Franchising in VALORANT has been a huge topic of debate ever since it was introduced in 2022. Now, with promising rosters in the once lively tier two scene being disbanded and rising orgs leaving it altogether, Oxygen’s Michael “dapr” Gulino thinks it was inevitable after the partnered leagues were announced.
In a tweet on Dec. 20, dapr highlighted the irony of him quitting Counter-Strike because of a dying tier two scene, only to join tier two VALORANT which is also dying, three years later.
Blaming VCT’s partnership program for tier two’s situation, the talented sentinel indicated it was bound to happen. “Hate to say the writing was on the wall but it truly was as soon as franchising was announced and an artificial line was drawn,” he wrote in the tweet. “hope everybody affected lands on their feet.”
Multiple promising tier-two teams disbanded their professional rosters after the VCT 2023 season ended, the most recent ones being OR Esports and Disguised (Game Changers), sharing their decision on X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 20. These players will have to find new opportunities, preferably before the season starts next month.
Dapr’s team, on the other hand, is among the top tier two teams in North America who’ll participate in the Challengers 2024 season starting in late January.
It’s not that Riot Games hasn’t been putting in efforts to keep the budding tiers of VALORANT esports alive. There’s a long-running Challengers season, leading to the prestigious regional Ascension tournament. The winning team of the Ascension tournament from each region is also rewarded with the chance to join the partnered leagues. The Challengers 2024 season will, in fact, be tied more closely to the partnered leagues, thanks to the introduction of concepts like affiliate partnerships, two-way players, and player loans. This was done to help the tier two scene thrive under the influence of the partnered (T1) scene.
Apparently, none of Riot’s efforts are seemingly enough to keep tier two VALORANT as good as it was before franchising happened. With top tier two teams like Luminosity, OpTiC, XSET, The Guard, and more orgs quitting or staying out of the scene entirely, partnered orgs are our last hope as they can build partnerships with existing Challengers and Game Changers teams to attract budding talent.
