VCL Spain: Preview

Returning for the 2023 competitive season is VCL Spain: Rising. Here's everything you need to know about split one!

Format

The regular season features ten teams competing against each other in a Round Robin format. All matches are believed to be best of one's like they were last year. The top six teams will advance to the playoffs where there will be a single elimination bracket. All matches leading up to the grand finals are best of three and the grand finals itself is a best of five series.

Teams

Here are all ten teams competing in Split 1

1) AYM Esports

Up and coming Spanish organization AYM Esports are one of the new teams invited to the Spanish VCL this year. They announced their roster on January 4th.

Raúl "mrcarrito" Gala
Miguel "MikaEl" Ángel Díaz
David "ZeFRy" Gutiérrez Saiz
Jesus "Chechuu" Díaz
Daniel "Daniel0" Bolufer
Sergio "Sikak0" Rodriguez (Head Coach)

Mrcarrito hails from the Spanish team Guasones, MikaEL from Movistar Riders, ZeFRy from Melilla Titans, Chechuu and Daniel0 both from ZETA Gaming, and the Head Coach of the team Sikako from KOI, where he was an Assistant Coach. With a full Spanish roster, this team will look to prove themselves against fierce competition in the league.

2) Case Esports

Popular Spanish organization Case Esports are back in the Spanish VCL for a second year in a row. They placed second in Split 1 and first in Split 2 last year. On December 30th, Case finalized their roster for this upcoming split.

Salvador "Yurii" Gasco
Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius
Vladyslav "Kiles" Shvets
Manuel "Ease" López
Povilas "roxie" Krivelis
Maria "Toki" Perez (Sixth player/Substitute)
Juan Carlos "McJuankar" Mesa (Head Coach)

This roster features Spanish players Yurii and Ease. Yurii has been a part of Case Esports since August 2021. Ease most recently competed for UCAM Tokiers. Kiles is a Ukranian/Spanish player who most recently competed for Giants Gaming. MiniBoo and roxie are both Lithuanian players who joined Case earlier in 2022. They will both bring good firepower and experience to this team. MiniBoo is only 17 years old and is considered one of the best up and coming players. The sixth player and substitute on the roster is female player Toki. She has previously competed for Case Hydra, which is Case Esports' female team. The Head Coach of the roster is McJuankar who was an Analyst for Case last year. Some of his previous teams include UCAM Tokiers and ZETA Gaming. This is one of the best rosters in the league and we should see them dominate.

3) Falcons

Another one of the new invited teams is Spanish esports organization Falcons. They announced their full roster on December 22nd of last year.

Jere "synsi" Virtanen
Miguel "eXerZ" Marín
João "KILLDREAM" Ferreira
Antonio "Guardy" Guardiola
Fernando "circu" Jimenez
Victor "xikii" Garcia (Head Coach)
Juan Carlos "meisoN" Chacón (Coach)

Finnish player synsi joins the team as IGL. He has previously competed for Finest and Arctic in the past. Spanish player eXerZ hails from 19esports, where he competed with them from Augus 2021 to April 2022. KILLDREAM has played on several different Portuguese teams and mixes in his career, some of which include Old Times, Sharks Esports, and SAW. Guardy has played on a few Spanish teams, the most notable ones being KPI Gaming, Real Betis, and Five Media Clan. Circu hails from ZETA Gaming. He has also competed for Team Galaga and Wygers in the past. Coaches xikii and meisoN both come from Spanish team Five Media Clan. Mixed with Spanish talents and experienced European players, it'll be interesting to see how this roster performs.

4) Movistar Riders

Movistar Riders are a popular Spanish esports organization and will be competing in VCL Spain: Rising for the second year in a row. Last year, they placed seventh in Split 1 and sixth in Split 2. On December 15th of last year, they finalized their new roster for the league.

Andreu "Navarrete" Navarro Blasco
Adinseg "Vinice" Rodríguez
Nicolás "Nixerino" Canellas Colocho
Dmytro "dimaxx" Paliy
Kacper "saiko" Kucharski
Josué "Toruu" Mora (Coach)
Aleks "eKs" Hristov (Analyst)

Spanish players Navarrete and Vinice both joined Movistar Riders on September 15th, 2022. They both previously competed for Five Media Clan. On December 15th, Movistar Riders announced the three final members of its team for the upcoming Spanish VCL. They are Nixerino, dimaxx, and saiko. Nixerino is a former League of Legends pro and this is believed to be his first competitive experience in Valorant. Portuguese player dimaxx has previously competed on teams such as Old Times, UCAM Tokiers, and SAW. Polish player saiko hails from Sector One, where he competed with them from May 2022 until September 2022. Coach Toruu and Analyst eKs both joined Movistar Riders from Five Media Clan in September of 2022. With this new roster, Movistar Riders can hopefully climb to the top of VCL Spain: Rising.

5) Ramboot Club

Spanish esports organization Ramboot Club are one of the new teams invited to Split 1 of VCL Spain: Rising. They have been in Valorant for quite a while, but now will be their first chance to prove themselves at a higher level. On January 4th, they unveiled their new roster.

Jose "Bromas" González
Luis "VARES" Olivares
José "Rexs" Jaramago
Marius "l0udly" Žilinskas
Jani "shed" Marjanen
João "Celo" Almeida (Coach)

This roster features Spanish talents as well as experienced European players. Bromas is one of the best Spanish IGLs, previously playing for Case Esports, Team Heretics, and Team Galaga. He also had a stint as a Coach with Real Betis. VARES and Rexs are both also experienced Spanish players. The former has played for teams such as Team Queso, KPI Gaming, and Five Media Clan, while the latter has played for teams such as Real Betis, ZETA Gaming, and Team Galaga. Lithuanian player l0udly hails from Arctic and Finnish player shed hails from KOVA. Portuguese coach Celo joins Ramboot Club with quite a bit of experience, previously coaching for GTZ Esports and SPARX ESPORTS. This mix of experienced players and talents should do well in the upcoming split.

6) Rebels Gaming

Up and coming Spanish esports organization Rebels Gaming are back in VCL Spain: Rising for the second year in a row. Last year, they placed fourth in Split 1 and third in Split 2. They finalized their roster for the upcoming split on December 28th, 2022.

João "jannyXD" Costa
Guillaume "GatsH" Kalka
Ilya "vo0kashu" Ushakov
Sergio "Hastack" Martínez
Jose "humanz" Cebrian
Gabriel "DRK" Lorenzo
John "Papasmurf" Yoo (Head Coach)
Alberto "Tinder" Rodriguez (Assistant Coach)

Spanish players Hastack, humanz, and DRK all joined Rebels Gaming on December 28th of last year. Hastack hails from BISONS ECLUB, humanz from Five Media Clan, and DRK from TOOOLS Esports. They are joined by Portuguese player jannyXD, French player GatsH, and Russian player vo0kashu, who all competed for Rebels in the past two splits. Vo0kashu is considered one of the best players in this league and this upcoming split we should see him step up his gameplay. Rebels Gaming also retained both of its coaches from the past year. With this mix of experienced European players and talented Spanish players, it'll be interesting to see how Rebels does this split.

7) Team Queso

Back for the second year in a row is Spanish esports organization Team Queso. Last year, they placed fifth in Split 1 and seventh in Split 2. On January 2nd, they unveiled their brand-new roster.

Bartosz "UNFAKE" Bernacki
Alberto "neptuNo" González
Joona "H1ber" Parviainen
Mario "PoPiFresH" González
Christian "lowel" Antoran
Manuel "thinkii" Martinez (Head Coach)
Kirian "Yaba" Martínez (Coach)

This new Team Queso roster is filled with upcoming stars and experienced players. Polish player UNFAKE is the only one to remain from the previous roster. Brand new are Spanish players neptuNo, PoPiFresH, and lowel, as well as Finnish player H1ber. NeptuNo hails from KOI, while PoPiFresH and lowel both come from Team Heretics. Fan favorite H1ber most recently competed for Team Vitality, but has also played for KOI, FNATIC, and Finest in the past. Head Coach thinkii hails from Arctic and Yaba remains as part of the Team Queso coaching staff, which he joined in May 2021. On paper, this is a super talented roster filled with stars and upcoming players, and they should do extremely well.

8) UCAM Tokiers

Returning to VCL Spain: Rising for the second year in a row is UCAM Tokiers. The Spanish organization placed sixth in Split 1 and second in Split 2. On January 4th, they announced their new roster for the upcoming split.

Fabian "Quick" Pereira Gomez
Sammy "iDex" Weghe
Eloy "YuNo" García Burgueño
Karel "Flickless" Maeckelbergh
Ramses "Famsii" Koivukangas
Mark "aer0z" Ochoa (Coach)

This UCAM Tokiers roster is one of the more interesting teams in VCL Spain: Rising. Spanish player Quick is the only one to remain from the previous roster. Belgian players iDex and Flickless both hail from Sector One. Spanish player YuNo comes from Melilla Titans, while Finnish player Famsii comes from KOI. Coach aer0z has been with UCAM Tokiers since August 2022. Before that, he was the Coach for ZETA Gaming. This is both an experienced and talented roster and it'll be interesting to see how they prove themselves against some of the other strong teams in the league.

9) ZETA Gaming

Spanish esports organization ZETA Gaming have been in the Valorant scene for a while and now will be able to prove themselves in the Spanish VCL. On January 3rd, they announced their new roster for the upcoming split.

José Antonio "bbreakG" Fernández
Jakub "maniek" Mańkowski
Michał "Buld" Sokal
Daniel "Saiz" Ruiz
Tomás "krysyS" Molina
Rubén "RRubiiyz" Lloret (Head Coach)
Alejandro "Bengall" Guerrero (Analyst)

This ZETA Gaming roster consists of talented Spanish and Polish players. BbreakG is the only player to remain from the previous roster, joining in October 2022. He has also competed for Serpes Gaming and Ramboot Club in the past. Polish duo maniek and BULD hail from TENSTAR, where they competed in VCL East: Surge last split. Spanish player Saiz comes from Waves Esports and krysyS comes from Spanish team Five Media Clan. ZETA Gaming retained their Head Coach RRubiiyz from the previous year. They also added Bengall as an Analyst. He was previosly the Head Coach of TLM Esports. With this mix of local and abroad talent, it'll be interesting to see how they do.

10) KPI Gaming

The final team that will compete in the first split of VCL Spain: Rising is Spanish esports organization KPI Gaming. KPI have been one of the best Spanish teams that wasn't previously in the last splits. They won the VCL Spain promotion tournament and that's how they are in the league. Hard work pays off. They will be going with the same roster they had majority of last year.

Jon "jonba" Baraiazarra
Peter "shhhack" Belej
Álvaro "kyrrz" Diego
Vitaliy "B1SK" Emelyanov
Artem "insider" Puzanov
Dmitry "SmartSeven" Smartselov (Head Coach)
Aleksey "slk" Lynksov (Assistant Coach)

This roster is one of the better ones in the league. They've been together since May 2022 and have a ton of experience and talent. The only roster change they made during the offseason was adding former NAVI coach SmartSteven to the team as Head Coach. This should help them improve even further. It will be interesting to see how this roster plays against some of the stronger teams in this league.