Riot has announced the VCT Kickoff format, which will be consistent across the four regions, as well as the way Championship Points will be distributed throughout the year.
Kickoff will be this year's way to start the year. Instead of a big international tournament like LOCK//IN, Riot has opted for one tournament per region. Each region's Kickoff Tournament will be split into three stages: groups, play-ins, and playoffs.
The eleven teams will be seeded into three groups, one of which will have just three teams. Each region's best squad — their highest placed team at Champions — will be put into that group, which will be played in a modified GSL bracket. The seeding details are not clear — they are “based on 2023 performance” — but it is safe to assume
FNATIC
FNATIC
Europe
Rank #3
crashies
Austin Roberts
Boaster
Jake Howlett
kaajak
Kajetan Haremski
Chronicle
Timofey Khromov
Alfajer
Emir Ali Beder
(#1) and
Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates
Europe
Rank #21
K4DAVRA
Thomas Johner
RobbieBk
Robbie Boerkamp
Minny
Patrik Hušek
Zyppan
Pontus Eek
Click
Haydem Ali
(#11) may be in Group 3, the latter due to being VCT newcomers.
The remaining eight teams will be split into two four-team groups played in a regular GSL format.
While the winners of each group will move straight to the playoffs, the second-placed teams will face off in the play-ins in a single round-robin. The winner will round out the playoffs stage as the fourth team.
The playoffs of Kickoff will be a single-elimination bracket, with both finalists heading to Masters Madrid. The winner will also receive preferential seeding in Spain.
Image by Riot Games
Championship Points will be distributed this year, but will work differently from 2021 and 2022's VCT Points. Winning any tournament — Kickoff, Masters Madrid, Masters Shanghai, Stage 1 Playoffs, or Stage 2 Playoffs — will earn a team three points. Any match win (across 10 matches per team) across Stage 1 and 2 will also award a team with one point.
The top three teams at the end of Stage 2 will receive a berth at Champions 2024. Each region will also take a fourth team to the world championship, who will earn their spot via Championship Points.
Riot has also dropped a hint regarding each Stage's playoffs: the first and second seed in each Stage will receive a bye to the second round, earning an extra point to compensate for the match they will skip.
VCT Americas will open the 2024 season, as competition will begin Feb. 16. A day later, the Pacific region will begin its own kickoff tournament. VCT EMEA begins a few days later, on Feb. 20, and China will be the latest starter, scheduled to start Feb. 22.
Masters Madrid will occupy the month of March, with Stage 1 kicking off in early April. Dates for Masters Shanghai, Stage 2, and Valorant Champions 2024 are yet to be revealed.
Image by Riot Games
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