The CN Evolution Series Act I will feature all 12 teams from the VCT CN League, with EDward Gaming and Trace Esports fielding non-primary rosters.
CHINA – VALORANT Esports CN has revealed the details for the CN Evolution Series Act I, scheduled to run from February 8-16. The circuit will take place during the gap between the VCT CN League and international events, allowing those who do not qualify for international events more opportunities to play, while also allowing those who do qualify to bring their academy or secondary rosters to gain experience against tier-one opposition.
These matches will neither award Championship Points toward VALORANT Champions Paris nor affect the VCT CN League standings.
The CN Evolution Series Act I will feature all 12 teams from the VCT CN League, including EDward Gaming and Trace Esports, who qualified for VALORANT Masters Bangkok. The two aforementioned teams must compete using non-primary, reserve, or academy players. EDG will field their Huang “Sunshine” Jinjie-led EDG Youth roster, which they began assembling earlier this year. Meanwhile, Trace Esports have yet to announce details about their academy or secondary roster as of this writing.
(Photo courtesy of VALORANT Esports CN)
The 12 teams will compete in a best-of-three single-elimination format, with the top four teams from the Kickoff Tournament—excluding the two Masters-qualified teams—(Bilibili Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, Dragon Ranger Gaming, and XLG) earning direct seeding into the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, EDward Gaming and Trace Esports, fielding non-primary rosters, will join TYLOO, All Gamers, Nova Esports, Wolves Esports, Titan Esports Club, and JD Gaming in the first round.
The first two rounds will be held online from February 8-11, with the tournament moving to the VCT CN Arena in Shanghai for the top four semi-finals from February 14-16. The third-place match and grand finals will be played in a best-of-five format.
(Photo courtesy of VALORANT Esports CN)
The announcement of Act I also confirmed the dates for the next two Acts: Act II will run from May 15-25, and Act III will take place from August 28 to September 7. Teams will earn points based on their performance in each Act, which will determine their qualification for the grand finale of the Evolution Series, set for November 19-23 to crown the 2025 CN Evolution Series champion.
It was also mentioned that there is potential to include teams outside the VCT CN League in the future, along with the possibility of introducing new formats.
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT Esports CN
