EMEA VALORANT Coaches & Team Managers Poll #1

 

By Arran “Halo” Spake

The first EMEA coaches & team managers poll has arrived. As with the first two European coaches and team managers poll. Halo’s EMEA poll follows the same idea as American College sports when ranking the best teams in the region. I have asked coaches and team managers from both tier one and two for their top ten teams from Europe, based on their performances in the VCT Challengers stage. Coaches and Team Managers are not allowed to include their own teams and for the first time, teams from the CIS and Turkish sub-regions are eligible to be selected for the top ten teams. All picks are anonymous.
 
A team will receive ten points for first, all the way down to one point for tenth. This will be updated on a bi-monthly basis and I will comment on changes as we go throughout the season. The number of first-place votes will be included next to the teams that receive it and poll #2 includes how many places teams have moved. With three stages under our belts and a whole slew of roster changes happening after stage three, it’s time to see who the EMEA scene believe are the top teams after stage three's completion and going into the region Last Chance Qualifier for Valorant Masters.
 
Note: These votes were made with Valorant Masters Berlin not being taken into consideration. Votes were made after the performances of each team during stage three.

 

1. Gambit - 143 Points

2. Acend - 133 Points

3. SuperMassive Blaze - 128 Points

4. G2 - 106 Points

5. Team Liquid - 76 Points

6. Giants - 75 Points

7. Guild - 69 Points

8. Fnatic - 56 Points

9. Tenstar - 29 Points

10. Na'Vi - 22 Points

 

Other teams with votes:  Oxygen, ForZe, BDS, Fun Plus Phoenix, Team Heretics, Finest & BBL

While the top four are all expected to be where they are, the biggest note with the coaches and team managers votes, is that Fun Plus Phoenix have not been voted into the top ten teams in the region for the first time since these polls began. They received 12 points total in this round of voting after being seen as the second strongest team in Europe in the last vote.

Giants and Tenstar make their first appearances in any poll after their impressive performance's in Challengers 2.  While newly formed Na’Vi also made their way into the top 10 teams in the region. However, both Fnatic and Team Liquid both lost votes after failing to make Masters Berlin, it was confidence in Fnatic that seemed to be dented more. 

Finally while not making the top ten, there was confidence in ForZe to have an opportunity to impress in the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers. However, with Denis “Hugeon” Vasiliev and Nikolai “Zeddy” Lapko both joining One Breath Gaming, plus the soon to be announced departure of Dmitry “Suygetsu” Ilyushin to Fun Plus Phoenix. They will officially be out of the Last Chance Qualifiers due to the 3 out of 5 roster rule that requires a team to have a core roster of three players to keep their VCT point.

While the season is now finished for most teams, G2, Team Liquid, SuperMassive Blaze, Oxygen Esports, Futbolist, Guild, Fun Plus Phoenix or One Breath Gaming and the winner of Strike Arabia VALORANT. Will battle it out from October 10th, to try an secure the last EMEA spot for VALORANT Champions Berlin.

For more VALORANT content, follow @haloofthoughts on Twitter)

(Images: Riot Games)