Valorant Champions is the final stepping stone in the completion of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). And the latest iteration of the major tournament will showcase its full glory in Los Angeles.
Ever since the release of Valorant back in 2020, Riot’s first-person shooter (FPS) title amassed a massive following over the years. And for all the professional players competing within the esports ecosystem of Valorant, winning the Valorant Champions is the end goal. And this year is no different.
Many teams have risen and fallen during each year’s Valorant Champions. Just like any other grand tournament, every participating team looks to give their all to clinch victory, to be crowned Champions of the world.
Valorant Champions 2023: When does it start?
16 teams 👥
1 trophy 🏆
August 6-26 🗓️Here’s everything you need to know about #VALORANTChampions Los Angeles!
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) July 27, 2023
The tournament officially kicks off on August 6th in Los Angeles with Group Stage action, followed by the Playoffs stage. The Valorant Champions 2023 will showcase some of if not the best Valorant matches of the VCT 2023 season. The grand tournament will draw a conclusion on August 26th with one team out of the 16 participating named victor.
Valorant Champions 2023: All region-wise qualified teams
After a gruesome VCT season and Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQs), a total of 16 top-tier teams worthy of crowning Champions joined the fray. All these teams qualified from all four major regions. The following list showcases the number of teams qualifying from each region:
- Americas: Three teams qualified through the Americas League while the last team came in through the LCQ.
- Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA): Three teams qualified as EMEA Top 3 in Masters, one via EMEA LCQ along with another team getting in through the Masters Slot in LCQ.
- Pacific: Three teams qualified through the Pacific Leagues system while one more team qualified via LCQ.
- China: Three teams qualified from this region through China Qualifiers.
The list of all the 16 teams ready to battle at the Valorant Champions 2023 are:
- Evil Geniuses (Americas League)
- NRG (Americas League)
- LOUD (Americas League)
- KRÜ Esports (Americas LCQ)
- Fnatic (Masters: EMEA Top 3)
- Team Liquid (Masters: EMEA Top 3)
- FUT Esports (Masters: EMEA Top 3)
- Giants (EMEA LCQ)
- Paper Rex (Pacific League)
- DRX Pacific League)
- T1 (Pacific League)
- ZETA DIVISION (Pacific LCQ)
- EDward Gaming (China Qualifiers)
- Bilibili Gaming (China Qualifiers)
- FunPlus Phoenix (China Qualifiers)
- Natus Vincere (Masters Slot: EMEA LCQ)
Valorant Champions 2023: Schedule and format
The whole tournament is divided into two major parts. The Group Stage and the Playoffs. The Group Stage will showcase four groups with four teams each pitting against each other in a double-elimination format. The structure of games will follow the GSL-style format leading to the top two teams from each group advancing to the Playoffs stage. All the matches played in the Group Stage will be best-of-3 series.
The Playoffs stage will showcase a double-elimination bracket with losers of each game falling into the lower bracket. All games except the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final will follow a best-of-3 structure. For the exclusive series, the best-of-5 format will be followed.
- Group Stage: August 6th – August 13th
- Playoffs: August 16th – August 20th, and August 24th – August 26th
All the group divisions are:
- Group A: Paper Rex, KRÜ Esports, EDward Gaming, Giants
- Group B: Evil Geniuses, FunPlus Phoenix, FUT Esports, T1
- Group C: Fnatic, ZETA DIVISION, NRG, Bilibili Gaming
- Group D: Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, DRX, LOUD
Valorant Champions 2023 prize pool
Unlike the last two years, Riot Games made a huge improvement to the prize pool of Valorant Champions 2023. Instead of the normal $1,000,000 prize money, this year they notched it up to a whopping $2,250,000.
VALORANT Champions 2023 prize pool has been raised to $2.25 MILLION
1st – $1,000,000
2nd – $400,000
3rd – $250,000
4th – $130,000
5-6 – $85,000
7-8 – $50,000
9-12 – $30,000
13-16 – $20,000 pic.twitter.com/s1qULTEK6Z— Valorant News (@ValorINTEL) July 27, 2023
The boost in this year’s prize pool does not come as a surprise. With Riot making $7,500,000 simply through Champions Bundle sales last year, a decision was made to simply add to the incentive. This will add fuel to the already existing desire of winning the Champions.
Through your support the Champions Collection has raised more than $7.5M for qualified Champions teams!
You can continue to support participating teams until the Champions Collection leaves the store on December 13. pic.twitter.com/A2nAT8GOjB
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) December 8, 2021
Valorant Champions 2023 venues
With Valorant Champions 2023, Riot is looking to bring back their 2021 system of venue hosting. The whole tournament will be featured in two different venues in Los Angeles.
- Group Stage venue: Shrine Auditorium
- Playoffs venue: Kia Forum
Yes, it is the grand finale of this year’s Valorant Champions Tour. However, what makes it even more special is that after three long years, the title finally launched in China. And with that, a new powerhouse joins the battle, with the region getting three slots through qualifiers. It will surely be very interesting to see how the events unfurl. That is all you need to know about this tournament right now. For further information, check out our main hub of the game.
