Every VALORANT Champions Winner So Far: Let’s Recap

As VALORANT Champions Shanghai continues, it’s a good time to look back on past tournaments and reminisce about iconic VCT eras. Let’s run through a recap of every Champs winner so far and what was memorable about each year.

First VALORANT Champions Winner (Berlin 2021): Acend

The Roster:

• BONECOLD
• cNed
• Kiles
• starxo
• zeek

This was the year that started it all. VALORANT Champions Berlin was the game’s first-ever world championship tournament, and Austrian org Acend took the crown. The team dominated the Group Stage and had a near-flawless Playoffs run, sweeping Team Secret and Team Liquid 2-0. The Grand Final was hard-fought, though, with Acend pulling ahead 3-2 to defeat Gambit Esports.

Five years fly by, right? If you’re an esports enthusiast, you might still recognize some big names from this year. zeek was the tournament’s MVP, and he went on to spend time on Team Heretics. In 2025, zeek also briefly appeared on Enterprise Esports, which made headlines in 2026 for qualifying to the VCT EMEA season through Challengers. cNed also recently played for FUT.

Champions Istanbul 2022 Winner: LOUD

The Roster:

• pANcada
• Sacy
• Saadhak
• aspas
• Less

Ah, yes… this was back when Jett was all the rage and you wouldn’t dare to even think about picking another Duelist. One of the biggest ongoing VALORANT questions emerged during this time: who’s the best Jett? Originally, you might have answered TenZ (or Seouldam if you’re a bit more niche). 2022, however, was the year aspas also entered the conversation.

The Brazilian pro was in his prime here, blowing the competition out of the water. This man was running around fully Omen blinded with one Jett ult knife left and still hitting the headshot. LOUD’s performance overall was also notably consistent throughout the upper bracket. The team dropped a single map to OpTic Gaming in the Grand Finals, securing the trophy 3-1.

VALORANT Champions Los Angeles 2023 Winner: Evil Geniuses

The Roster:

• Boostio
• Ethan
• C0M
• jawgemo
• Demon1

Three years later, Evil Geniuses remains one of the most celebrated underdog stories in VALORANT. Former Counter-Strike coach Potter had just ventured into the VCT scene, and she was ready to lock in. The stars aligned to assemble five unexpected newcomers into a roster that would make VALORANT history.

Evil Geniuses surprised everybody by crushing the Playoffs, proving they shouldn’t be underestimated. The org took two Ls from analyst favorite PRX in the Group Stage and Semifinals. However, they quickly got back up and kept fighting. After PRX emerged victorious from the Semifinals, EG clawed its way up from the lower bracket (narrowly beating last year’s winners LOUD 3-2) for a Grand Finals rematch of epic proportions. It was an admirable showing from both teams, but EG came out on top with a 3-1 scoreline.

The win was truly cinematic and was the beginning of the roster’s individual careers. This was arguably Demon1’s prime era, though fans witnessed other strong showings from him on LEV and ENVY later. We saw much more play from all five players in recent years, and Ethan went on to win another Champions in 2025.

Champions Seoul 2024 Winner: EDward Gaming

The Roster:

• CHICHOO
• nobody
• ZmjjKK
• Smoggy
• S1Mon

VALORANT first added its VCT China region in 2023. Just a year later, EDward Gaming became the Champions 2024 winners, solidifying Chinese VALORANT’s place on the international stage.

The team had already participated in VCT 2023 through the newly-added China Qualifier, but this year, they pushed through an entire VCT season and entered through China Stage 2. EDG‘s playstyle was perplexing for enemy teams, but tons of fun for viewers: the team had flashy mechanics and aggressive strategies. KangKang was a menace on the Operator, making for plenty of clippable moments. The EDG roster gained a global fanbase as VCT watchers got to know them.

The Champions 2024 Grand Final, EDG against Team Heretics, was extremely close. EDG almost grasped the win on Bind after KangKang aced at 12-11, but a Brim molly clutch from TH Boo kept them tied. The contrast between the two orgs’ playstyles made it all the more fun to witness live. EDG pulled ahead to a 3-2 victory, becoming the first Chinese VALORANT team to win the game’s most prestigious trophy.

VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 Winner: NRG

The Roster:

• Ethan
• s0m
• mada
• brawk
• skuba

Champions Paris had some extremely tough contenders. We saw Paper Rex return here, hungry to win a Champions after narrowly missing out in 2023. FNATIC was also on everyone’s minds, with star IGL Boaster at the helm. Add DRX, MIBR, Team Heretics, and G2 Esports (who scored a VCT Americas three-peat) to the mix, and the odds of another team pulling through are slim.

Slim… but never none. NRG was ready to face them all and arrived on the scene with a vengeance. Ethan was back in Champs as an IGL. S0M excelled on smokes, and mada was ready to pop off as Duelist. skuba and brawk held sites down and made sure the team had plenty of info. This was a stacked team of VCT veterans who proved their consistency and composure on the battlefield.

NRG made a consistent climb through the upper bracket to the Grand Final, where they faced off against FNATIC. The stakes were high, as FNATIC had played in every VALORANT Champions so far, but had not yet tasted victory. The two teams were quite evenly matched, and were neck-and-neck 2-2 before NRG swept the decider map Split 13-5. This made Ethan the first and only VALORANT player (so far) to win two Champions titles.

VALORANT Champions Shanghai 2026 Winner: TBD

Champions Shanghai 2026 is still in progress! The Grand Final will occur on October 18, 2026. This is the first VALORANT Champions held in China, and will crown the tournament’s fifth winning team. Check out our full guide here for more info.

Right now, there are a few analyst favorites standing out. Paper Rex is once again in the running, but will they choke at the last second? NRG is 2-0 in the Group Stage at the time of writing, looking to defend their title. Newcomer Global Esports is surprisingly strong, and 100 Thieves and Team Vitality are ready for battle.

All Champions Shanghai 2026 Teams

• 100 Thieves
• LOUD
• NRG
• G2 Esports
• Karmine Corp
• Team Liquid
• FUT Esports
• Team Vitality
• Global Esports
• Nongshim RedForce
• Paper Rex
• T1
• JD Gaming
• TYLOO
• EDward Gaming
• XLG Esports

Stay tuned for more VALORANT news. We regularly cover new skins, VALORANT leaks, and VCT esports happenings.