What’s Happening With The Guard in VALORANT?

Valorant

February 22, 2025

Grant Taylor-Hill

In 2024, The Guard faced a significant setback in the Valorant competitive scene. Despite their success in the VCT 2023: Ascension Americas, where they earned a spot in the 2024/2025 VCT Americas Leagues, they were unable to participate in the 2024 VCT Americas League despite fans, like Ben Affleck and Elon Musk, pleading to them for assistance in some way.

The reason for this was their failure to meet the deadline to agree to the Team Participation Agreement for VCT Americas2. As a result, The Guard released their roster from their contracts on September 1, 20231.

Will The Guard Fall Short?

the guard esports

This decision came as a surprise to both fans and players, leading to disappointment and frustration within the Valorant community. The Guard’s players and staff expressed their dismay, as they had worked hard to earn their spot in the league.

‘We’re very disappointed on behalf of the players who competed the whole season and won’t be able to qualify as a team due to circumstances beyond their control. As painful as it is to make this decision, we have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the sport and will always do what’s best for the long term.‘

It was explained that Riot reached out to The Guard several times over a period of two months, and despite the organisation originally qualifying for the 2024 VCT Americas, it failed to sign agreements that would guarantee a spot. By way of a knock-on impact, Riot was then forced to figure out a path ahead, and they had three options:

Sign the five ‘now unqualified’ players to a new organisation
Promote the Ascencion runner-up, M80
Not promote any team from Challengers beyond Ascension

Ultimately, Riot decided to choose the latter option – opting to not promote any Challengers team past Ascension into the 2024 VCT Americas.

What is Happening With The Guard?

Several players from The Guard’s roster found new teams from other games and leagues such as the Call of Duty League.:

Jonah “JonahP” Pulice, Michael “neT” Bernet, and Jacob “valyn” Batio joined G2 Esports.
Ian “tex” Botsch joined Leviatán.
Trent “trent” Cairns also joined G2 Esports.

The situation caused an uproar within the Valorant community following a mass and sudden strike of layoffs, with many fans and players expressing their disappointment and frustration. Despite the setback, the players have continued their careers with new teams, and the Valorant scene remains dynamic and competitive.