After a grueling 5-game series that saw both teams get pushed to their absolute limits, Team Acend conquered Gambit Esports and earned the right to be called the first-ever VALORANT World Champions.

Team Acend, comprised of Santeri “BONECOLD” Sassi , Mehmet Yagiz “cNed” İpek, Vladyslav “Kiles” Shvets, Patryk “starxo” Kopczynski, Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt, Laurynas “Nbs” Kisielius made history in a record-setting event that saw one million concurrent viewers during the finals match.

Led by strong performances by CNed and StarXo, Team Acend entered the finals without dropping a single game during the initial stages of the tournament, even beating out our very own Team Secret along the way.

Kasra Jafroodi, Global Strategy Lead for VALORANT Esports shares that “We were thrilled with the success of Champions! This tournament demonstrated the global resonance of VALORANT as a sport and that any team, from any region, can step up to be a contender for the Champions Trophy. Seeing the level of competition rise around the world is an incredible sign of the continued growth of our game as we head into our next season in February.”  

In addition to the $1 Million prize pool, each of the sixteen teams was awarded an equal split of 50% of the net proceeds of the VALORANT Champions bundle, which measured at over $7.5 Million as of last update, approximately $500,000 per participating team.

The grand finals also kicked off with performances by Zedd, Rezz, PVRIS, and Grabbitz, who collaborated on a brand new track titled “Die For You” which debuted ahead of the event.

The VALORANT champions tour will continue in 2022 and will begin in February, featuring the return of international competitions, a new tournament series during the off-season, and a new global Game Changers event that will showcase the best women’s teams from around the world.

Congratulations, Team Acend!