BY RYAN RUTKOWSKI / VN STAFF WRITER
Which VALORANT team is the best?
It comes down to three teams: G2 Esports, Sentinels and Team SoloMid.
These teams have dominated the infancy of VALORANT esports and all have effective arguments to claim the “best team in the world” title.
G2 Esports may have the easiest claim to the title because of one reason: They haven’t lost.
G2 is 13-0 in professional play and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
With the play of team captain Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas Colocho, G2 has been king of Europe since the release of the game back in June.
G2 has also made key signings, such as Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks and David “Davidp” Prins, launching them to the next level in their gameplay.
The team must battle through the First Strike: Europe tournament, starting Nov. 9.
They remain number one in most analysts’ power rankings, but many wonder whether the region they play in has allowed their perfect record to remain intact.
The other two teams hail from North America, where the level of competition may be higher than in Europe.
NA boasts teams such as Cloud9 and Team Envy, who both can make a case for top five in the world, yet TSM and Sentinels have handled them time and time again.
Sentinels and TSM have gone head to head six times with the Sentinels leading 4-2.
More importantly, the two teams did not meet in the final ignition series tournament, Pop Flash, as TSM was upset and the Sentinels took home first place.
It is because of this tournament that many believe Sentinels have passed TSM for best team in North America, and maybe even the world.
The Sentinels roster is led by former Overwatch League MVP Jay “Sinatraa” Won and Shahzeeb “ShahZam” Khan, whose explosive play style is incredibly hard to counter, especially on their key map, Ascent, where they have not yet lost.
TSM has also gotten key victories, however, winning the two other ignition series tournaments over the rival Sentinels.
Matthew “Wardell” Yu may be one of, if not the, best player with the Operator, a gun that can kill enemies in one shot.
Because of Wardell, TSM has earned approximately $73,000 in total winnings, second most in the world after G2.
They fell short in Pop Flash, taking home fifth-sixth place, but have a chance to redeem themselves in First Strike: North America.
First Strike may reaffirm the world’s belief that G2 Esports is the best team in Europe, and it may tell us if Sentinels or TSM are the best team in North America/
But without a meeting of these teams, the best in the world is still up in the air.
