ScreaM Thinks the New Valorant Franchised League Is a Great Opportunity for Young Players
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During the Valorant Champions 2022 Pre-Event Press Conference, AFK Gaming wanted to know Team Liquid’s Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom’s thoughts on the current Valorant Champions Tour format moving towards a franchised league. ScreaM feels that the introduction of a franchised league is a great opportunity for players, especially young players who get into esports. The new format has left a lot of players and fans divided on the subject, but the Team Liquid player has a positive opinion on the new format.
Why ScreaM thinks the new franchised league is important
ScreaM told AFK that, “It is important for their (young players) future to be in this environment under Riot Games and it is a good thing.” He also mentioned that he too wants to be a part of the franchised league but his team is under no additional pressure to perform at the event in hopes of becoming a part of the league.
Team Liquid wants to continue playing the way it has been playing over the 2022 competitive season and the players have their sights on the world championship at the moment.
Team Liquid is likely to be one of the teams that becomes a part of the league due to its consistent performances over the months. The partnership system for the Valorant franchised leagues will be different from the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) for League of Legends.
Valorant organizations will be offered four-year contracts to compete in the new franchised league system and at the end of the contract period, Riot Games will decide whether to include more teams or to replace existing teams.
However, not all players are excited for the new format. Thanamethk "Crws" Mahatthananuyut from Xerxia told AFK Gaming in an interview, “In the current format, I like how all teams start at the same place. In previous events higher seeded teams received a headstart, making it so much harder for teams that play the early group stages to qualify. Their strategies are exposed and it’s great that Riot has strayed away from the older format into what we have for the current Champions event.
But in 2023, having a league will probably affect tier-two teams. Even though there is a domestic league, only one team can qualify for the international league which is low. And having just one team per year per region is really tough. I am not really a fan of it. But we will try our best and continue competing.”
Players at the press conference pointed out that Valorant Champions will still be the main focus of the competition so anyone who wants to reach the top and seize the world championship will still be able to, even if they are not not part of the franchised league.
