{"id":1016,"date":"2024-04-09T22:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitsler.com\/blog\/?p=1016"},"modified":"2024-05-09T15:56:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T13:56:42","slug":"vct-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitsler.com\/blog\/vct-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Valorant esports circuit and VCT schedule, explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Molded much in the vein of the League of Legends circuit, it features a complicated multi-tiered tournament structure, a mostly closed franchise league, and some really, really, really stupidly named events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it can be almost indecipherable for a casual viewer or a brand-new observer, believe me: We can get there and gain a good understanding of how Valorant esports is organized and how a good player can get from the bottom to the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s everything you always wanted to know about Valorant tournaments (but was too afraid to ask), and the VCT schedule for the current events on the calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Valorant Champions Tour: the pinnacle of Valorant competition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After two years of test runs and third-party beta events during the \u201copen qualifier era\u201d of 2021 and 2022, Riot unveiled their own, tightly controlled version of a competitive Valorant circuit, the Valorant Champions Tour<\/a>, or VCT for short, which is very much modeled after the way they manage and organize the esports aspect of their other big title, League of Legends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going forward, the main season of competitive play will feature three regional leagues<\/strong>: EMEA (meaning Europe, the Middle East, and Africa all bundled into one), Americas, and Pacific. Each competition features 10 partnered (AKA franchised) teams with permanent spots for the next five years, with the deals running until 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The league competitions will continue to expand year after year, as non-partnered teams can earn the opportunity to temporarily join the big boys in the big leagues. Teams can qualify for the international leagues by winning their minor regional Challengers League, which qualifies them for the region\u2019s Ascension tournament.  The winner of each region\u2019s Ascension tournament earns themselves two years in their main international league<\/strong>. This way, the original 30-team roster from 2023 will ultimately expand to 42 in total by 2028, according to Riot\u2019s current plans and timeline for the VCT schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit: Riot Games<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2024 onwards, there will be a standalone Chinese league called the China Evolution Series<\/strong>, which seeds and feeds teams and players into international competitions much in the same way the three main international leagues do, with its own carveout on the competitive Valorant calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The league results feed into international LAN events, again, much like the way League of Legends esports features the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds. Here, these events are known as Valorant Masters and Valorant Champions, respectively, and they play a key part of the VCT calendar across the year. Teams can either qualify by strong league performances or by winning the last chance qualifiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2023 season began with a separate international event called LOCK\/\/IN (seriously, what is with these names), which offered an extra last chance qualifier slot to whichever league\u2019s team ended up winning the event \u2013 in this case, the EMEA League, following Fnatic\u2019s triumph. The 2024 season will feature two Masters events instead. Going forward, the VCT calendar is expected to feature standalone events like this LOCK\/\/IN occasion to kick off the seasons on an annual basis.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Valorant esports also includes a separate competitive space for women and marginalized genders, called Game Changers<\/strong>, featuring its own interregional tournament circuit and a global LAN final at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also the occasional off-season events, styled as OFF\/\/SEASON Events (why are you doing this, Riot, please stop), which are smaller third-party tournaments organized in partnership with the developers that take place between the official seasons. Examples include the Ludwig x Tarik Invitational and the Spike Drop Heist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you fully understand what it is you\u2019re exactly looking at, read on to learn more about the VCT schedule for the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCT schedule \u2013 the competitive Valorant calendar for 2024, explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"VCT<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

VCT schedule for 2024. Credit: Riot\u2019s infographic<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VCT schedule for 2024 features a non-stop series of competitions all year-round on a variety of levels in the esports space, but the main show is top part of this graphic, the international events featuring the best teams and players. Here is how they are scheduled across the year and the regions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n