Players from a variety of esports games, including Riot Games, have expressed strong opinions about the design of the VCT EMEA Stage 2 trophy Riot Games has just unveiled for VALORANT esports. It was designed to look like a geometric, crystal-like structure, reminiscent of sci-fi movie props or abstract art, and the community feedback has varied widely from casual dislike to a few people saying it isn’t as bad as some others make it seem.
Let’s quickly summarize. The trophy follows a futuristic and VALORANT-styled trophy design. It tries to incorporate a crystal centerpiece, but it is not very well polished. Richly and stylistically epitomizing the chess pieces of VALORANT, the design is a bold attempt but misses the mark. The image was dropped by the leaks account along with the hashtags, but nothing else was provided. The replies more than make up for the lack of a proper introduction.
The criticism had begun to come out, and users started using a more civil tone. However, “Bluntly speaking, EMEA gets the worst trophies every year,” by Blazr was quick to come out, brushing away any previous efforts. While that is a little harsh, it is not without a little humor. One user stood out a bit and said the trophy was “topaz from Breath of The Wild,” which is a much better comparison than most others. Then somebody decided to take the most vivid approach and call it a “chicken leg.” As strange as it sounds, as soon as you decide to image it as that, the name just sticks, and I swear you can’t unsee it.
The responses from foreign communities are especially noticeable. We even got responses in other languages. For example, the Brazilian player said, “mas q porra é essa” which means in English, “what the hell is this.” The Japanese player said, “wtf this is like shit come from square man’s ass” which, although crude, gets the point across.
Say, a handful of players have jumped in to defend and compliment the design, like FNC rosy who explained “idc it looks so much better than all the other EMEA trophies” which is a rather positive comment. Another different player said he wished the middle part was more crystal like but still called the trophy nice. Even a random Gekko main chimed saying he liked it which kind of makes sense as that trophy does have that strange alien tech vibe that Gekko’s whole thing is about.
This isn’t the only thing being talked about as the trophy comparison between regions is coming into focus. One player stated that “NA does not have good ideas for its trophies” which makes one believe this is an issue with VALORANT’s trophies across the regions. This kind of revelation inspired another, “This region keeps taking L’s” but in a more somber tone.
Personally, I wonder how people get so passionate about how a trophy looks. A trophy that most players in the community will never actually have physically in their hands. Along with vocal comments, people have even tweeted their thoughts quite passionately on the aesthetic. It feels like the trophy design has become a symbol of pride or shame of a specific region. People from the EMEA region seem the most vocal about being on the receiving end of unfair treatment with the trophy cosmetics.
The date is important because the teams are battling it out in VCT Stage 2, so the trophy in question is the prize. Winning the matches, grinding the tournament, and honestly nothing really to show for it. It comes as no surprise then that some of the remarks from players bashing the trophy’s “ass” design echo that same disrespect and is very much an insult.
We quite often view criticism through the angle of esports presentation and the perspective of VALORANT to other competitive titles. Look at the ‘traditional’ sports. They have the iconic trophies — the Stanley Cup, the World Series trophy, the FIFA World Cup — they have their own symbols that surpass the competitions. Esports still hasn’t mastered the trophy game, and VALORANT is definitely a part of the reason why.
This is very VALORANT because of how the community responds. The game is notorious for this cultural aspect, where players are more than willing to share their honest opinion almost on everything — from agent balance to trophy aesthetics. An attitude like this towards feedback is very exceptional to VALORANT, making the community overly engaging but also toxic when things are not to their liking.
The trophy, at the end of the day, is just a piece of hardware, but the reaction paints a clear picture of the level of investment the players have in the VALORANT world. Whether it is the gameplay, the cosmetics, or the esports presentation, everything is under a microscope. The EMEA trophy is currently dealing with that.
It’s uncertain whether Riot will change anything based on what people have said or just leave the trophy as is. What’s guaranteed is how VALORANT players will always express their opinion, no matter if it’s about skin prices, the meta, or in this case, a trophy. People continue to share their opinions on social media, some even in the form of hot takes.
That, in a nutshell, is what we know about the VCT EMEA Stage 2 trophy as of now. Ignoring the sentiment, VCT certainly stirs a conversation which is usually a good thing in esports especially when any engagement is more valuable than a trophy design. Tweets aside, it’s assumed the tournament champions won’t mind holding it while the world Twitter mouths doesn’t think so.
