Valhalla Valkyries

 is a team participating in the Smite Pro League. The team is owned and operated by Hi-Rez Studios.

History
The Valhalla Valkyries formed ahead of Season 8 of the SPL in February 2021, alongside seven other teams managed directly by Hi-Rez. The initial roster consisted of Duck3y, Dzoni, Zyrhoes, iRaffer, and emilitoo.

2021 Season
The 2021 Season was a rough season for the Valhalla Valkyries. The Coronavirus Pandemic, which was still in full force at the time, made the Smite Pro League go from a LAN league into an Online league. The Pandemic made travel very hard if not impossible for some smite players. The Valhalla Valkyries were impacted the most by this change, as their team was very fractured. Duck3y and iRaffer lived in the United Kingdom, Zyrhoes and Emilitoo lived in Sweden, and Dzoni lived in Serbia. Zyrhoes, on Twitter, showed a screenshot of a match he just played. His ping was 700, a testament to what the Valhalla Valkyries would have to endure for the remainder of the year. As expected, the team did not do well during phase 1, coming in 7th place above the Oni Warriors. During the group stage to see who would qualify for the Phase 1 Playoffs Tournament, the Valhalla Valkyries did not qualify. During phase 2, the team did not do any better, as their only victory was against the Solar Scarabs, who was a team in crisis as their jungle and ADC had left them. The team would not qualify for the Phase 2 Playoffs Tournament. Phase 3 was similar to Phase 2 in the sense that the team was dead last. It was during this time that the team managed to get confirmation from their respective countries to travel to the United States for the Smite World Championship but not the remainder of the phase. During the group stage that would determine the seeding for the Phase 3 Playoffs, the Valhalla Valkyries were one of the two teams to lose. However, it is notable to say that Dzoni, against the Camelot Kings, would get the first and only pentakill of the entire season. The Valhalla Valkyries would also be able to take a game off the Atlantis Leviathans. On December 10th, Dzoni would make the decision to step off the team, citing personal reasons for this change. The Valks would pick up iceice as their new jungler. Due to their loss at the group stage, the Valhalla Valkyries would have to play at the Placement stage of the Smite World Championship. The Valhalla Valkyries would not travel to the United States for this placement round. The Valhalla Valkyries' first opponent would be the SCC team Sleekness. During this match, the team lost 3-2. This loss would mark the end of their season. iRaffer and Emilitoo would also announce their retirement from smite.

Play-in Tournament
Before the official start of the SPL, Hi-Rez decided to host a tournament, the Play-in Tournament, in order to find out who will become the next Oni Warriors and Valhalla Valkyries. Since both teams lost during the SWC Placement round, Hi-Rez relegated both teams. The Play-in tournament hosted 10 teams, some comprising SCC teams ready to take a step up to SPL. One of these teams would be the Winner Dogs. The Winner Dogs was one of the best teams in the tournament, with their only competition being the Oni Homies. The Oni Homies were the Oni Warriors trying to earn their spot back in the SPL. Regardless, the match against the Oni Homies was the only match that the Winner Dogs did not win. The Winner Dogs 3-0 Duck Club during the elimination bracket, winning the tournament alongside the Oni Homies. Aquarius, Kyrmi, BennyQ, Gamma, and Wowy would now be the new Valhalla Valkyries.

2022 Season
The Valhalla Valkyries would have a tough start to their season. While the team would no longer have to suffer as bad ping issues as their predecessor, the entire team was not on LAN. Gamma and Wowy lived in Canada and so had to deal with ping. The league also remained similar to season 8. Out of the eight teams in the league, only 3 made changes and those changes were one-player replacements. This, combined with being a new team to the SPL, made their spring season tough. The Valhalla Valkyries would end the phase being last place, tying with the Solar Scarabs for last place. The only team that the Valhalla Valkyries beat was the Atlantis Leviathans. By the end of the spring season, both Wowy and Gamma would be united with the team. During the Spring Masters Tournament, the team would find success. The Valhalla Valkyries would beat decisively the Eldritch Hounds and the Solar Scarabs, making it to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they would lose in the quarterfinals to the Olympus Bolts. The summer season would be a slightly better season for the Valhalla Valkyries. While they ended the season in last place, they did manage to get two wins. They would beat the Oni Warriors and the Atlantis Leviathans. During the Summer Masters Tournament, the Valhalla Valkyries would lose in the quarterfinals again. However, their loss against the Tartarus Titans was a close one.

During the fall season, the Valhalla Valkyries would start with a win against the Olympus Bolts. The Valhalla Valkyries would pick up another win against the Camelot Kings. While these victories were separated by a sea of losses, their win against the Camelot Kings would invigorate the team. Their goal for the rest of the split would be to gain the 6th spot in the SPL Standings. In order to do this, they would have to hope that the Olympus Bolts would lose their upcoming matches and for themselves to win at least 2 matches. While their aspirations were reasonable, the Valhalla Valkyries would fail. They would lose all of their upcoming matches, even the perceived easy match against the Solar Scarabs. While the stars were right for the Valhalla Valkyries to slot into the 6th place spot and have the opportunity to get to playoffs, this loss against the Scarabs spelled an end for them. During their last match of the phase, they would lose against the Olympus Bolts, the team that they were competing against.

Due to their placement at the end of the phase, the Valhalla Valkyries would have to miss the seeding tournament. Their only way to enter the SPL would have to be during the SWC Placement tournament being held from January 5th, 2023 to January 8th, 2023. Their first opponent in the tournament would be the Eldritch Hounds, an NA SCC team that the Valhalla Valkyries were favored against. The Eldritch Hounds would take the lead in game 1, winning decisively against the Valhalla Valkyries. Game 2, while being more even, would still result in a loss against the Valhalla Valkyries. This would knock the Valhalla Valkyries to the elimination bracket, where they would have to play against the Highland Ravens. The pressure was on for the Valhalla Valkyries, and unfortunately, they would crumble under it. Within the 2 matches played, the Valhalla Valkyries scored a total of 6 kills. The Valhalla Valkyries would get wiped out by the Highland Ravens, and with it, their aspirations for making it to the World Championship would go as well.