VCT Masters Shanghai Power Rankings – A Tier List
Published: May 23, 2024 - Last Updated: Jun 24, 2024
Following VCT Madrid and a whole stage of competition, VCT Masters Shanghai looks to answer the burning question – who is the best team in the world? In this featured discussion, our VCT Masters Shanghai power rankings rank the competition from top to bottom.
VCT Masters Shanghai Power Rankings
While these power rankings are entirely subjective, they could help out your VALORANT betting.
We’re ranking the competition according to their status in our VCT Masters Shanghai power rankings, as follows:
- Favourites – teams with a strong reputation and a stronger team, very likely to walk away with the trophy, capable of winning the entire competition.
- Contenders – teams who have the capability to make a deep run, but usually falter at the final stages. However, on the right day, they have a fair chance against anyone.
- Underdogs – the underdog is the team that everyone underestimates, perhaps due to a lack of experience or an underpowered roster.
- Darkhorse – a bonus category – a team with not much expectations or exposure that could flip the tournament on its head.
As always, be sure to only use the top esports betting sites – learn more in our VCT Masters Shanghai betting preview.
Favourites – Leading Seeds
Paper Rex
When is Paper Rex not a favourite for an international tournament? Despite admitting their poor form at VCT Madrid, with pure skill, they managed to place third. Now, after a dominant and almost flawless performance at VCT Pacific, they are back on top.
Will this be their first win ever?
Fnatic
After bouncing back from a difficult start to the year and missing out on the first tournament, Fnatic has worked extremely hard to remind everyone why they’re the best in EMEA. Barely squeaking into the Playoff, they went on to crush the opposition, with a heroic win in the Grand Final against Team Heretics.
Fnatic have dominated the international scene before, they can do it again.
Gen.G
Gen.G did suffer a slump in form after VCT Madrid where they placed second, but have remained Paper Rex’s number-one rival. Although falling short in the Grand Final at VCT Stage 1, their performance in the 3-2 battle proved their mettle as one of the best teams out there.
100 Thieves
A surprising team on this list, America’s first seed for this stage is 100 Thieves. Bashing out some serious competition in the likes of LOUD, Leviatan and G2 Esports, this team has finally reached their final form. Packing exciting comps with unique ideas, they’re looking deadly with “Boostio” at the helm.
Contenders – VCT Masters Shanghai Power Rankings
Leviatan
Packing some serious firepower, Leviatan is a fierce team that can take down any opponent on the right day. With “kiNgg” calling and top fragging, this team topped Group Omega in Stage 1. Also, “aspas” is literally the best duelist in the world and a reason why they’re contenders in our VCT Masters Shanghai power rankings.
FUT Esports
In this past stage of EMEA, Turkish teams decided to take care of business. FUT Esports, with the help of former World Champion “cNed” have brute forced their way to the top. While they’ve always been consistent, they’ve never looked better than they do now.
G2 Esports
From Ascension to a VCT Masters tournament, G2 Esports are perhaps the most surprising team at this tournament. Their success in VCT Americas was thanks to their unique approach to the game, playing passively while other teams ran into their crosshairs. To continue contending though, they’ll need to switch things up or it’s an easy read for other teams.
EDward Gaming
As the best team from China, the Shanghai crowd will be screaming the name of EDward Gaming. Led by their star fragger, ZmjjKK, China as a whole has been underestimated ever since the region was given its own league. This is the perfect opportunity for a China team to rise and show the world what this region is capable of.
Underdogs
FunPlus Phoenix
As the runner-up from China, the one thing going for FunPlus Phoenix is a unique understanding of agents in the game. As the first team to play Clove, for example, FunPlus Phoenix loves to experiment – they could catch anybody off guard. Yet, we’re not sure how many surprises they have up their sleeve.
T1
On paper, T1 are a respectable team, that qualified for Shanghai thanks to having bested Gen.G in the Playoffs at the VCT Pacific League. However, in the later stages, they were swept away by both Paper Rex and Gen.G to claim the third seed. This lack of consistency awards them an underdog status in our VCT Shanghai Power Rankings.
Dragon Ranger Gaming
Another Chinese team, Dragon Ranger Gaming is an average team who managed to beat the rest of the Chinese teams. As we’ll reiterate, yes, China isn’t the strongest region which makes DRG an underdog. Yet, if the winds blow in their favour, with the crowd behind them, who knows what this team could pull off?
Darkhorse – First Seed
Team Heretics
Despite an incredible showing and high hopes for this EMEA squad, Team Heretics are the dark horse team for VCT Shanghai. You might be asking yourself – how can so little be known about the second seed from EMEA?
Well, after their tough loss to Fnatic, their star duelist Dominykas “MiniBoo” Lukasevicius has announced that he won’t be heading to VCT: Masters Shanghai, citing mental health reasons. Instead, their substitute Patryk “paTiTek” Fabrowski is standing in. Nobody knows what this team will look like once the tournament kicks off in the Group Stage.
Conclusion – Seeding & Patches
One thing to remember for your predictions is that teams have been seeded into two different stages based on their Stage 1 regional performances.
Specifically, 100 Thieves, EDward Gaming, Fnatic and Paper Rex start in the Playoffs – these four teams are already guaranteed a top 8 finish at the tournament.
Another concept worth considering is the fact that this tournament is being played on the newest patch of the game, Patch 8.09. This includes changes from Patch 8.08, with the significant agent adjustments to Viper and Cypher.
