Pretty much, the VALORANT Champions Tour Americas league for 2026 is getting underway soon, and the brackets for the Kickoff event have just been released. It has already made quite a noise in the community, but maybe not in the way the organizers were hoping for. The initial pairs are LOUD vs Cloud9, ENVY vs Evil Geniuses, KRÜ Esports vs FURIA, and 100 Thieves vs Leviatán. It sounds great, right? But the quick reactions from the players that had time to think about the details are … let’s just say it’s a mixed bag.
The thing is, though, that when they saw the bracket, their first reaction was about the seedings. Or rather, more accurately, how the seedings were done. One of the players, Austin, very much put it this way: “It’s a stupid ass format that awards last year’s teams with byes for some reason when clearly the players might not be the same.” And he does have a solid point here. The situation with the players in esports is changing so fast that it is almost as if the meta is not changing at all. A team that ruled the previous season could have become a totally different one. Is it fair to give advantages based on past results when current situations are so volatile? This is a common headache in competitive gaming.
But there is still more. Another player who goes with the name of Toxic Frostbite just wanted to know in a straightforward manner: “Do we know what day first matches start?” This is very basic information, but sometimes it is the hardest to find in the initial hype blast. At the same time, predictions are being made in very quick succession. One gamer known as d made an instant forecast: “loud, eg, kru, 100T wins.” Another gamer, L, posted in Portuguese, who made a prediction “Loud, EG, Kru e Lev ganham na primeira rodada,” meaning Loud, EG, Kru, and Lev win in the first round. In this case, it is Leviatán beating 100 Thieves. Nice to see the regional pride already being lifted.
The main topic of discussions is, however, the bracket structure. A user named yo pointed out that they see an imbalance as being very critical and replied to another comment: “They put a team with a 1 month peak and team with no practice on one side then put the two most dominant regional teams last year on the other.” Ouch. If that is the case, it makes it feel like the road to the finals is pre-determined for some teams while others face a lot of unjust hardship. It’s like organizing a tournament where one half of the bracket has to run a marathon while the other side gets a ride in a car. Not very good for the image of competitive integrity.
Then there is the whole schedule debate. A thread sprang up around this topic which involved discussing the potential physical burden. One player, eggo, painted the picture of a nightmare scenario: “If I’m not mistaken this schedule is really terrible for the teams. All the finals are played in one weekend (all bo5s btw)… they would have to play 3 bo5s in one weekend!” Can you imagine? Three best-of-five series in like, two days! It is not only a skill test; it is an endurance contest that can lead to burnout or even injury. Another user, WezPMA, supported the previous user and said if that were to happen, “literally the team would implode and changes would probably have to be made already.” Yikes! That is like a crisis of the entire season at the very start.
But then again, such a situation would lead to a certain extent of criticism yet there would still be a hype train. Brian is totally captivated by ENVY, saying nothing more than, “ENVY wins it all I’ve seen enough.” I guess having confidence is the key. And Jaskirat ‘SHAYDER’ Aidan came up with his podium prediction: “1st seed NRG, 2nd seed MIBR, 3rd seed KRÜ.” Moreover, he even encouraged people to post their own predictions, which resulted in more conversations. darkenvader7 wrote in simple words “G2 MIBR NRG,” acknowledging those teams with support. It is this mix of skepticism and enthusiasm that marks the pre-tournament atmosphere.
Alright, what was I talking about? Oh yes, the format. It just… it seems like an outdated answer to a modern problem. Esports is not the traditional sports where the rosters are the same for years. A bye based on last year’s performance might reward the organization’s brand, but it does not necessarily reward the current five players who are sitting at the PCs. And in such a dynamic game like VALORANT, where new agents and tactics come up all the time, the competitive landscape on PlayStation and Xbox is always shifting.
