How VALORANT Champions Tour 2021 Works in Asia - Explained
Riot Games' VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is an extensive league for competitive players from all across the globe. Competitive players and teams are able to hone their skills and get noticed by playing in domestic tournaments that funnels teams to regional tournaments, and ultimately international tournaments.
The VALORANT Champions Tour features three levels of competition: Challengers, Masters, and Champions.
The Challengers Stage focuses on regional competition and is co-organized by Riot and top-tier tournament partner operators. Masters events are larger in scale, taking place only three times a year, and feature teams who represent the best very best from each respective region.
VALORANT Champions is the apex of the tours inaugural season: a two-week long tournament with the top 16 teams from around the world in attendance, where one team will be crowned the first ever VALORANT Global Champion.
Throughout the course of 2021, teams earn ranking points by playing, and doing well in, Challengers and Masters. From Southeast Asia, the two teams with the most ranking points will be directly invited to VALORANT Champions.
VCT has divided Asia into several regions: Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. The latter is divided into five regional Challengers markets: Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia & Singapore, Indonesia, and Hong Kong & Taiwan. Vietnam was given its own regional Challengers following VALORANT’s launch in Vietnam in April 2021.
The winners of each Challengers Stage so far are listed below:
VCT Stage 1 Challengers 1
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | X10 Esports |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Bren Esports |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | Reality Rift |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | BOOM Esports |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | Only One Word |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Crazy Raccoon |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Vision Strikers |
VCT Stage 1 Challengers 2
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | NG Black |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Bren Esports |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | JustLose |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | TEAMnxl> |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | Anti Eco Eco Club |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Absolute JUPITER |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Vision Strikers |
VCT Stage 1 Challengers 3
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | X10 Esports |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | ArkAngel |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | Team SMG |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | BOOM Esports |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | Looking For Sponsor |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | REJECT |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | APEX PEOPLE |
VCT Stage 1 Masters
| 🌏 Masters SEA | X10 Esports |
| 🇯🇵 Masters Japan | Crazy Raccoon |
| 🇰🇷 Masters Korea | Vision Strikers |
VCT Stage 2 Challengers 1
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | X10 Esports |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Hashira |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | Kingsmen |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | BOOM Esports |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | CBT Gaming |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | REJECT |
VCT Stage 2 Challengers 2
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | FULL SENSE |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | Bren Esports |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | Paper Rex |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | TEAMnxl> |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | CBT Gaming |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | REJECT |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | CERBERUS Esports |
VCT Stage 2 Challengers 3
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | FULL SENSE |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | 6045pirates |
| 🇲🇾/🇸🇬 Malaysia & Singapore | Paper Rex |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | BOOM Esports |
| 🇭🇰/🇹🇼 Hong Kong & Taiwan | CBT Gaming |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | CERBERUS Esports |
VCT Stage 2 Challengers Finals
| 🌏 SEA Challengers Finals | X10 Esports |
| 🇯🇵 Japan Challengers Finals | Crazy Raccoon |
| 🇰🇷 Korea Challengers Finals | NUTURN Gaming |
After each Masters event, Riot gives all participating teams a tour break, giving all competitors the opportunity to recharge to prevent burnout.
The inaugural season kicked off in late January with regional Challenger events across the globe. Each Challenger stage consists of three tournaments and a final taking place over six weeks. Each tournament features eight teams who will earn their spots through open qualifiers.
Teams that do well in Challenger tournaments will then qualify into Challenger Finals. The Challenger Final tournament will feature the best eight teams, with cash prizes and qualification slots into the next Masters event at stake.
The first stage saw Masters limited to regional events, with Southeast Asia, South Korea, and Japan getting their own Masters event. The second stage of VCT saw Riot bringing Masters to LAN in Reykjavik, Iceland. Asia’s representatives included NUTURUN Gaming, Crazy Raccoon, and X10 Esports from Korea, Japan, and SEA, respectively.
The VALORANT Champions Tour's next big LAN will be in Berlin, Germany for Stage 3 Masters. Masters Berlin will begin on September 9th and will bring together 16 teams from around the world to compete for points that will count towards qualification at VALORANT Champions, the final event of the 2021 VCT. The tournament will run through September 19th, the scheduled date for the grand final.
Additionally, the team who wins the last Masters event of the year will automatically qualify for Champions and add an additional team slot at the event for their region. Specific details regarding point distribution and prizes for Masters will be shared at a later date.
After the third Masters event, a series of Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) will give teams one final chance to qualify for Champions.
Four LCQ tournaments will take place, with one team per continent qualifying for Champions. The season will conclude with Champions, VALORANT's version of League of Legend's Worlds. A massive two-week long event will feature the 16 best teams from all around the globe.
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Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games