Locked In: Underestimate APAC at your own peril

LOCK//IN is the first international VCT event, a showcase of global talent which will set the bar for competition this year. The 30 partnered teams from the Americas, Pacific, and EMEA, plus two teams from China, will face off in Riot's opener for the 2023 competitive circuit. They will be split into two groups, Alpha and Omega, and will face off in a controversial format featuring a single-elimination bracket.

Here are the five teams who will be repping SEA and SA:

Paper Rex: W gaming, all the way

Paper Rex is a team that has steadily worked its way up the ladder. In 2021, they only made it to one international event – Masters 3: Berlin – where they finished dead last. 2022 shaped up to be a better year, especially after they signed Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie.

The f0rsakeN -Jinggg partnership unlocked a fast, aggressive playstyle with the rest of the team playing flexibly around the duo. Off the back of that playstyle, they finished top four at Masters Reykjavik and second at Masters Copenhagen. They, unfortunately, got eliminated in the group stage at Champions '22, but overall, the year put both them and APAC on the map.

Paper Rex, the kings of APAC. Image Credit: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games

The roster core remains the same but did sign a sixth player, Patiphan "cgrs" Porsi. The sheer amount of time they've played together and the results they've achieved definitely make them a favorite, especially their willingness to try new things and innovate outside the established meta.

Post the partnership announcement, they already have a trophy under their belt. At the GXR invitational, they won convincingly against Team Heretics in the grand finals to take the trophy. They will be facing off against Cloud9 in their first matchup at LOCK//IN, who have signed Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker. yay had the most first kills and frags to his name at VCT Champions 2022 and is a force to reckon with.

It remains to be seen if W gaming will continue to win the day for the squad, but there are no doubts that PRX will definitely put on a show.

Global Esports: South Asia's lone partnered rep

Before being announced as a partnered team, Global Esports already had proven they were among the best teams in South Asia. They were also a team who had stuck to the same five playing members despite mixed results.

In 2021, they qualified for the APAC LCQ after a narrow win over regional counterpart Velocity Gaming . They were eliminated after losses to Paper Rex and F4Q . South Asia got a pathway to APAC Challengers through the Conquerors Championship and Champions Series in 2022, but despite qualifying for both Challengers S1 and S2, they bombed out early.

Once GE was announced as one of the ten partnered teams in the Pacific league, they made some core roster changes. Of the original five, only SkRossi and Lightningfast remained part of the playing seven, alongside head coach Eraser . They signed AYRIN of XSET fame as their in-game leader. Korean talents Bazzi and t3xture , along with ex- ORDER player WRONSKI and ONIC G 's Monyet also joined the team. The organization rounded off the team by recruiting Spin and BigTime as assistant coaches. Global Esports has not yet played in any events with the new roster, making LOCK//IN their trial by fire.

A truly global roster, befitting the organization's name. Image Credit: Global Esports

Their first match will see them facing Team Vitality . GE's founder Rushindra Sinha mentioned this is almost serendipitous, considering that he approached an investor once looking for help and that the investor already had a stake in Team Vitality, meaning they couldn't aid him due to the conflict of interest. Rushindra said the investor suggested GE could rebrand as Team Vitality India instead and continue operations, but he turned the offer down. Now GE and Team Vitality will clash on a global stage.

Team Secret: Same core of players face new stakes

Team Secret started off as one of the best teams in APAC, and made their mark internationally with a top-eight finish at VCT Champions 2021. In 2022, despite the addition of Fayde as coach and Jremy as their sixth player, they didn't make it to the APAC Challenger playoffs in Stage 1. In Stage 2, they finished third, but failed to qualify for Masters Copenhagen. In the APAC LCQ, they again failed to qualify for Champions after losses to BLEED and ONIC G .

They were APAC's best in 2021. Image Credit: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games

Once they were announced as a partnered team in the Pacific League, they picked up two players to replace Witz and dispenser , who had both left. With the addition of Lim "lenne" You Xiang Lionel, who was a part of BLEED, and Adrian "invy" Jiggs Reyes from Oasis Gaming , the roster had their playing six. After Fayde's departure, Team Secret added Evan "Warbirds" Olzem, who had previously worked with NA teams Cosmic Divide and Immortals as their coach.

Team Secret did play with the new lineup in the GXR Invitational but lost out in the semifinals to Paper Rex. Their first game in LOCK//IN will be against Team Liquid , another team that has made roster changes. It remains to be seen if Team Secret can revive the glory of their 2021 games and ascend the throne.

Rex Regum Qeon: The underdog is eager for battle

Rex Regum Qeon didn't really find success in 2021. The furthest they got was the grand finals in the Indonesian Challengers events, where they lost handily to BOOM Esports .

In 2022, they completely revamped the roster with players from the Philippines – Nexi , Draxi , 2GE , kellyS , and Rabbet . They participated in VCT Philippines Stage 2, where they came third and qualified for APAC Challengers. However, they lost out to XERXIA and Alter Ego and that ended their VCT run for the year. But they continued competing in other tournaments afterwards, and after they signed Eroll "EJAY" Jule Delfin and Emmanuel "Emman" Morales to the roster, they won their first major event, the Predator League PH.

Once RRQ was announced as one of the partnered teams for the Pacific League, they revamped their roster. They signed Marthinus "Ewok" Jacobus Van Der Walt of ONIC G fame as their head coach and Lukas "yb" Gröning from Enigma Gaming as an analyst. They also recruited two players from BOOM Esports – xffero , and fl1pzjder – as well as Lmemore from ONIC G.

Team RRQ @teamrrqofficial Here’s the final announcement of our VPL 2023 Roster. Let’s all welcome our 6 players! @RRQ_Nexi , @rrq_kellyS , @rrq2ge , @rrq_emmanfps , @erolldelfin , and @davidmichs ! 🔥🔥 VIVA RRQ! #teamrrq #VCT2023 #valorant #Riotgames #anouncement 10:38 AM · Oct 9, 2022 · 122 · 737

The team debuted their new roster at the GXR India Invitational as well as the AfreecaTV SEA Invitational, but were eliminated in the group stage of both events. Heading into LOCK//IN, RRQ's first game is against FUT Esports , the winners of the VRL 2022: Finals and the Red Bull Home Ground Turkish Qualifiers. After disappointing debut performances, RRQ is widely considered the underdog by many — but perhaps this is where they'll show up huge.

Talon Esports: Thailand look to make their mark

TALON might be new to the Valorant scene, but they chose players from several major Thai teams.

Crws , Sushiboys , foxz , and Patiphan were part of X10 Esports in 2021, and made it to Masters 2: Reykjavik and a top eight finish at Champions 2021. The former three were then signed to XERXIA Esports in 2022, where they qualified for both Masters Reykjavik and Copenhagen, followed by Champions. Patiphan left the roster to join the Overwatch League after its international success and missed out on all of the team's competitions in 2022.

Same players, new team, same goals. Image Credit: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games

After the departure of the 2021 X10 roster, one of the players who joined the new iteration was Apiwat "garnetS" Apiraksukumal. The team made it to the playoffs for both stages of VCT Challengers Thailand, but failed to qualify for APAC Challengers. The sixth member of the roster, Jittana "JitBoyS" Nokngam, comes from FW Esports , which made it to APAC Challengers S2, but was eliminated early in the group stage. Talon Esports also hired Yuttanagorn "Zeus" Kaewkongyai, who was coaching XERXIA, and In "Creative" Moo-keun (인무근) to round out their coaching staff.

Talon Esports debuted their new roster at GES Asia, where they were among four teams invited. They won 2-0 against ZETA DIVISION , but lost in the final against KIWOOM DRX , unable to win a single map. At LOCK//IN, the new organization with familiar faces will face off against Brazilian squad MIBR and look to prove themselves to the world.

The LOCK//IN event is intended as just a stage for these teams to debut their rosters and show off on a global stage. Winning it isn't going to be easy considering the event format and the lack of information about agent comps and playstyle for most of the teams. When it comes to the SEA/SA teams, though, they've definitely proven they can put up a show and surprise folks with pop-off performances. If they get a trophy and that extra Masters slot for the Pacific region, so much better.