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.
Image Credit: Colin Young Wolff/Riot Games VALORANT Masters London concluded on June 21st with a five-map thriller between Pacific’s Paper Rex and VCT Americas’ Leviatán . But it wasn’t the event favorite, comprised of a loyal core of VCT legends, that lifted the Masters London trophy in the end.
It was Leviatán who came out on top with a dominant performance on the final map, Lotus. Not only is this the first Masters trophy going to a LATAM team, the Argentinian esports organization also locked in this historic accomplishment with a roster of four rookies that had never stepped on an international stage prior to Masters London.
With an average age of 20 years and 5 days, Leviatán has become the youngest global VALORANT champion in history, less than three months after rookie team Nongshim RedForce won Masters Santiago. In an exclusive interview with Esports Insider, Leviatán’s in-game leader (IGL) Francisco “kiNgg” Aravena discussed the team’s journey towards the Masters London crown and the strengths of his four rookies.
Rookies are expected to underperform during their international debuts due to a variety of factors. Cheers from the crowd drown out some in-game sounds. Opponents from other regions bring new play styles. Plus, the stakes and associated pressure are never higher than at a global event.
And yet Leviatán has shown incredible resilience at Masters London. Alongside historic giants like FunPlus Phoenix and Fnatic, it is one of the few teams in VALORANT history to reach a global Grand Final via a full lower-bracket run. Four consecutive match wins with little downtime in between were required to make this happen.
According to kiNgg, this lower-bracket run contributed significantly to the roster’s ability to bounce back from setbacks. Notably, in the Grand Final versus Paper Rex, Leviatán suffered a devastating 2-13 stomp on the first map, Fracture. But the squad swiftly retaliated with a 13-6 victory on Split to even out the score.
“I feel like thanks to all the lower run thing, we’ve gained so much resilience, so much experience also as a team,” explained kiNgg. “After losing map one, we’re just ‘Okay guys, it’s fine.’ It’s a best-of-five. It doesn’t matter if you win 3-0 [or] 3-2. At the end, it’s the exact same result, so we just shrugged it off.”
Image Credit: Colin Young Wolff/Riot Games Unlike his teammates, kiNgg has come close to an international title before. At Champions 2024, he barely missed out on a Grand Final spot by losing to Team Heretics in the Lower Bracket Final. This time, Leviatán and kiNgg seemed to have their first trophy locked in with a dominant start on Lotus.
However, right before the finish line, Paper Rex managed to gain back momentum and scramble a couple of rounds together.
When asked whether this moment brought up doub…