VALORANT esports fans want ‘performance-based relegation’ to count for all VCT teams

Should all teams be held to the same standards?

C9 VALORANT roster on stage at VCT Americas 2024.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

While the new rule changes regarding relegation for professional VALORANT teams announced yesterday were received well by the esports community at large, many want to see Riot go a step further and apply the rules to all teams, not just those who rose from Ascension.

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Yesterday, Riot Games instituted new rule changes to VALORANT esports for 2025, providing teams that reach VCT international leagues through Ascension the opportunity to stay up if they perform to a certain level each season. The “promotion window” was reduced from two years to one, but the teams in question may stay in their VCT international league if they qualify for Champions and, at the very least, can guarantee a spot in that year’s Ascension tournament if they finish in the top eight in their league.

G2 taking the stage at VALORANT Masters Shanghai 2024.
Starting next year, G2 will have the chance to stay in VCT Americas. Photo by David Lee via Riot Games

But many around the pro scene believe that performing to avoid relegation from the top tier leagues should apply to partnered teams as well, not just the Ascension squads. YouTube streamer Ludwig, who co-owns Moist Moguls, replied directly to the official VCT announcement on X, formerly Twitter, with these exact concerns, saying, “so randomly selected VCT teams could never win a series or even a map and have no risk of relegation, WHY?”

While teams from Challengers will have the ability to extend their time in VCT as long as they perform well, it will also be harder for those teams to break into the competition. If an Ascension team qualifies for Champions, that reduces the number of teams that can be promoted through that season’s Ascension tournament from two to one. Additionally, Challengers teams competing at Ascension may also have to play a team that’s been competing against top-tier competition all year.

Ludwig isn’t the only person in the pro community who wishes the relegation rules applied to everyone. Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, in-game leader for Cloud9 and president of the Americas VALORANT Player Association, also wishes it would be applied to all competitors, but noted that even this rule change was a “step in the right direction.”

Author
Image of Scott Robertson
Scott Robertson
VALORANT lead staff writer, also covering CS:GO, FPS games, other titles, and the wider esports industry. Watching and writing esports since 2014. Previously wrote for Dexerto, Upcomer, Splyce, and somehow MySpace. Jack of all games, master of none.