VCT Berlin, the final 2021 Masters Major before Champions, wrapped up this past weekend. Gambit came out as the big winner, and there were strong performances from Envy, 100 Thieves, and G2 Esports. The entire tournament definitely moved the needle on the perception of many of the VALORANT teams who attended, in both positive and negative ways. 

To help keep track of whose stonks rose and whose fell during the Masters 3 major, we put together our VCT Berlin Stonks buy and sell guide.

Buyers guide scale:

• BUY!
• RISKY BUY!
• HOLD!
• DON'T BUY!
• SELL!

Gambit: BUY!

Coming into this tournament, Gambits stonks were already on the rise, but after this tournament they could go to the moon!

The Russian Org has seen tremendous success in VALORANT across the CIS and EMEA stages throughout 2021, and ended up winning the EMEA Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs over SuperMassive Blaze in August.  But even given the high market evaluation they had coming into the tournament, their value has skyrocketed following their massive success at Berlin.

They put any remaining doubts about their ability to succeed in the global market and on attack side to rest by not only winning the major, but doing it in a convincing 3-0 fashion and handing G2 a 13-0 map on Icebox in their 2-0 win in semifinals. Gambit is the real deal, it's time to invest if you haven't already.

Envy: BUY!

As the third seed from NA, Envy came into this tournament with a decent but reserved market evaluation. Many esports stonks traders believed that Envy was above average, especially with the recent addition of superstar Yay, but their ability to get the job done against dangerous teams like Sentinels or Gambit Esports remained a mystery in the lead up to the major.

Their value spiked this past weekend, after they won their group and then 2-0’d the NA favorites, the Sentinels, in Quarterfinals to advance. They followed that up with another 2-0 win against 100 Theives in Semifinals, showing that they are the best North American team in VALORANT right now. While they lost to Gambit Esports in the Grand Finals, that didn’t change the fact that Envy is on the come-up right now, and they look like quite a solid investment opportunity heading into Champions.

Sentinels: BUY THE DIP!

Sentinels market value was pretty high coming into Berlin, so an adjustment was predicted by some analysts who thought that Sentinels couldn't possibly live up to their immortal reputation. And they were right, as Sentinels showed weaknesses at VCT Berlin. The team was unquestionably the highest valued team, after being pumped up by speculators following their undefeated performance at Reyjkavik, a tournament they won without dropping a map.

They ended up losing their first LAN match to G2 Esports after a lot of banter between the two teams in the group stage. Then Envy shocked the world by eliminating them in Quarterfinals in a 2-0 sweep. So it’s safe to say that their valuation is dropping quickly, but that just means now is a good time to invest during the dip, since Sentinels will likely bounce back.

Sentinels have shown a keen ability to win, and when TenZ turns on the Jetts very few teams can keep up. After the disappointment in Berlin, as we head into Champions, we can expect a brand new set of strategies and looks from the team that will keep others guessing. They will definitely be one of the top Contenders to win Champions, alongside Gambit.

100 Thieves: RISKY BUY!

Coming into this tournament 100 Thieves stock was pretty cheap, given their early success in VALORANT at the NA First Strike. They just haven’t looked super consistent in 2021, making it difficult for stonks investors to put their money on this team before Berlin, despite Hiko’s insane ability to clutch out high-pressure situations.

But after 100 Thieves won Group C against the eventual tournament victors Gambit, and they managed to advance to the semifinals at their first VCT LAN event, it’s safe to say the early investments have paid off with a nice pick up in the price. But they haven’t qualified to Champions just yet, so buying now is a bit of a gamble on whether they will take this momentum into the Last Chance Qualifiers, or if they will flop there. Now is your chance to get in on the ground floor of this surging team, but beware it could all end so quickly.

G2 Esports: BUY!

Honestly, G2 Esports didn’t seem like the best investment coming into VCT Berlin. When they threw shade at Sentinels, it felt a lot like the little kid trying to posture against his older brother, who was clearly the better (less insecure) player. But G2 kind of proved the market experts wrong, taking a 2-0 win over Sentinels in the Group stage and ultimately advancing past KRU Esports to Semifinals where they lost to the eventual winners Gambit Esports.

They had a lot of trash talk, including a plane banner that said “F*&K SENTINELS” on it, but given their decent record and best performance yet, they backed up their banter. Their price is on the rise, and now is the time to get in on this explosive team that will at the very least be attending Champions after their great Berlin performance.

Acend: HOLD!

Acend had a respectable performance at VCT Berlin. Coming into the tournament, people expected them to get out of the group stage and maybe win a quarterfinal match. They did get out of their group stage, coming in second to Vision Strikers, but ended up losing to 100 Thieves in a 2-1 match in the quarterfinals.

It feels like Acend sits in the middle of the Champions field right now, it's hard to suggest buying a lot of their stonks, but if you already got the stonks I would hold onto them to see what happens. This team is capable of a dark horse run into a bracket, and they did already qualify for Champions.

Vision Strikers: BUY!

Despite having one of the best records in esports history, Vision Strikers missed qualification for the last Major in Iceland earlier this year. So the world had to wait to see what this Korean team was capable of on the International LAN stage. They did not disappoint in the group stage, taking a respectable 2-0 +16 round record for Group A.

Unfortunately, they ended up facing Gambit in quarterfinals, an unlucky draw given that Gambit was surging at the time. But even against Gambit, they managed to pick up a Map, which is more than G2 could say in their semifinal against the team. I think it’s a little risky to bet on Vision Strikers, but I also think that they have a ton of potential and showed that they can compete on the LAN stage. We’ll see what they can do between now and Champions to get an upper hand, don’t count them out.

KRU Esports: HOLD!

KRU Esports is unquestionably the strongest team in their region. The Argentine organization has dominated the stage three challengers and playoffs, and attended both LAN majors thus far. At Berlin they placed into the top 8, losing to G2 Esports in quarters. This team is above average, but they were pretty fairly evaluated coming into the tournament. They are a decent team that you can rely on to top 8, but probably can’t advance much farther at an international event.

If you hold KRU Esports stonks, I don’t think you need to sell them after their Berlin performance. But the performance also didn’t make me want to go out and buy more.

Keyd Stars: SELL

There was some hype surrounding this Brazilian team after they won the Brazilian Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs in a resounding 3-0 sweep over Havan Liberty. But once they reached the LAN competition in Berlin, things didn’t really go to plan. They were eliminated in the group stage with a 1-2 record, having only defeated KRU Esports.

That said, they did take a +9 map differential, showing that they are capable of playing some really competitive VALORANT on the right day. So while I think it makes sense to sell before the price on this team slides, I also wouldn’t blame someone for riding it out with their Keyd Stars stonks.

ZETA DIVISION: DON'T BUY

ZETA DIVISION is one of the two representatives from Japan, alongside Crazy Raccoon. Berlin was their first international LAN, so there was some limited speculation on how they would do. Generally, they had a low-tier stock evaluation to start with, but Berlin didn’t show anything that would make you want to buy more of this stonk.

They 0-2’d their way out of Group B with one of the worst round differentials at the tournament. Their shallow strategies showed that even if they were to improve as players, it is the structure of their whole gameplay method that is flawed and needs to be adjusted for this team to climb the charts. On the bright side of things, Laz presented a glimmer of hope for this team, putting on a top 10 k/d performance at the tournament. They still have a chance to qualify for champions at the Asia Last Change Qualifiers, so we will keep our eye on this one.

Havan Liberty: SELL

It’s time to dump any Havan Liberty shares you are sitting on, and throw them into another more reliable bet. Havan Liberty went 0-2 in the group stage, with an abysmal -26 round differential. The players on Havan Liberty just struggled to perform on LAN, with shion being their highest-ranked player and still having a negative k/d for the tournament.

This team does have a shot at the Last Chance Qualifiers, given their ability to qualify for Berlin in the first place. But unless something changes, they will probably be little more than cannon fodder at Champions if they do get to go. 

Crazy Racoon: DON'T BUY

There weren’t super high expectations from this team coming into Masters Berlin, with most people expecting a middling performance. And while they missed advancing past the group stage with a not-so-great round differential, they ended up roughly meeting what people expected from them.

Their star this tournament ended up being Medusa, who managed to keep a positive kill/death ratio despite their negative map differential. Overall, their performance was not super impressive, but also not super disappointing. I won’t be buying, but if you have Crazy Racoon I would hold the stonk for now, they might surprise us at Champions.

Paper Rex: SELL

Paper Rex bottomed out their group, going winless with a -18 round differential. As the punching bags of Vision Strikers and later SuperMassive Blaze, they were only able to pick up one map against SMB. They weren’t highly evaluated coming in, but also didn't give us much of a reason to remain invested in their stonk. Its time to sell it off, and invest in something new.

SuperMassive Blaze: DON'T BUY

SuperMassive Blaze picked up one win against Paper Rex and ended up with a nearly even round record. For their first international LAN, that isn’t too bad. They will have a decent chance of advancing to Champions at the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, though they will be competing with the likes of Team Liquid, Navi, and FunPlus, who are also gunning for their shot at Champions. I think its a tough road for SuperMassive Blaze to get to Champions, much less win it.

F4Q: Penny stock investment

Look F4Q had the worst stats of any team at the tournament, going 0-4 and losing a ridiculous 122 rounds during the group stage for a -54 round differential. It was bad. But you have to remember that:

1. F4Q stock was incredibly cheap to buy, since they are basically clip-makers who somehow qualified to the LAN
2. F4Q was matched against Sentinels and G2, two of the better teams in the world

This Korean team has somehow elevated itself from a team looking for sick clips in the VCT qualifiers, all the way to making it to an international LAN. They are cheap to buy, and fun to watch. This is the perfect penny stock investment for any VALORANT fan who wants to be entertained, even if it means losing a little money on it.

FNATIC: HOLD

FNATIC stock dropped after they failed to even qualify for the EMEA playoffs. But Gambit, and God, have given them another chance with their miracle qualification to Champions due to Gambits win at Berlin and FNATIC’s previous performance at VCT Masters 2 Reykjavik. When an act of fate sends a team to a tournament, you don’t sell the stock, you let it play out...