Riot reveals Challengers and Ascension changes for 2025

#1

EternalXera

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W

#2

Skaydi

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W

#3

diswaco

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huge change, good for the scene imo

#4

Mortadelo

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Nah it's crazy that this idea has been given in vlr

It's perfect, big W

#5

IonlywatchvcjXD

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Brother I thought riot finally do something about import rules . Got me excited for nothing 😂 .Regardless this is still a good thing.

#9

Mortadelo

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You mean VCL import rules?

#10

IonlywatchvcjXD

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Pretty much 😅, I just went on a crusade talking about why the rules should change. The timing is just too perfect lmao

#24

Mortadelo

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I understand the frustration but I don't think it's that bad in Japan.

First of all the rule is already different than in EMEA for example you guys allow way less imports than we do.

And second of all, I know you might think it's bad for the scene but I think it's the exact opposite, at least in the current measure. You're probably thinking you want the league to be full Japanese to develop more talent and make the scene grow. But it's not more talent that you need, it's to improve the one you already have. And the higher the level of the league is, the better it is to do so

#28

Dreoxx

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surprisingly well put; changed my opinion on import rule

#31

Mortadelo

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ty bro

#29

IonlywatchvcjXD

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Istg I'll be having this debate everytime vcj happens lmao .Sometimes I'm just that frustrated. I hope that current jp players on vcj do indeed get better overtime.

#30

Mortadelo

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I feel you bro we suck as well. But we're both lucky to have multiple organizations in VCT. If there is a talent that starts shinning he will make it

#33

DuD5K1S

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or she ;)

#34

IonlywatchvcjXD

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amen brother, I'm sure new Spanish talent will come out soon too. 🤝

#6

BackoxyXD

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W

#7

xcpik

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W riot

#8

soonwookong

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nice, kinda wish the fight part is there anywhere they place for some reason

#11

Anguibok

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Are we still gonna have 13 teams in 2026 ? (Please no)

Also, what if every ascension team qualify to champions ? Ascention is cancelled ?

#14

Scar98

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read mate
"cap is 12 teams"
"Should both Ascension teams make it to Champions, the higher-placed team at the end of the event will retain their slot while the other can compete at Ascension for their spot."

#27

Anguibok

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You are right for the 2nd answer, but I didn't see anything for the 1st one.

If that's true (And it is probably because I miss the 2nd answer so I might have missed the 2nd one) it's a bad change, we were promised more game in 2027 because of more teams, 2 ascended team isn't enough, and 12 teams isn't enough. x)

#35

snowconedeity

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imagine the format with 13 teams, it was already being complained about being cramped for time, it would only be exacerbated by more than 12 teams, and this also creates more stakes for ascension and tier two since it could become a guarantee

#46

Anguibok

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People complaining about 2 things :

5 month off season
Not enough game
Unbalanced schedule with 11 teams

Going to 14 or even 16 teams would add few more game for bad teams, solve the unbalanced schedule (Yeah, we shall really avoid having 13 team I agree, going to 14 would be better), also we will have 2 mounth more next year, so no reason to panic about lack of time even with 4 games more

#12

Scar98

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this is huge wtf

#13

Warlordwibz

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W riot.

#15

Ballsamolee

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W rito

#16

antoni1x3

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NICEEE!!!! LFG

#17

buuhzar

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W

#18

dream01

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foking finally relegation, finally GE will out

#19

Yrkos

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relegation only applies to the ascended teams sadly

#25

dream01

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nooo, well atleast 2025 its not another boring year

#22

IonlywatchvcjXD

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Sry to pop your balloons brother, ge ain't going anywhere

#20

proud_bandwagoners

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Rip bl0d

#21

sexocum

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leo faria W for once..,.,.,..,.,.,.,..,.,,,,,.,.,.,.,.,.

#23

Echo_fox

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W Riot
But all T1 team do this

#26

bubblecattxx

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W riot
But please increase the slots to 16 for International Leagues. 12 is too small

#32

Anguibok

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8 would be perfect especially for kickoff, 10 partener + 6 ascended seems really the best

#36

maxplank

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it would be nice if international teams were also moved to challengers if they play badly, like GE,DFM,MIBR are not performing again and again ,then can also be moved to challengers, that would be interesting and the international leagues would be more competitive

#37

MrAbsol

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So what happened to riot having up to 16 teams per IL league? Riot is making false promises, dogshit company

#38

tungsten_cube

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so if the 2 ascension teams both make champs no other team can ascend?

#39

benjy

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good news for g2

#43

tungsten_cube

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and drg tbh

#40

capital_d_colon

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Seems like another negative change for the tier 2 landscape?
Promotion only guaranteeing 1 year of VCT exposure.
Only 2 guest slot teams per region makes it even harder to break into the elite.

#65

Unincognito

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Only being guaranteed 1 year and earning consecutive years based on performance is a huge positive imo. Ascension teams should only stay "into the elite" if they can prove they derserve to be there. And 1 year is enough for the players to prove themselves and potentially be picked up by a franchising team. Team Heretics have already proven both, 4/5 of their players were tier 2 last year.

Edit: My only criticism is, imo, it should work like Football. Franchising teams shouldn't be safe from relegation either. If they're getting outperformed by ascension teams why should they be safe? Looking at KOI.

#67

capital_d_colon

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I think 2 years is a better middle ground for the newly ascended teams.
Riot requires you to have facilities in the hub city for your respective region, orgs do not want to invest in good facilities if you are only guaranteed 1 year of VCT exposure.

A lot of the issues people are having with the VCT performance level is just due to what partnership/franchising is, allowing security for teams no matter the performances.
Having a league with teams that is not based on competitive performance will always result in less competitive games.
Relegating these partnered teams before the end of their agreements just breaks the logic behind the system in the first place.

#41

LouBag

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Crazy that people want to water down the leagues so heavily by have 16 teams.

We don’t need 60 teams in t1…. Then t2 will look like an even bigger joke than it is now.

Even one of the most competitive regions like NA have t2 teams that are pretty embarrassing.

Imagine having to spread the talent in a region over 16 teams…. I hate to break it to everyone, but there is barely enough talent right now to make 12 teams looks good.

Everyone is always complaining about the bottom teams being bad, but instead of consolidating the talent and making every team good, people want to add 4 more teams to the slop pile.

#42

erickwak

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I was excited to see more teams coming from ascension, but ig 14 teams might be too much to schedule and manage. Good changes overall, wondering if they'll make more changes in the future. Hopefully, if the quality of teams/ascension teams gets too high they increase the number of teams to adjust to the talent pool.

#44

nobody___100

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ok but can we get rid of mibr at the least

#45

ersagaswdgsadghagtdsg

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great but can we relegate the horrible teams

#47

Rocky54

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No import rule ?

#48

eighx

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so in pacific ascension, there is a possibility 11 team tournament will be happen since they currently only have 10 challenger? or are they only going to fight the winner of the ascension tournament to decide?

#55

makesung

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It is I think

#49

Casual_Joy

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PERFECT CHANGE, THANK YOU FOR BEING FINALLY LOGICAL ABOUT THIS!

#50

SleepyBear

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L and FCKING JOKE are YALL NOT READING IT CORECTLY ?

-2025 will introduce performance based extension for Ascension teams ONLY

imagine BLEED & (apac acenesion winner) finish top 4-6 & fight for their slot, meanwhile 0-10 franchise teams (GE,DFM) being the worst team in the league, but they chilling on the beach cuz riot chose them. “Performance based” MY FUCKING ASS

#52

xLeo

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+1

#54

number_1_Ego_fan

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+1

#59

nobody___100

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riotard games back at it someone fire leo fartia

#51

xLeo

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🤔

#53

Targu1n

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I have to admit while the thought of being able to earn a longer slot is very nice, this will only lead to winning to teams dropping more of their players right away (remember in EMEA we have region locks in t2, so any team promoted will be very likely to make changes to be competitive right away)

1 year contracts are a joke considering how many requirements there are for ascended teams (again I only know about EMEA)... I genuinely doubt the 1 year in t1 will actually be profitable for the org given the INSANE initial overhead

and then lastly, this reduces the amount of promoted teams from 14 to 12. This is a joke and Im surprised the general reception is positive to this.

So yea lets make t1 even harder to get in, make ascension guarantee even less security, screw over t2 players, while removing more protections for orgs in t2 (with the new premier qual rules).
I wouldnt be surprised in the slightest to see the more and more of the big orgs in t2 leave in the coming years.
Horrible execution, trying to solve a niche problem, while screwing over an entire system even more.

#63

robotiger

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other guy said i agree, t1 should not be easy to get in and more teams would just make the talent pool more diluted leading to worse games

#66

Targu1n

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Just look at the last tournament: All top 3 teams had at least 2 t2 (or worse) players.
Screwing t2, even more than they already do, will also make the games worse, since talent development takes a hit every time an org leaves.

Yes riot can decide that they want talent compressed into fewer teams, however this decision should be at the detriment of t1 teams not t2. Every league has more than enough candidates who deserve to be looked at.
Making t2 teams responsible for some franchised teams inability to make rosters just harms the scene.

#56

Violent-Gandhi

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If it's possible, remove the slot of GE and bring VLT

#57

jmb

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good change, but this should apply to all teams, not just ascension ones

#58

Yoorake

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Good changes, but imagine the scenario where both the ascension teams of a region goes to the finals of champs. Your saying the 2nd best team itw has to go challengers, meanwhile a partner team that goes winless can stay GTFO

#60

Dybala21

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IL capped at 12 teams instead of 14 ?
Only affects the Ascension teams instead of the partnered team?

Yeah valorant as an esport is cooked 💀💀💀🤡🤡🤡

#61

kikikikiki

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RIP bl00d

#62

smock

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Sounds look like good stuff is going on, but I don't understand what it means KEKW

#64

siegg

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BYE BYE BLEED

#68

Boketto

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This is what we needed. Now this is how you make a proper relegation/promotion system.

#69

Xplodd

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Give me VCT 2022 format. 2 groups of 6 teams into an 8 team double elim bracket. That shit was PEAK

#70

bambooo

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I see nothing beneficial to t2 orgs with this format, you climbed to reach the elites, had to adjust in ONE year, invest to improve your team performance, still have to fight to keep the slot, while I assume the franchised orgs can lose all their games and keep their place? nah man.

but I’m excited to see the upcoming invite division.

#71

Lombre

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Yes that is exactly it Partnered teams will never get relegated and they f***ed T2 scene for good

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