affiliation with NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers since its resurrection following a multi-million dollar investment from the club’s owner Dan Gilbert to support its re-entry into the scene. 

The organisation has been competitive in League of Legends, claiming an LCS title in 2021, and has esports teams in Call of Duty (Los Angeles Thieves) and VALORANT.

In Riot’s FPS title, 100 Thieves qualified for VALORANT Champions 2022 through North America’s last chance qualifier. The organisation also competed in two VCT Masters events in 2021, Stages 1 and 3. Despite a middling 2023 campaign, 2024 has seen 100 Thieves somewhat return to form by winning VCT 2024: Americas Stage 1. However, the team failed to qualify for the 2024 VALORANT Champions.

Sentinels is an organisation that has gone on to become a prominent name within North American VALORANT, however, its origins date back to 2016 under the moniker Phoenix1. Having competed in the pre-franchised North American LCS and temporarily operating an Overwatch League franchise (Los Angeles Gladiators), Phoenix1 rebranded in 2018 to Sentinels.

Since then the organisation has competed in Apex Legends, Fortnite, Halo and VALORANT, the latter of which materialised in 2020. The side quickly made a name for itself within the VALORANT Champions Tour, winning the title’s first two Masters events —VCT 2021 Masters North America and Reykjavík.

However, despite an impressive start to its VALORANT esports journey, the organisation’s debut in VCT Americas left much to be desired, finishing 7th in the VCT 2023: Americas League. In 2024, the organisation’s form returned by winning the VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff and international event VCT 2024: Masters Madrid. Sentinals also placed 4th at VALORANT Champions 2024.

Outside of VALORANT, the organisation found success within the Halo and Fortnite scene, notably winning the Halo Championship Series 2022: Kansas City Major and the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals (Solo).

NRG is another one of North America’s old guards. The organisation was founded in 2015, when the owners of NBA’s Sacramento Kings purchased esports organisation Team Coast, which at the time was competing in the League of Legends ecosystem. 

From a competitive standpoint, the organisation recorded its best year in VALORANT under the new VCT format in 2023. The North American side secured 2nd in the VCT 2023: Americas League, and subsequently finished 4th at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo. In 2024, the team failed to reach a VCT international event.

The organisation has achieved even greater success across its other competitive titles, such as Rocket League, Apex Legends, and Overwatch through the now-defunct San Francisco Shock. Some of the NRG’s crowning moments include winning the Overwatch League 2020 Grand Finals, RLCS Season X North American Championship (2021) and placing second at the ALGS: 2023 Split 1 Playoffs.

In 2023, NRG made a triumphant return to the North American League of Legends scene, acquiring legacy organisation CLG and winning the 2023 LCS Summer Split. However, the organisation is rumoured to be leaving the scene again in 2025.

Prior to the new VALORANT Champions Tour format, Evil Geniuses was perhaps one of the least successful organisations within VALORANT. However, in 2023 the organisation went on to win VALORANT Champions 2023 and finish runner-up at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo.

In general, Evil Geniuses has a historic tenure within the esports scene, dating all the way back to 1999. Originally starting as a Quake clan, the organisation went on to expand into a vast number of titles such as World of Warcraft, Dota, StarCraft, the FGC and Counter-Strike scenes, among many others.

The end of 2023 was a rocky period for Evil Geniuses, with reports suggesting that the organisation requested its 2023 VALORANT Champions roster to take pay cuts, the organisation announcing its departure from League of Legends’ LCS and controversial CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson despairing the organisation. However, in 2024 the organisation has since rebranded in an attempt to fix its reputation under new Evil Geniuses CEO Chris DeAppolonio.

Given the size and high profile of LOUD, it’s easy to mistake the organisation for having been around a long time. In fact, LOUD is a relative newcomer after being founded in 2019, by Bruno ‘Playhard’ Bittencourt, Jean Ortega and Matthew Ho.

The organisation quickly grew to become a media powerhouse in Brazil, investing even in the music and fashion industries. Through lifestyle-focused content and its performances in the Brazilian Free Fire League (LBFF), LOUD became the first esports organisation in the world to reach 1bn views on YouTube.

Its success in tournaments, though, is a more recent trend. Despite having a strong Free Fire team since its foundation, LOUD only really achieved the status of ‘competitive powerhouse’ in 2022. This saw the organisation win a split of the LBFF, the Brazilian League of Legends Championship (CBLOL) Split 2 and a world title at VALORANT Champions Istanbul.

Even if the 2022 world championship launched LOUD to the top of the esport, the organisation has maintained its status as a Brazillian powerhouse. In 2023, the organisation won the VCT 2023: Americas League and placed 3rd during VALORANT Champions 2023. In 2024, the organisation failed to replicate its success, however, LOUD still placed 4th at VCT 2024: Masters Madrid.

Known as ‘The Brazilian Powerhouse’, FURIA reached international prominence mainly through its achievements in Counter-Strike (CS:GO). Led since its foundation in 2017 by Jaime Pádua and poker pro André Akkari, the organisation competes in League of Legends, Rocket League and Apex Legends.

The organisation also invests in lifestyle content, experiences with the community, and in competitions on the edge of the esports spectrum, like chess motorsport and even fighting.

In VALORANT, the organisation has featured a roster since 2021. The team qualified for two editions of VALORANT Champions, Berlin 2021 and Istanbul 2022, but on both occasions did not get past the first stage. Since the shift to the VCT Americas format, FURIA has yet to qualify for a VCT international event.

MIBR is owned by Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), a North American esports conglomerate that has heavily invested in Brazil since 2018. However, the history of the MIBR name goes way back to the beginnings of esports, being one of Brazil’s most representative brands in Counter-Strike since 2003. 

Having only entered VALORANT in January 2022, MIBR didn’t achieve any significant results prior to receiving VCT partner status. Similarly to its Brazilian neighbour FURIA, MIBR has also yet to qualify for a VCT international event under the new Americas format.

The organisation, which has been under the management of CEO Roberta Coelho since 2021, also holds competitive rosters in Free Fire, League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege. For the latter title, MIBR achieved third and fourth-place finishes at the Six Invitational 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Founded in 2020 in Argentina by the former Manchester City player Sergio Agüero, KRÜ Esports quickly made VALORANT its flagship esport. Prior to the Americas VCT format, the team always qualified for one of the game’s international tournaments, having consistently placed first in LATAM qualifiers since 2021.  

Despite finishing 10th in the VCT 2023: Americas League, KRÜ caused an upset by winning the VCT 2023: Americas Last Chance Qualifier to compete at VALORANT Champions 2023. In 2024, through consistent performance, the organisation once again competed at VALORANT’s biggest event.

The organisation has experienced quick growth in the esports scene, counting on the support of prominent sponsors and stakeholders throughout its tenure. The organisation’s leadership team was bolstered even further at the end of 2023 when football legend Lionel Messi became a co-owner of KRÜ Esports.

Following in its founders’ professional roots, KRÜ previously fielded a roster in FIFA prior to the game’s rebranding to EA Sports FC. The organisation currently competes in Rocket League and Counter-Strike 2.

Founded in Argentina by Fernando ‘F10’ Diez, Leviatán is looking to represent the Latin American esports scene.

Alongside VALORANT, Leviatán also fields rosters in the Free Fire scene as well as LVP’s League of Legends Liga Master Flow (soon to be merged with the LCS and CBLOL).

Leviatán has had a VALORANT roster since 2021. However, it came into VALORANT’s international spotlight during VALORANT Champions Istanbul 2022, when it qualified for the competition’s playoffs after beating Team Liquid and Paper Rex. The organisation has since managed to maintain its growth and momentum to become a prominent name in the VCT Americas ecosystem.

In 2024 specifically, the team won VCT 2024: Americas Stage 2 and placed 3rd at VALORANT Champions 2024.

European powerhouse G2 Esports is VCT Americas’ first non-permanent partner team entrant after the organisation gained promotion into the league in 2023. However, unlike promoted teams in VCT Pacific and EMEA, G2 Esports acquired the VCT Ascension promotion spot by acquiring the majority of The Guard’s roster after the organisation pulled out of the scene.

Prior to acquiring a VCT promotion place, G2 Esports competed in VALORANT Challengers North America, the scene’s second tier. Moreover, the organisation was reportedly touted to get a VCT Americas partner team spot in 2022 before controversy with its then-CEO, and Founder, Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodríguez surfaced.

The organisation’s debut into VCT Americas couldn’t have gone much better with the team managing to qualify for both Masters Shanghai and VALORANT Champions 2024 in its first year.

G2 Esports is more widely known for its endeavours in Europe, particularly within League of Legends having won the title’s top European League splits on 14 occasions. In Counter-Stike its roster also notably won IEM Cologne 2023, IEM Katowice 2023, BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 and IEM Dallas 2024 in recent years.

Joining the VCT Americas league in 2025 is Brazilian esports organisation 2GAME Esports after qualifying through VCT Ascension in 2024.

Having only been founded in February 2024, little is known about 2GAME Esports as an organisation. Interestingly though the organisation is the esports division of a digital video game store 2Game. Alongside a VALORANT roster, the organisation competes in Street Fighter 6 and hosts local LATAM competitions for the scene.

Originally posted: September 23rd, 2022. Updated: October 25th, 2024.