Team Secret looked decent early in the VCT 2023 Pacific League season, but not that much since the second week. After beating Talon Esports (2-1) and Paper Rex (2-1), Team Secret have managed just one win from their next five series (1-4) and enter Week 8 on a two-game losing streak.

In Week 6, Secret lost against ZETA DIVISION (1-2) and on Sunday got swept by T1 (4-13, 8-13). Things don’t look good ahead of Team Secret’s clash with the VCT 2023 Pacific League frontrunners, DRX.

DRX have yet to lose a game this season and have dropped just two maps over their last seven series (14-2). They didn’t look too convincing in their win against Gen.G (2-1) in Week 5 and even lost a map against Rex Regum Qeon (2-1), but that doesn’t make us doubt DRX’s chances of sweeping Team Secret.

Team Secret can do well against other mid-table teams; however, expecting them to defeat or come close to beating the hottest team in the region is too optimistic.

Global Esports are 2-5 after seven weeks of action, which isn’t great, but still significantly better than DetonatioN FocusMe, the only team in the league without a single victory. DFM looked slightly better in Week 6 when they won a map against T1 (1-2), but that was one of DFM’s few solid games.

On the other side, Global Esports started the season with three straight losses, and even though they’ve since not found much consistency, Global Esports won against Talon (2-0) and Gen.G (2-0) last month, which counts for something. Last week, Global Esports returned to their old ways and lost against Rex Regun Qeon (0-2).

At better odds, siding with DetonatioN FocusMe to steal a map would make sense, but despite Global Esports’ iffy performance last week, they are still the better team and should get it done in two maps. Global esports -1.5 maps is paying around $1.90 with esports betting sites.

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Leviatan will come into their first series of the VCT LOCK//IN as heavy favourites against ZETA DIVISION after winning two smaller competitions on their way to a six-match win streak. The current Leviatan roster is still a relatively new roster after four of the five players were only signed in October and November of last year. However, the South American roster has been in great form and they will be bringing a lot of confidence into their first series of the LOCK//IN.

Their opponents, ZETA DIVISION, had somewhat of a successful 2022 finishing third at the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters Reykjavik after they made it all the way to the lower-bracket final, but went down to Optic Gaming 0-3. Since the Stage 1 Masters, ZETA DIVISION have been inconsistent winning three of their last eight series, including losing two of their three series at the VCT Champions 2022.

This series should be closer than the betting suggests and ZETA DIVISION shouldn’t be underrated; therefore, we will be taking overs in the total maps market.

The second series we will be focusing on will be between two teams that are competing at their first S-Tier Valorant event in their short history.

Global Esports have been dominating in the lower tiers of Valorant through across India and the Asia-Pacific region; however, their wins in B- and C-Tier events may not match up to the standard that they will need to win a series at an S-Tier event like the LOCK//IN. GE haven’t played an official competitive Valorant series since November of last year, so they will be coming into this with limited match practice.

Team Vitality ended their 2022 season with third-fourth placings at both the G-Loot Valorant Clash Grand Finals and the Red Bull Home Ground #3. The international roster has been very consistent, not finishing outside of the top four at their last three A-Tier tournaments, which is much better form than their opponents in this upcoming series. Vitality are deserving favourites in this series and they should be winning.

The last of our previewed series will feature another two teams who will be participating in their first S-Tier event, with FUT Esports taking on Rex Regum Qeon.

FUT Esports ended their 2022 season with a seventh-eighth place finish at Red Bull Home Ground #3 and 9th-16th place at G-Loot Valorant Clash Grand Finals. The Turkish roster has been winning a lot of A- and B-Tier events in Turkey but they have struggled when playing internationally, so this will be a good test for them first up against Rex Regum Qeon.

Rex Regum Qeon have been competing in B and C-Tier events throughout the Asia-Pacific region and at their two A-Tier events they have finished in 9th-12th place and fifth-sixth place, showing that they struggle to compete at that level of competition. Now that they are stepping up to participate in their first S-Tier event, we expect them to struggle – even if they are meeting another S-Tier debutant.

This series looks to FUT Esports’ for the taking, so we will be backing them in win the series 2-0.

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The new additions have effectively increased Global Esports’ lineup to 10 players. The Indian team have been finalized with the addition of these three new players, who will compete under the Global Esports banner in the APAC region.

Prior to Bazzi, t3xture, and WRONSKI, Global Esports signed Jordan “AYRIN” He, who previously played for XSET. The player will assume the role of the team’s in-game leader.

Toward the end of September, the franchise announced that they were aiming at creating a 10-man roster for the VCT 2023 season. After signing the lineup, Global Esports would then decide on the six players to represent the team in the inaugural 2023 VCT event in S?o Paulo.

In addition to their Indian players, the franchise now have four notable talents who will represent multiple regions. According to the official rules, Global Esports’ new lineup will represent five regions. This includes India, South Korea, Canada, Indonesia, and Australia.

Bazzi was previously a member of On Sla2ers before joining Global Esports and, while there, proved himself a flexible player. He started participating in Riot Games’ FPS in 2020 and previously played with DAMWON Gaming and Cloud9.

The South Korean player occasionally makes use of Initiator and Duelist agents, but Sage and Chamber Sentinels are known to be more up his alley. Bazzi’s addition to the Indian team bodes well for their gunplay potential.

On his end, T3xture started playing Valorant professionally with DWG KIA in 2021. He was signed on to the team before joining Global Esports. The player is popular for his gunplay and expertise when using Chamber and Jett.

The Laotian, WRONSKI, was a part of Order’s lineup before joining Global Esports. The player became a pro in Valorant in 2021 and, prior to joining the Australian team, he played with PEACE, Mindfreak and Chiefs.

WRONSKI played the role of a duelist in Order. However, he was moved to free agency in September when the entire team were let go. The development came after the Australian organization went into voluntary administration in August.

Global Esports’ current roster for the VCT 2023 has six Indian players, owing to the team’s origin and the four newest additions. The current lineup consists of AYRIN, Bazzi, t3xture, WRONSKI, Bhavin “HellrangeR” Kotwani, Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar, Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh, Akshay “KappA” Sinkar, Pranav “Kohliii” Kohli, and Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury.

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It is understood that AYRIN will head down to Seoul, South Korea, in order to participate with the rest of the lineup in 2023. Due to his Canadian nationality, he will be placed in the esports team’s import slot.? ?

In a previous Twitter post, Global Esports used a Valorant edit to tease the signing. The clip did not outrightly reveal that AYRIN was the new team player. However, its content pointed to a player from North America.?

?While neither party has confirmed or denied AYRIN’s signing to the squad, the announcement will likely be made in the next few days.? ?The “soft lock” date for Riot Games’ partnered teams is October 15, and all franchises will need to conclude their roster adjustments before then.

Global Esports were the only Indian team to make it to Riot’s Asian International league. The list of squads in the league includes ZETA Division, T1, DRX, Paper Rex, Talon esports, Team Secret, and several others.? ?

Prior to AYRIN’s inclusion, Global Esports consisted of Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar, Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, Bhavin “HellrangeR” Kotwani, Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh, and Akshay “KappA” Sinkar.? Previously, the team had intended to create a 10-man squad for the 2023 VCT Asian league. At the time, Global Esports explained that they would bring in a European or American player as the import and four other players in the region.?

?The highly anticipated 2023 VCT season will commence in February next year with a kickoff event running over three weeks.? ?Besides prize money, the 30 selected teams across the three leagues will be fighting over an additional spot for the champion’s region at the Masters.

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An announcement video on Twitter revealed that the Indian Valorant team is in the process of adding more players to their lineup, with the end goal of forming a 10-man team for the next season. The selections will be made on a stringent basis, and the new intakes will be from different regions.

The ongoing player shuffle season has seen several Indian teams sign on new players and take off quite a few. Global Esports’ decision is getting more attention than most teams, mainly due to the team’s stature as well as their standing in VCT 2023.

Although the Indian team announced their decision to put together a ten-man roster, Riot Games will have to give the idea the go-ahead before Global Esports can move on with it. The game developer previously released their Roster Construction Rules and restricted each Valorant team to a maximum of 10 team members, including coaches.

GE esports lead, Vatsal Uniyal, revealed that the selected players for the ten-man squad would be disclosed soon and include new players as well as Global Esports’ existing lineup. After acquiring the players, the entire team will reportedly practice together in the esports organization’s new boot camp located in South Korea.

The boot camp will produce the top six players from the ten players who will participate in the 2023 VCT S?o Paulo for Global Esports. The players will be selected based on a wide range of factors, including their mechanical skills.

Global Esports were the only franchise from India Riot Games selected for the VCT 2023 partnership program. At the moment, the team already has six Indian players, which include Abhirup “Lightningfast” Choudhury, Bhavin “HellrangeR” Kotwani, Ganesh “SkRossi” Gangadhar, Jayanth “skillZ” Ramesh, Pranav “Kohliii” Kohli, and Akshay “KappA” Sinkar.

The organization’s approach to their ten-man formation is yet to be tested by another team in Valorant, particularly at the top tier level. However, squads in CS:GO and League of Legends have tried out the format. Currently, Evil Geniuses is made up of 15 North American Counter-Strike players called Blueprint after signing on players from Carpe Diem and Party Astronauts. The organization is the latest to attempt this format.

Prior to the team’s announcement concerning their ten-man squad, Global Esports previously tried to merge their lineup with another Asian team, Bleed esports, ahead of the VCT 2023. The $6 million partnership, however, did not go much further than negotiations because Riot vetoed the decision shortly after.

Per Riot Games’ VCT 2023 Roster Construction Rules, the organization’s 30 partnered teams were mandated to turn in a roster draft that consisted of at least six players by October 15. Due to this, fans will likely learn more about Global Esports’ roster in the coming weeks.

The Indian team are currently in the Pacific partnership Valorant league and will face off against teams like DetonatioN Gaming, Gen.G, ZETA DIVISION, Talon Esports, Paper Tex, Team Secret, T1, and Rex Regum Qeon.

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As revealed by ESL India on Twitter on Friday, September 20, Global eSports earned their spot at ESL Clash of Nations Bangkok 2019, where they will be the only Indian team competing for the lion’s share of $50,000 prizepool and glory that comes with winning the event.

Global eSports has been announced as the representatives of India at ESL Clash of Nations Bangkok 2019 on account of their performance in the ESL India Premiership Fall season – online phase one, where Global eSports finished as rank one.

However, the decision made by ESL India to send Global eSports to ESL Clash of Nations sparked some controversy, most notably in the Entity Gaming team.

The manager of Entity Gaming, Sid Joshi released a statement on his Facebook profile, expressing his disagreement with the decision made by ESL India.

Adding a disclaimer, he has nothing against the players nor the organisation, Joshi went on to criticize ESL India’s decision by pointing out Entity are the current defending champions of the Indian Dota 2 circuit, yet it was Global eSports, who were given a spot at ESL Clash of Nations instead of them.

Joshi added that the explanation he was given, when asked for the reasoning why Global eSports were picked over Entity was that EG were rank one in phase one of the ongoing tournament (India Premiership 2019), which won’t conclude until November.

That on its own is a different approach compared to other teams competing at ESL Clash of Nations, who have been/will be awarded their slots based on winning their respective ESL and other qualifiers.

He concluded his rant by adding “This is extremely unfair to my players who’ve been working their asses off to dethrone the consistent Indian dota2 champions of last year and the year before”.

ESL Clash of Nations: Bangkok 2019 is set to kick off on Thursday, October 24 and run to Sunday, October 2019. It will be taking place as a part of the Thailand Game Show, where some of the best Dota 2 teams from the APAC region will be present.

As revealed, the tournament will be split into two stages. A play-in stage and the main event.

In the play-in stage will feature four teams. Two from ANZ (Australia/New Zealand), one from the Philippines and one from India, who will compete in a double-elimination (GSL) format playoffs, from where only two teams will proceed into the main event.

Teams competing in the play-in:

• Global eSports (Winner of phase one in ESL India Premiership 2019: Fall Season)
• Team Oracle (ANZ Championship – Season four finalists)
• Athletico Esports (ANZ Championship – Season four finalists)
• TBD (Winner of ESL Clash of Nations 2019 Philippines Closed Qualifier)

The two winners of play-in phase will then join the four teams in the main event, who will qualify via ESL tournaments, which are set to conclude by the end of next week.

As of the time of writing, Indonesian team BOOM Esports are the only confirmed team in the main event, with three more spots reserved for the ESL Championship Season 2 winners from; Thailand, Vietnam and MY&SG (Malaysia and Singapore)