Riot Games Allows The Guard Roster To Compete In VCT

Riot's change of heart follows a huge backlash from the esports community, who found Riot's initial decision unfair to the players who earned their right to compete in the Valorant's top league.

As announced on Saturday, September 2, Riot Games ruled that the former The Guard Valorant roster is allowed to stick together and find a new team to play under in the VCT 2024 season. As it stands now, the players have yet to find a new home, but they're actively looking for a new organisation that would sign them.

Riot's decision to allow Jacob "valyn" Batio, Trent "trent" Cairns, Ian "tex" Botsch, Michael "neT" Bernet, and Jonah "JonahP" Pulice to enter the VCT next season makes a lot of sense since they've rightfully earned their spot in the big league though the Ascension. But their successful qualification for the VCT 2024 Americas League didn't end the way the players had hoped.

The Guard, despite winning the Ascension tournament, didn't get invited to the VCT 2024 Americas because the organisation failed to come to terms with Riot Games, which would complete the team's transition to the VCT.

Moreover, Riot Games decided that no other team would be invited to the VCT Americas League next season, making the entire 2023 Challenger tier-two season irrelevant. To make matters worse, The Guard players also weren't allowed to find another franchise to represent in the VCT 2024 Americas.

This didn't go down well with the esports fans, who riled up and put Riot under fire, criticising the company's decision to punish the players due to The Guard's mistakes. While it didn't seem like much would come out of it, Riot Games eventually decided to go back on its first decision and announced that the entire ex-The Guard roster was given an opportunity to stay together and represent another organisation.

The players have yet to find a new home, but once they do, the new team will still have to go through Riot Games' approval before it'll be awarded a spot in the VCT 2024.

The story of The Guard's roster is far from over, but there is still plenty of time left for Jacob "valyn" Batio and his crew to find an organisation that will sign them. VCT 2024 doesn't have a start date yet; however, the first announced tournament is set to kick off in January 2024.