VALORANT’s community of players and fans is losing it after Riot Games dropped the hype BeThey-land of the VALORANT Champions 2025 hybrid announcement. The track “LAST SHOT,” which brings together templuv and 347aidan, is planned for release on the 9th of September at 8 AM PT. The official VALORANT Twitter account not only announced the song but also dropped a pre-save link, sending ripples of joy and speculation across the globe, traversing the borders of countries and ranging from players to fans. The outburst that followed was a mix of anticipation, mixed feelings, and hype.
What all the hype is about—if you have no idea—is because of VALORANT’s championship anthems, one of the most unique parts of esports. These anthems have become a part of esports culture not just in VALORANT. They go far beyond simple tunes and are VALORANT’s—and even other esports’—definitive hype anthems for competitive seasons. Think of “Die For You” and “Ticking Away” —those anthems truly connected with the players and became global VALORANT anthems, giving the players something to look forward to every season.
Now, why the community reacted the way they did to “LAST SHOT” is explained by what I already mentioned. Every corner of the VALORANT community started flooding the reply section of the announcement tweet. Pro teams such as Shopify Rebellion VALORANT and Global Esports led the parade of positive responses, saying stuff like “gonna be heat” and “WE’LL BE THERE.” Then it spread to individual players and fans whose expressions ranged from lukewarm interest to complete despair.
The rest of the replies mixed bland critiques with thinly-veiled hatred. Ghostmotherr chimed in with, “im sorry but this is so ass compared to die for you and ticking away,” which is a little harsh considering they were responding to someone else’s comment. ‘Ass,’ in this context, is slang for being awful or bad. A lot of criticised the anthem with the same aggressiveness. I don’t want to single anyone out, but sixpathzburner nicely summed my feelings when he said “still havent topped die for you, valorant is so fucking ass.” Just_dazza felt different since he said “After hearing this year’s finisher i can tell it’s either gonna be bad or a real slow grower,” which suggests he heard either a teaser or a preview of the song.
Of course, let’s not disregard the leaks. Whenever something is related to VALORANT, there is likely a leak. On the side of leaks, we get comments like the user “ihavtoo” saying “It’ll get leaked like everything else” and on the other side of the scale, we get “juan88442200” stating “Is already leaked, is mid.” What follows is a ton of early takes, with people very split on how they feel about the song.
Putting the divides aside, there’s definitely happiness. “AIDAN HOLY SHIT,” ri1eypaige, is a pure expression of joy, while aisulol “TEMPLUV??????? RAHHHHHHHHHHH” is bursting with excitement. For some fans, being able to get to 347aidan is a big deal, as cammfps saying they got to see 347aidan live and calling it “he carried my 2021” proves the music by these artists hits on a deeply personal level.
Professional Organisations share in the excitement. Even OfflineTV got the memo about the announcement, tweeting “Wait I know one of those guys 🤯”, with a thinking emoji, implying some kind of personal connection with the artists. Over in VALORANT Esports NA region, the announcement is called out with “banger track dropping 👀” and FUT Esports is also getting involved in the hype.
The conversation touched upon some of the practical stuff too, like when the Champions bundle is expected to drop. Clpyt_ queries, “does anyone knows about when the champions bundle will come out?” to which Turtllos replies, ‘4days i think.’ So, the cosmetics are coming soon and should be on your radar.
This observation captures Riot working with different grades of artists, interpreted as them trying to work with a combination of established and emerging artists. Riot seems to be shifting these anthems in a different approach, which is very telling. KP53331 points out, “no way you drop down to this after working with Kiss of life and mark tuan for Seoul and linkin park for Worlds last year,” which also captures how the company is working with different grades of artists.
Aiselgard appreciates this Riot “for working with emerging artists” direction because it is a nice gesture that puts smaller artists on a huge stage. It keeps the content for the players fresh, as they might be tired of seeing the same big names every time.
The VALORANT community is never satisfied, which makes it endlessly entertaining. From Agent voice acting demands (ez_kuki is on “day five of asking Valorant to let me voice their next agent”) to the endless critiques of unreleased music, undeniably, the passion is there.
This is the community VALORANT Anthem, which is to be released on September 9 to hype up the Champions this month. The Anthem “LAST SHOT” is surrounded by speculation just as much as whether it will be included as part of the classic VALORANT songs or if it will be the time of the controversial songs takes a lot of time to know. But there is zero doubt in VALORANT that the Anthem will be released and released as VALORANT’s community will be listening, discussing, and debating about the Anthem for quite some time.
As I highlighted earlier, these anthems are not just tournament music—these are defining elements of the seasons in competition, creating unforgettable moments for the players. The connection people had with the previous songs, especially “Die For You,” proves how impactful these kinds of music can be for the games when done right. These days, people are waiting for templuv and 347aidan to see if they can capture that magic with “LAST SHOT.”
And remember, it’s September 9 at 8 AM PT. Whether it’s a new addition to the playlists or a new set of complaints, you can expect a lot of discussion because it’s going to be something unforgettable to the VALORANT listeners.
