VCL East: Preview

The 2024 VCL Season is rapidly approaching and here is everything you need to know about Split 1 of VCL East: Surge.

Format

The Regular Season starts on January 15th and will feature a single round robin format with the matchups being best of three. At the end of the season in March, the top two teams will secure a bye and skip the first Phase of Playoffs, automatically advancing to Phase 2, while teams who placed third to sixth will advance to the first Phase of the Playoffs. Eighth and ninth place will be relegated to the Promotion Cup and tenth place will be eliminated from the league.

Starting Week 4, Icebox will replace Haven in the map pool. It is unclear at this time if the new gun added to the game, the Outlaw, will be available Week 1 to use.

The Playoffs will start on March 13th with Phase 1 where four teams will compete in a double elimination (GSL-style format) bracket. All matches will be best of three and the top two teams will advance to the second Phase. Phase 2 will feature a four team double elimination bracket with best of three matches up until the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final, with those being best of five.

Teams

Here are all ten teams competing in Split 1

1. Acend
2. Enterprise Esports
3. Diamant Esports
4. GoNext Esports
5. Zero Tenacity
6. B8 Esports
7. NOM Esports
8. Incognito
9. ESC Gaming
10. Chipi Chapa’s

Preview

Acend

With their roster remaining largely the same as it was in the two previous splits, the #1 team last year will look to replicate their winning efforts here in Split 1 of 2024. The only roster change the organization made was signing Egor “chiwa” Stepanyuk in place of Ondřej “MONSTEERR” Petrů who retired in September of last year. The Russian Sentinel player has played for teams such as NIP and Excel in the past, with brief stints on organization-less rosters who cars? and bonk as well. So far, the team has looked even stronger with him. His debut with the team came during the VEU offseason tournament, where they took home $4,000 after beating fellow VCL East team GoNext Esports in the Grand Finals of the whole event. Later in the offseason, Acend also competed in the Mandatory Cup, where they looked incredible, beating teams such as SAW, GoNext Esports, and UCAM Esports Club to advance to the Grand Finals. In the Grand Finals, they faced CGN Esports, who they managed to easily beat 3–0 in a best of five matchup.

The much-successful offseason for Acend comes months after a third-place finish in the VCT EMEA Ascension tournament. They will look to again place first in both splits of VCL East this year and once again qualify for Ascension in the summer. Acend also announced the addition of sixth man/substitute player Roope “Vuubit” Eilola on January 9th. The Finnish player will have the chance to practice and stand in for the team if needed after previously competing for Finnish team OnlyFins.

Enterprise Esports

EP come into Split 1 looking very different than they did last year. The Czech organization, which placed second in both splits last year, announced their new roster on January 13th. The team consists of Václav Jan “Cantzer” Stezka, Michal “Enrik” Vejvoda, Radim “Hasaa” Haša, Patrik “Pata1G” Bojkovský, and Michal “SH0UTy” Glacner.

The lone player to return from their previous roster that competed in VCL East last year is Cantzer. The four Czech newcomers joining him on Enterprise all come from various rosters, although Enrik spent some time with them during the offseason as a stand-in. Perhaps the two most notable players are Hasaa and SH0UTy who both previously competed for fellow Czech team Entropiq back during the 2022 season of VCL East (then VRL East). Although the team didn’t do very well and later disbanded, they still got some valuable experience playing in a Tier 2 environment. Additionally, SH0UTy also stood-in for Enterprise in late 2022 during the offseason. Both players spent majority of 2023 playing for different mixed teams in the Tier 3 scene. However recently, they were both apart of the eco chalks and MRVZT rosters. The former team competed in the offseason VEU tournament and had the chance to go up against VCL East teams such as Acend and GoNext Esports while the latter team competed in the VCL East Open Qualifiers and got all the way until Lower Round 7. In addition to briefly standing in for EP during the offseason, Enrik has previously competed for various Tier 3 teams and mixes. Although he may have less experience than the others, the 19-year-old is one of the best up and coming players in the region, and should bring some great firepower to this team. Rounding out the roster is Pata1G, who is a veteran in the local Czech scene. The 21-year-old spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with eSuba, which was a top Czech team at the time. He has since competed with various teams and mixes, mainly in the Tier 3 scene, but brings a lot of experience to this team.

With Enterprise coming off a great split last year, in which they placed second and qualified for VCT EMEA Ascension Play-Ins, hopes will be high heading into the first split of 2024. They will look to once again place high with this full-Czech roster filled with veterans and young talent.

Diamant Esports

Known for fostering the best talent in the Balkan region, Diamant Esports come into Split 1 of 2024 with a slightly different roster than last year. In the offseason, they added up and coming player Mohammad “Pa1ze” Khatib as a stand-in for the VEU offseason tournament after the departure of Emil “runneR” Trajkovski who signed with Team Vitality. The Dane performed extremely well throughout the event, averaging an ACS of 272.1 and a K/D of 1.25. Diamant placed sixth in the tournament, bowing out after a loss in the Upper Semifinals and subsequently in the Lower Bracket. However, the 20-year-old was later signed to the team for the 2024 roster after his stand out performance. He has also played for teams such as ESC Gaming and EnRo Griffins in the past. Joining Pa1ze alongside longtime Diamant members Tilen “Grmekista” Grmek and Ivan “Prti” Erak on the new roster are Polish players Arkadiusz “xiTsha” Nowak and Miłosz “westside” Duda. xiTsha is a veteran in the Tier 2 scene, having previously played for Ramboot Club, Zero Tenacity, and Arctic during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. westside is more a of a less experienced player, having only competed for a few teams during his Valorant career so far. However, the 18-year-old has become to gotten himself noticed within the EMEA scene, after some insane performances during the 2023 split of VEU. Although his first recorded match on VLR came just one year ago, westside looks to take the next steps of his career here with Diamant.

Diamant placed sixth in Split 1 and third in Split 2 of VCL East last year. The team will continue hoping to see more growth heading into Split 1 of the 2024 season. The Slovenian esports organization also announced the addition of sixth man/substitute player Andrej “Thander” Živanović. The young Serbian is known for putting up insane stat lines and consistent plays. He has previously played for caLLLamas and ACE eSports, along with various other mixes in the Tier 3 scene.

GoNext Esports

GoNext are a dark horse team to watch out for in the upcoming split of VCL East: Surge. The Greek esports organization is coming off an offseason in which they signed former VCT player Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt as well as Dawid “PROFEK” Święć and Michał “BULD” Sokal. PROFEK and BULD are both two experienced Polish players, with the former competing for teams such as Incognito and Diamant Esports, while the latter has competed for teams such as TENSTAR and ZETA Gaming. In addition to the three Polish players, Balázs “Chadi” Farsang remains from the 2023 roster and just recently signed is up and coming player Patrik “Minny” Hušek. The team played with this roster in their most recent offseason tournament, which was the Mandatory Cup. They managed to qualify for the event through the Open Qualifier, in which they beat out teams such as Hamburger Jungs and Galakticos. GoNext then went 1–1 in the Group Stage, beating SAW 2–0 but losing 0–2 to Acend. However, it wasn’t enough to advance them to the Playoffs. GoNext also competed earlier in the VEU tournament earlier in the offseason, where they placed second.

Coming off an inaugural split where they placed sixth, things are looking good for GoNext after a slew of roster upgrades in the offseason. Their first matchup in Split 1 of 2024 will be against Enterprise Esports on January 15th.

Zero Tenacity

This section will be updated once Zero Tenacity announces their roster.

B8 Esports

Another dark horse team to watch out for, B8’s new team is filled with young talent and experienced players. Their roster consists of Vladyslav “arch” Svistov and Kamil “kvmilhvh” Szymanek, who were both apart of the 2023 roster, as well as newcomers Kajus “Kajuks” Skurvydas, Zdeněk “Nunmeister” Bradáč, and Tomáš “WanZeru” Peroutka. Ukranian player arch is a longtime B8 member, previously playing for the organization back in early 2022 and then again all of last year. He brings a load of experience as the IGL of this team, previously competing for NAVI and WYLDE as well. Polish player kvmilhvh rejoins the team, after spending both Splits of the 2023 VCL season with B8. Kajuks is one of the best up and coming players in EMEA and was a perfect signing for the Ukranian organization. The Lithuanian previously spent time with Diamant Esports as a stand-in and other various teams in the Tier 3 scene. Czech duo Nunmeister and WanZeru are also two young and up and coming players. They both gained traction in the recent VEU offseason tournament, where they competed with Enterprise Esports as stand-ins and performed well. Additionally, the two players competed in the VCL East Open Qualifier just a few weeks ago, which is presumably how they got noticed by B8 after their stellar performances.

Coming off subpar placements in both Splits of VCL East last year (eighth in Split 1, seventh in Split 2), B8 will look to improve their performance heading into Split 1 of 2024. The Ukrainian esports organization was almost relegated from the league last June, but was able to retain their spot after a 3–0 victory over DEMURY. With this new roster filled with young and up coming talents, it’ll be exciting to see how they do in the upcoming split.

NOM Esports

Israeli esports organization NOM come into 2024 with a completely different roster than they had last year. Their new team consists of Israelis Eran “nero” Yosef and Zneva, as well as Michael “Elysium” Prošek, Bence “Szimpli” Soós, and Arkadii “RARE” Krokhmal. Both nero and Zneva hail from NOM’s academy team, NOM Junior. They spent some time there, competing with a full Israeli squad in multiple offseason tournaments such as the weekly VEU cups. Prior to that, the duo competed for Catalyst Esports, where they found some success in the Tier 3 scene. Both players will now get the chance to prove themselves in the Tier 2 scene. Elysium and Szimpli are two veterans in the Tier 2 scene, with the former having previously competed for teams such as eSuba and Enterprise Esports, and the latter having competed for Movistar Riders, MOUZ, and AYM Esports. Most recently, both players competed in the VEU offseason tournaments and performed well. RARE is an up and coming player, with this being his first organization playing under. The Ukrainian has gotten himself noticed after performing extremely well in the Tier 3 scene with multiple teams and mixes. This will be a huge opportunity for him and he should be able to do really well.

The major roster changes come after NOM placed tenth in Split 1 and eighth in Split 2 of last year’s VCL East. The Israeli esports organization nearly lost their spot in the league after having to play in the Relegation/Promotion Cup. However, they managed to beat Szach Mat 3–1 to retain their spot in the league for the upcoming season. Hopes will be high for the team heading into a brand new year.

Incognito

Qualifying for Split 1 of VCL East 2024 through the S2 Finals of VEU last year, Incognito look to make some noise. Their new roster, which was announced on January 14th, consists of Adrian “dark0sek” Janus, Adam “adm1k” Siemieniec, Kacper “saiko” Kucharski, Piotr “YouBreak” Chodoła, and Kacper “kacpi” Wolski.

dark0sek and adm1k are longtime members of the team, with the former having played there since January 2023 and the latter having played there since April 2023. Prior to joining Incognito, dark0sek competed for several different teams and mixes in the Tier 3 scene while adm1k has played for teams such as Anonymo Esports, UCAM Esports Club, and B8 Esports in the past. Most recently, the two Polish players along with their teammates at the time competed in the VEU offseason tournament, where they placed sixth. They advanced to the Last Chance Qualifier, but were sent home after losses to Enterprise Esports and Hungarikum.

The three newcomers to Incognito are no stranger to VCL East and the Tier 2 scene. saiko spent both splits of 2023 with Movistar Riders, where they placed eighth in Split 1 and seventh in Split 2 of VCL Spain: Rising. Prior to that, the Polish player spent Split 2 of 2022 with Sector One in VCL France and Split 1 of 2022 with AWARIA in VCL East. Another ex AWARIA member is YouBreak, who also competed with the full Polish team in Split 1 of VCL East in 2022 (then called VRL East). He then later spent some time with TENSTAR and Anorthosis Famagusta Esports, before most recently competing with NOM Esports in Split 2 of 2023. Rounding out the roster is kacpi. The Polish player hasn’t played a single VLR recorded match in all of 2023, but competed with TENSTAR from May 2022 until December 2022. He will look to get back on track here with Incognito.

Featuring five strong Polish players, Incognito will look to make their mark in Split 1 of VCL East: Surge. Their first matchup will be against Diamant Esports on January 17th.

ESC Gaming

One of the most exciting rosters for Split 1 belongs to ESC Gaming. Their roster features VCL East veterans Martin “Hitch” Srp and Patrik “Kwixy” Liesinger as well as newcomers William “krm” Chanteau, Adel “r1zvaN” Rizvanović, and Shayan “shy” Rajabpour.

Both Hitch and Kwixy have been apart of ESC since September 2023, where they competed with the team in the VEU offseason tournament. Although they placed seventh in the event, this was a good learning experience for the organization to perfect their roster heading into the 2024 Split. Prior to joining ESC, Hitch competed for teams such as NOM Esports and Cyber Wolves Esports, while Kwixy has spent the past two years mainly playing for Rapid Ninjas. They both bring a lot of experience to lead this team filled with up and coming talents. French player krm has been on the rise for quite a while now, having played for Team Galaga in the Spanish region and ONLINERS in the DACH region. In addition, the 19-year-old has played for other teams and mixes in recent months, and has always stood out in a good way. Bosnian player r1zvaN is one of the most exciting prospects in the Eastern Europe region, with the 20-year-old always putting up insane stat lines and performances on the Controller role. His most recent matches come with caLLLamas and PURPURE, with whom he competed in several VEU tournaments in 2023 with. Additionally, r1zvaN had a brief stint with ESC Gaming earlier in the 2023 season. Rounding out the roster is shy, who is also a top prospect in the EMEA scene, being known for his insane stats and flashy plays on the Duelist role. The German player has some Tier 2 experience under his belt, previously competing for Unicorns of Love in the DACH VCL. Although his time there was short, the 26-year-old began to get noticed. shy also has a wealth of experience playing in the Tier 3 DACH scene with teams such as Entropy, LIONS, and VCL Rejects. This new ESC Gaming team will benefit from having him greatly, as he looks to take the next steps in his career.

This will be ESC Gaming’s first time ever competing in VCL East: Surge. The German esports organization was able to secure a replacement invite after Anonymo Esports announced their exit from the league. Hopes will be high for the team heading into Split 1 and whether or not they are up to the task in this challenging league remains to be seen.

Chipi Chapa’s

The most recent team to qualify for Split 1 of VCL East 2024 is Chipi Chapa’s. The organization-less team, formerly known as Goon Squad, qualified for the league through the Open Qualifiers, which were held in late December of last year. Their roster consists of Outcazt, ZachKappa, lovers rock, SerialKiller, and globeX.

Although none of these players have previously competed at the Tier 2 level, this is an exciting roster to watch out for. Bulgarian player Outcazt is the IGL for the team and has previously competed on several different teams and mixes in the Tier 3 scene in the past. Additionally, he competed with Bulgarian team Exceptional Gaming in the RedBull Campus Clutch World Finals this past year. Although the team went 0–3 in the Group Stage, it was still a valuable experience for Outcazt and the rest of the players on the team. ZachKappa has been an exciting player to watch for a while now and he gets the chance to prove himself at the Tier 2 level. The British player has primarily also only competed with teams and mixes in the Tier 3 scene, but has slowly made his name known. Some of his prior experience includes playing with BENELUX teams VOICESAREBACK and Ginger Supremacy in the Trinity Trials. The 21-year-old is also known as a top ranked player in EMEA, regularly placing very high each act. He has often duoed with players such as Team Heretics’ benjyfishy in the past as well. lovers rock is a newer name in the Valorant scene, with the Turkish player recording his first ever match on VLR just in last September. However, the 17-year-old has been extremely impressive, averaging a K/D of 1.20 and an ACS of 249 throughout the VCL East Open Qualifiers. The fourth member of the team, SerialKiller, brings a lot of experience to this young roster. He has previously filled in for organizations such as Gamax and GENKEI Esports, as well as having a load of experience competing in the Tier 3 scene. He also put up some really good stats in the recent VCL East Qualifiers, averaging a K/D of 1.20 and an ACS of 230 during the event. Rounding out the roster is globeX. The Russian/British player has looked incredible throughout his Valorant career so far, putting up absolutely insane stats and performances on both the Duelist and Controller roles. The 18-year-old has previously played for teams such as AVENGERS, The Furious Five, and DACH Legendz. Additionally, he stood in for VCL DACH team AEX-1 during one game in the offseason, in which the 18-year-old put up an insane performance, boasting a KDA of 63–46–8 and an ACS of 291 through three maps.

With a roster filled with young talent, it’ll be interesting to see how they can compete against the much more experienced teams in VCL East. However, Chipi Chapa’s are already a fan favorite due to the team’s recent success in qualifying for the league.

When and How to Watch

Split 1 of VCL East: Surge starts on January 15th.

The first week of matchups will be:

• GoNext Esports vs Enterprise Esports (Jan 15th)
• Acend vs B8 Esports (Jan 15th)
• Zero Tenacity vs NOM Esports (Jan 15th)
• Chipi Chapa’s vs B8 Esports (Jan 16th)
• GoNext Esports vs Acend (Jan 16th)
• Enterprise Esports vs ESC Gaming (Jan 17th)
• Diamant Esports vs Incognito (Jan 17th)
• NOM Esports vs Chipi Chapa’s (Jan 18th)
• Incognito vs Zero Tenacity (Jan 18th)

All matches will be streamed here