Riot Reverses Decision on VCT The Guard Ruling, Allowing Team to Stay Together in Search for New Organization.

Riot Games changed its mind about kicking out the former players of The Guard from their VALORANT Champions Tour spot. Now, they can stay together and look for a new team to play for in 2024. This is a good thing for the team and the VALORANT scene. Riot made this decision official on September 1st in a tweet from the VALORANT Esports Twitter account. The players and their coach haven’t found a new team yet, but they are actively searching.

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An update regarding the players impacted by The Guard's decision to not move forward with VCT Americas 2024-25 pic.twitter.com/oLhjSJDaYy

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesports_na) September 1, 2023

The Guard won the Ascension Americas tournament, but their organization couldn’t agree with Riot to make the transition to the VCT happen. Because of this, Riot announced on August 29 that no teams would move up in 2023, which meant The Guard’s hard work in winning Ascension felt wasted.

People around the world were upset because it seemed like the players on The Guard’s team were being punished for their organization’s problems. Even though they earned a spot, they couldn’t automatically join the franchised league. The whole team then said they were becoming free agents, giving up on their dream.

But then, Riot changed their decision. First, on August 30, they said they were thinking about the situation and trying to find a better solution for the players. Now, the league has confirmed that the former The Guard squad can stay together, but they need to find a new organization. This new organization has to get approval from both the players and Riot before they can officially play in VCT 2024.

The players were really happy when they heard this news. They could stay together, just like they did in 2022 and 2023. Team captain Jacob “valyn” Batio thanked Riot for reconsidering and also thanked the community for speaking up and helping them. Trent “trent” Cairns also appreciated the community’s support and said, “You guys really made it happen.”

Officially looking for an Org for VCT Americas 2024 🙂

Thank you Riot for re-considering their decision, and special shout to the community for voicing your opinions and aiding our situation https://t.co/7ETshtVVtj

— GUARD valyn (@valynfps) September 1, 2023

The community was happy that a good solution was found. Teams like Evil Geniuses, M80, and Disguised simply responded with a “W” to the announcement and the players’ reactions, showing their support.

Now, the team that earned their spot in Ascension can finally get what they deserved: a place in franchising for 2024 and beyond, as long as they find a new organization. They might have a different logo on their jerseys, but it’s the same roster that impressed people in early 2022, and they are on their way to becoming a dominant force in the North American region.