December 13, 2021
VALORANT ESPORTS STAFF
Senior Editors
2022 VALORANT CHAMPIONS TOUR NA KICKS OFF IN LATE JANUARY
NA VALORANT redemption tour begins now.
The dust has settled and the champion has been crowned, congratulations to Acend! Although the victors will have their well-deserved chance at a victory lap, heavy is the head that wears the crown and there will be no shortage of challengers from our region as we head into 2022.
We’re just over a month away from North America’s finest battling it out once more, here’s what’s in store for the 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour season. Additional competitive details for VCT, including circuit points and VCT Verizon Game Changers end of year event qualification, will be released early next year.
VCT STAGES, EVENTS, & KEY DATES:
VCT-Timeline.jpg
STAGE 1
VCT Stage 1 - Challengers NA - Open Qualifier: January 27 - January 30
VCT Stage 1 - Challengers NA - Main Event: February 11 - March 27
Your first taste of competitive NA VALORANT action comes at the end of January with a 128-team Open Qualifier for Challengers NA. From there, 12 teams head to the Main Event, which has been expanded from two weeks to seven weeks of play.
Kicking off on February 11, the first five weeks are a round robin competition. Weeks 6 and 7 will feature double-elimination playoffs to determine the NA representatives at VCT Stage 1 - Masters. With circuit points and a trip to Masters on the line, every match counts.
VCT STAGE 1 - MASTERS: APRIL
North America’s top players head to CLASSIFIED to take on the teams that have gotten off to a hot start around the world. With competition starting in mid-April, VALORANT Masters will grant the first shot at bragging rights on the global scale.
STAGE 2
VCT Stage 2 - Challengers NA - Open Qualifier: May 5 - May 8
VCT Stage 2 - Challengers NA - Closed Qualifier: May 13 - June 26
**Tentative Dates
Our second Challengers stage will give teams the chance to rattle cages, make some noise, and rack up circuit points as the Challengers portion of the season draws to a close.
Taking place across May and June, VCT Stage 2 - Challengers NA will mirror Stage 1’s format and is the last chance for teams to go head to head to represent North America at Masters.
VCT STAGE 2 - MASTERS: JULY
Another opportunity for international bragging rights are up for grabs in the final pre-Champs global showdown in CLASSIFIED. Taking place in the dead of summer, we’ll see which of the world's teams can stand the heat in the homestretch of the season.
The prize pool will certainly be on everyone’s minds, but not as much as the automatic berth at Champs that will be on the line.
NORTH AMERICAN LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER: AUGUST
The invite-only event is based on circuit points accumulated up through Masters 2. And when all is said and done, there will only be one.
VALORANT CHAMPIONS 2022: SEPTEMBER
The grandest stage of them all, VALORANT Champions 2022 features the best VALORANT talent the world has to offer.
NEW TOURNAMENT CIRCUIT: Q4 2022
With Champs wrapping in September, there is no offseason -- only preparation for 2023. Similar to the 2020 Ignition Series, we’ll be working with the top third-party TOs to bring fans more competitive VALORANT. Additional details to come … soon™.
VCT VERIZON GAME CHANGERS SERIES, EVENTS & KEY DATES
SERIES 1
Game Changers Series 1 - Open Qualifier: March 31 - April 3
Game Changers Series 1 - Main Event: April 7 - April 10
SERIES 2
Game Changers Series 2 - Open Qualifier: June 30 - July 3
Game Changers Series 2 - Main Event: July 7 - July 10
SERIES 3
Game Changers Series 3, Open Qualifier: October 6 - October 9
Game Changers Series 3, Main Event: October 13 - October 16
The VCT Verizon Game Changers program was a resounding success in 2021. Although Cloud9 White left little doubt they were the team to beat in 2021, 2022 will provide teams with more opportunities to dethrone them.
2022 will also culminate with the most exciting addition to the Verizon Game Changers schedule: the international Game Changers Championship. This year may have put the world on notice as to who some of the best Women’s VALORANT teams are, but this new event will crown one team with the title of the first-ever Game Changers Champion.
In addition to this slate, our partners, Galorants, will continue producing monthly VCT Game Changers Academy tournaments for Women’s VALORANT teams to hone their skills.
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