Champions Playoff power rankings

The group stage is complete and the final eight teams will now compete in the single-elimination playoffs to crown the first Valorant Champions winner.

We’ve seen some massive upsets and some standout performances throughout the group stage.

Now, we’ll need to reevaluate our power rankings heading into the playoffs. Here’s the landscape as we see it right now.

Source

1. Team Liquid

After battling through their group stage, Team Liquid looks like the most complete team in the tournament right now.

Liquid only lost one map to Sentinels and took a 2-0 win to KRÜ, who eliminated Sentinels in the lower bracket.

Gambit was the favorite coming in, but Liquid looks like the favorite heading into playoffs.

2. Gambit

The reigning Masters 2 champions are still heavily in the mix. Their stock dipped a bit after the group stage saw them drop some messy maps, including a 13-5 Bind against Vikings and a 13-6 Icebox to Team Secret.

There are some substantial holes in Gambit’s game, but they’re still one of the top teams expected to go deep into the playoffs.

3. Fnatic

Fnatic is back! they battled their way through the group of death as the 1 seed, which is more than enough to bring them into the top three.

It had been a long time since we saw Fnatic on an international stage, and they’re proving a lot of haters wrong. Fnatic is legit and no one would be stunned to see them take the whole thing.

4. Cloud9 Blue

With Sentinels gone, Cloud9 looks to be NA’s strongest chance at a Champions win. The much-improved roster has brought a lot of hope to C9 fans, and their recent success is proof that their heading in the right direction.

Cloud9 is the best 2 seed in the playoffs, as they emerged from the group of death with a win over Vision Strikers. They lost a nail biter to Fnatic that could have gone either way, so they still look to be in a good position as the playoffs begin.

5. Acend

The final team out of EMEA, Acend, rounds out our top 5. EMEA has dethroned NA in a matter of months, and it seems more than likely that an EMEA team will win champions.

Acend had a messier path to the 1 seed than their region-mates. They actually lost to Vivo Keyd in the first round, but Keyd were forced to forfeit due to an illegal Cypher camera on Breeze.

Still, Acend looked great against Envy and earned the 1 seed. With the technicality on their record, though, it’s hard to rank them higher than fourth.

6. KRÜ Esports

KRÜ is the Cindarella story of the tournament so far, staying alive and defying the odds to beat NA favorites, Sentinels, and secure a spot in the playoffs.

Despite not being in the group of death, KRÜ has had one of the toughest paths to playoffs of any team. They lost big to Liquid on Day 1, but that could easily be attributed to nerves.

Any doubts we had about KRÜ were put to rest with their upset win over Sentinels. We’d love to see them continue their success and upset some of the EMEA teams.

7. X10 Crit

X10 Crit was one of the biggest underdogs heading into the tournament, and have somehow made it to the playoffs with an upset win over Envy.

We’re excited to see them continue in the event, but they’re still a heavy underdog when it comes to winning Champions.

8. Team Secret

Secret was able to give Gambit a run for their money, but most of that was off the back of an outlier Icebox map to start the tournament.

After that, Secret had the easiest path to the playoff out of any team – at least from our perspective.

We’re open to being surprised by Secret, but they seem like the weakest team to make the playoffs in Champions.