With VALORANT Champions kicking off next Wednesday, VALO2ASIA presents a comprehensive viewer’s guide with all the relevant information you need to know about the game’s second-ever world championship.
TURKEY – Starting next Wednesday at 10 PM SGT, VALORANT Champions 2022 will run for sixteen days from August 31 to September 18. Sixteen teams around the world will be competing for status as the second world champions in VALORANT history.
ALSO READ: A take on the host city of VALORANT Champions 2022: Istanbul
The group stage, which will take place from August 31 to September 8, will utilize a double-elimination GSL group stage featuring four groups of four. All the matches will be played as best-of-threes. A double-elimination playoff bracket, held at the Volkswagen Arena, featuring the top-two sides from each group, will follow the next day. Those who have purchased tickets can catch the action live.
After a two-day break on September 14-15, the show will continue with the lower semifinal & upper final, while the lower final will be on September 17. The last day will feature the best-of-five grand finals, which will start at 10 PM SGT (UTC+8).
The competition welcomes back a number of established teams from the previous two Masters this year, including Paper Rex, LOUD, Fnatic, DRX, and XERXIA. Joining these teams are four sides making their first international appearances this year: 100 Thieves, FURIA Esports, EDward Gaming, and BOOM Esports.
Below are the complete 16 contenders at this year’s Champions:
| Group A | Group C |
| 🇸🇬 Paper Rex | 🇪🇺 FPX Esports |
| 🇨🇳 EDward Gaming | 🇨🇱 KRÜ Esports |
| 🇨🇱 Leviatán | 🇺🇸 XSET |
| 🇪🇺 Team Liquid | 🇹🇭 XERXIA Esports |
| Group B | Group D |
| 🇺🇸 OpTic Gaming | 🇰🇷 DRX |
| 🇮🇩 BOOM Esports | 🇧🇷 FURIA Esports |
| 🇯🇵 ZETA DIVISION | 🇪🇺 Fnatic |
| 🇧🇷 LOUD | 🇺🇸 100 Thieves |
Below is the full schedule for the tournament:
Group Stage – August 31 – September 8
- Wednesday Aug 31 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Thursday Sep 1 – 20:00 GMT+8
- Friday Sep 2 – 20:00 GMT+8
- Saturday Sep 3 – 20:00 GMT+8
- Sunday Sep 4 – 20:00 GMT+8
- Monday Sep 5 – 22:00 GMT+8
- (Tuesday Sep 6 – Dark Day)
- Wednesday Sep 7 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Thursday Sep 8 – 22:00 GMT+8
Playoffs – September 10-18
- Friday Sep 9 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Saturday Sep 10 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Sunday Sep 11 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Monday Sep 12 – 22:00 GMT+8
- Tuesday Sep 13 – 22:00 GMT+8
- (Wednesday Sep 14 – Dark Day)
- (Thursday Sep 15 – Dark Day)
- Friday Sep 16 – 22:00 GMT+8 Lower Semifinal & Upper Final
- Saturday Sep 17 – 22:00 GMT+8 Lower Final
- Sunday Sep 18 – 22:00 GMT+8 Grand Final
Masters Copenhagen runners-up Paper Rex will open the action against China’s EDward Gaming at 10 PM SGT, with Leviatán facing Team Liquid in the next encounter of the day.
Below are the top eight placings from the previous two international tournaments:
| # | Masters Reykjavik | Masters Copenhagen |
| 1 | 🇺🇸 OpTic | 🇪🇺 FunPlus Phoenix |
| 2 | 🇧🇷 LOUD | 🇸🇬 Paper Rex |
| 3 | 🇯🇵 ZETA DIVISION | 🇺🇸 OpTic |
| 4 | 🇸🇬 Paper Rex | 🇪🇺 Fnatic |
| 5-6 | 🇰🇷 DRX | 🇰🇷 DRX |
| 5-6 | 🇪🇺 G2 Esports | 🇨🇱 Leviatán |
| 7-8 | 🇪🇺 Team Liquid | 🇪🇺 Guild Esports |
| 7-8 | 🇺🇸 The Guard | 🇺🇸 XSET |
Riot Games has unveiled special murals in collaboration with with Singaporean Sam Lo, Thai Piyasak Khiaosaard, and Indonesian Ongkogx to boost home support for Paper Rex (Singapore), XERXIA Esports (Thailand), and BOOM Esports (Indonesia), as well as to introduce VALORANT Esports to the general public.
A Paper Rex mural was painted on the side of the *SCAPE building located on Orchard Road, the main shopping district and also commonly known as the heart of the city-state, to commemorate the Singaporean squad’s successful VCT campaign this year, most notably representing APAC in the grand finals of VALORANT Masters Copenhagen, and their qualification for Champions. The artwork, which features all the five players and the coach of Paper Rex, was commissioned by Singapore-based visual artist Sam Lo.
You can check out all the murals and their locations here.
ALSO READ: A take on the host city of VALORANT Champions 2022: Istanbul
In addition to team murals, Riot Games has also unveiled the official anthem for the tournament titled “Fire Again” ft. Ashnikko. The music video depicts an animated action-packed setting with VALORANT agents. As they dash towards the heart of battle and the sun’s scorching ball of fire, the game’s agents quickly transform into the familiar faces of popular professional players from this year’s VALORANT Champions Tour circuit, including Benedict “Benkai” Tan, Koji “Laz” Ushida, Kim “stax” Gu-taek, and more.
You can watch the full music video here.
Hosting the final and last international event of the year will be Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, Yinsu “Yinsu” Collins, and singer of American rock band Against The Current, Chrissy Costanza. Six highly-popular casting pairs will provide live commentary and analysis throughout the show, including VCT Korea English shoutcaster Seth “Achilios” King.
The English on-air broadcast crew that will guide you through the action can be found below:
Host
- 🇺🇸 Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez
- 🇬🇧 Yinsu “Yinsu” Collins
- 🇺🇸 Chrissy Costanza
Casters & Analysts
- 🇺🇸 Seth “Achilios” King
- 🇺🇸 Arten “Ballatw” Esa
- 🇬🇧 Brennon “Bren” Hook
- 🇺🇸 Doug “EsportsDoug” Cortez
- 🇬🇧 Michael “hypoc” Robins
- 🇦🇺 Jessica “Jess” Bolden
- 🇺🇸 Mimi “aEvilcat” Wermcrantz
- 🇮🇪 Mitch “MitchMan” McBride
- 🇬🇧 Lauren “Pansy” Scott
- 🇬🇧 Ryan “RyanCentral” Horton
- 🇬🇧 Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson
- 🇬🇧 Tom “Tombizz” Bissmire
Observers:
- 🇺🇸 David “prius” Kuntz
- 🇺🇸 Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo
- 🇩🇪 Felix “Synga” Regitz
- 🇨🇦 Nicholas “Yehty” Tesolin
VALORANT Champions 2022 will be aired live on all major platforms, including YouTube and Twitch. For YouTube, the games will be officially streamed on the VALORANT Champions Tour channel. On Twitch, the games will be streamed live on the official VALORANT Esports channel. Multiple language broadcasts will also be accessible via VALORANT Esports’ official stream partners.
You can check out all the secondary channel here.
Below you can find the prize distribution for VALORANT Champions 2022:
| Place | Prize |
| 1st | US$300,000 |
| 2nd | US$150,000 |
| 3rd | US$110,000 |
| 4th | US$80,000 |
| 5th-6th | US$60,000 |
| 7-8th | US$40,000 |
| 9th-12th | US$25,000 |
| 13th-16th | US$15,000 |
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Cover photo courtesy of Michal Konkol/Riot Games
