Lea is an esports journalist with too many interests and too little time. Covering esports stories for more than 3 years, she likes to spend her days (and nights) watching and analysing competitive VALORANT. Lea is also deeply invested in DEI issues and promoting mental health awareness within her industry.
Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
The question of how much freedom versus top-down control game publishers should implement in their respective esports ecosystems is often raised in discussions of esports sustainability and profitability.
However, as showcased by the recent disasterclass of a Grand Final during the VALORANT Challengers Americas Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) , this question also carries relevance in the context of competitive integrity, sportsmanship, and fairness – which are all core values of any sport.
Organized by Liga ACE, the Grand Final was plagued by numerous hours of tech pauses and near-constant in-game issues, all despite offering the winning Tier 2 team qualification for the VCT Americas Stage 2 Play-Ins.
On top of leaving the VALORANT community doubtful about the competitive integrity of the best-of-five (BO5) series, the debacle also heightens concerns regarding VCT’s updated open ecosystem next year.
Is VALORANT’s flagship league ready to rely on third-party tournament organizers?
An LCQ grants the winning Tier 2 team a ticket to its region’s Tier-1 league via a Grand Final that spans two days, countless tech pauses, lags, and round rollbacks? Of course, the first concern that comes to mind is regarding the legitimacy of the LCQ.
As summarized by pro player Melanie “mel” Hoi-San Man on the VALORANT talkshow Plat Chat: “I cannot take this tournament seriously, I’m sorry. I just can’t sit here and pretend to like analyze this sh** cause like it’s just so unserious, bro. It’s just unacceptable. […]
“I cannot believe that this is the most important match for some of these players’ careers like that they’ve had up to this point, and they’re playing in unacceptable conditions.”
On the same Plat Chat episode, Shayan “ShyoWager” Shehryar shed light on the circumstances of the LCQ disaster. According to the VALORANT personality, Riot Games’ servers were experiencing issues on the day of the Grand Final. While ShyoWager emphasized that these issues were not Liga ACE’s fault, he criticized how the tournament organizer handled the situation for both players and broadcast talent.
“The matter of fact that they continue the game like six hours detached is bonkers to me,” commented the caster on Liga ACE’s decision to conclude the Grand Final one day after its kickoff on July 30th.
Image Credit: ACE VALORANT Challengers NA Even Jeremy Steeves, the Founder of one of the participating esports organizations, Shopify Rebellion, made a public statement on the LCQ Grand Final: “I unequivocally stand in support of our players in denouncing the conditions of this VCL Americas LCQ.
“Regardless of the outcome, this series was egregiously beyond the threshold of acceptable standards for competition. From network, to rulings, to on-site conduct – it was simply inexc…