With the group stage now in the rearview mirror, we are down to the final eight teams in Tokyo. The playoffs will commence on Friday, following a one-day break.
JAPAN – Riot Games has revealed the match-ups for the quarter-final stage of VALORANT Masters Tokyo. With a comprehensive 2-0 victory over T1, EDward Gaming became the eighth and final team to advance from the group stage, joining fellow Asian teams Paper Rex and DRX in a double-elimination bracket.
The VALORANT Masters Tokyo Playoffs are scheduled to take place from June 16-25, with the first round of matches being played on the first two days. All matches of the double-elimination bracket will be best-of-three series with the exception of the lower final and grand final, which will raise the stakes even higher being best-of-five matches that will be held at the Makuhari Messe venue.
Among the most high-profile participants are inaugural international leagues winners Team Liquid (EMEA), LOUD (Americas), and Paper Rex (Pacific), as well as recent VCT LOCK//IN champions FNATIC (EMEA).
In Group B, Evil Geniuses emerged as the top-seeded team heading into the playoffs, as Kelden “Boostio” Pupello and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold were some of the top performers at VALORANT Masters Tokyo so far, with the former averaging 1.20 VLR rating and 248.3 ACS, and the latter hitting 1.22 VLR rating and 211.3 ACS against FUT Esports and DRX.
DRX made a stunning comeback in their match against FUT Esports to secure the second playoff berth allocated for Group B. Initially trailing with a score of 4-12 on the first map, they staged an impressive reversal, emerging victorious in the subsequent two maps against the Turkish team and securing a 2-1 win (Bind 9-13, Fracture 13-8, Haven 13-4).
NRG Esports claimed the top seed in Group A after surpassing Natus Vincere and T1. While the prominent teams all secured a spot in the top eight, Natus Vincere stood out as the exception. The EMEA powerhouse was eliminated by EDward Gaming in one of the most surprising upsets in international VALORANT history.
EDG’s qualification for the playoffs over Natus Vincere and T1 marked a significant milestone for Chinese VALORANT, occurring within a week of the game’s official beta release in the country on Thursday, June 8.
The playoffs for the only Masters-level event in 2023 will commence with an American derby between LOUD and Evil Geniuses, with the Brazilian side having secured 2-1 victories in their previous two encounters. The stage is then set in Tokyo for a rare matchup between NRG Esports and FNATIC, marking the first time these two teams compete on the same server in the VALORANT Champions Tour circuit.
Meanwhile, EDward Gaming will be hoping for redemption as they aim to settle the score with Team Liquid. Memories of their early elimination from the 2022 VALORANT Champions, courtesy of the previous iteration of Team Liquid featuring Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen and Dom “soulcas” Sulcas, still linger. This rematch holds significance for EDward Gaming as they seek to overcome their past defeat and make a stronger statement on the global stage.
In the final opening match on Saturday at 2 PM SGT (UTC+8), Paper Rex and DRX, the finalists of the inaugural VCT Pacific, will go head-to-head once again, with Paper Rex looking to maintain their winning streak after an impressive reverse sweep in their grand final encounter in Seoul.
Below you can find the schedule for the first two days of the playoffs:
Friday, June 16
- 11 AM SGT – LOUD vs. Evil Geniuses
- 2 PM – Team Liquid vs. EDward Gaming
Saturday, June 17
- 11 AM – FNATIC vs. NRG Esports
- 2 PM – Paper Rex vs. DRX
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
