Riot revealed the VCT 2024 Format quite a while back and a sudden change in the system surprised fans of Valorant Esports. However, when you get to study it deeply, it can be easy to break down. According to the new system, fans will get a full year of action and excitement. Instead of one kickoff tournament like Lock-In, we will get four separate ones, one for each region. This piece will break down everything you need to know about the format, the points distribution system, and the roadmap of Riot’s FPS.
VCT 2024 Format Explained: Everything You Need To Know
The VCT 2024 season is bound to be jam-packed with good Valorant matches and content for the fans. The off-season has been quite eventful as various teams like Sentinels, Paper Rex, Fnatic, Cloud 9, and FUT competed in various tournaments. However, with the off-season almost coming to a close it is not time for the official 2024 season to commence.
Riot recently announced how the tournaments will be played and the format for each kick-off. The grind for Valorant Champions 2024 begins with each region’s kick-off itself.
VCT Kickoff Format
The kickoff format might be a little tough to grasp at first but once you understand it, it is simple to navigate. For starters, there will be eleven teams in each region starting the kickoff. These eleven teams will be divided into three different groups. Four teams in the first two groups and the third group would have only three teams. Now, there are three different stages of Kickoff: group stages, play-ins, and playoffs.
In the group stages, the first two groups will face off and there will be only one winner out of each group. The third group only has three teams. Now, the winners of each group will directly advance to the playoffs.
For the play-ins, the loser bracket winners of each group will be selected and they will face off against each other in a single round-robin. The winner of the play-in will also make it to the playoffs. Now, in the playoffs, the Group 1 Winner will face off against the play-in winner while the Group 2 and 3 Winners will face off against each other. The teams who win these will qualify for the Kickoff finals but also Masters Madrid which will take place in March.
VCT 2024 Roadmap
The ending of the Kickoff will directly lead to Masters Madrid in mid-March, which will feature eight teams. Similarly, the first International League matches will start in April. In this league, the first three teams will make it to Masters Shanghai, the first international event that will take place in China.
After the Shanghai event, the second International League will begin. As the first International League, the second will also have three winners along with a team that has racked up the most Championship points in a given region. We will take a look at what Championship points are a little later. Now, four teams from each region will advance to Valorant Champions 2024.
Valorant Champions 2024 will take place in August and among the 16 teams, one will be the new World Champion.
Participating/Franchise Teams
Now that we have covered what the format and event breakdown is like, let us take a look at the eleven franchised teams from each region.
APAC
- ZETA DIVISION
- Gen.G
- DetonatioN FocusMe
- T1
- DRX
- Paper Rex
- Team Secret
- Global Esports
- Rex Regum Qeon
- Talon Esports
- Bleed Esports
EMEA
- Fnatic
- Team Liquid
- Team Vitality
- BBL Esports
- FUT
- Karmine Corps
- Team Heretics
- Giants Gaming
- NAVI
- KOI
- Gentle Mates
Americas
- NRG
- Sentinels
- 100 Thieves
- Cloud 9
- LOUD
- MIBR
- Leviatán
- G2 Esports
- Evil Geniuses
- FURIA
- KRU Esports
China
- All Gamers
- EDward Gaming
- Bilibili Gaming
- JD Gaming
- FunPlus Phoenix
- Nova Esports
- Titan Esports Club
- Trace Esports
- TYLOO
- Wolves Esports
- Dragon Ranger Gaming
What are Championship Points and Why Are They Important?
Now, Championship points are going to be important for every team this year. Every win a team gets in the International Leagues will reward them with one Championship Point. The regional Kickoff will also reward 3 Championship points to the winner. Now, the winner of those two Masters tournaments will also gain 3 Championship points.
Now, the catch is the teams in each region with the highest Championship points will punch a ticket directly to Valorant Champions 2024.
