So just a recap....

If LEV wins the series against KRU, SEN is qualified
Yet if 100T beats SEN but loses to G2, SEN is still qualified or no? Because I know 100T would have the same points as SEN so who gets the point by?

But here's the official statement for the regular season, " After Stage 1, the top three teams in each group will qualify for the Mid-Season Playoffs. For the Season Playoffs after Stage 2, the top six teams from the entire regular season will advance."

Aren't you just talking about the qualifications from stage 2 into stage 1?

This gave me an idea. Remember the show match between MxS and Cloud9 in which Ludwig and Immi had special commands to mess with the teams? Maybe there could be a tournament in which teams have like set goals they could fulfill throughout the match in which they'll gain points for the coaches to use to mess with the other team. I can imagine someone "accidentally" does a roza-ult to themselves to get a point just for the next round, the other team is forced to crouch for 20 seconds. That'll be cool

I was thinking about that aspect and that's why I see it as 3 bans first then the teams pick 3 agents, then the 3 bans happen again so that both teams can select the remaining two. It gives an aspect of strategy on what the team needs and how flexible each team can get.

• Let's say the teams were ( SR Gamechangers vs. Oxygen Esports ) and its ascent. We see the meta constantly and maybe each team can prioritize what they want. So, pretend SR was the one who chose the map, then the agent selection could be like

First Ban ( Oxygen: Omen, KJ ) ( SR: Sage )
Then both teams will pick three agents from the remaining pool
Second Ban ( SR: KayO, Fade ) ( Oxygen: Raze )
Then both teams will pick the remaining two agents for their team comp.

All I'm saying is that there is enough variety of agents that there wouldn't be a scenario in which all of a class will be banned based on priority on what they need.

• 5 Controllers
• 7 Duelists
• 6 Initiators
• 5 Sentinels

Well, since the format for this season looks to be a little short, I might as well talk about some ideas for the offseason including one major tournament which could be cool on paper but I'm not sure if it'll fit in with the offseason timelapse. You don't have to read all this if you want but it's nice to see some of these happen sometime in the future.

• ( Redemption Lock-In ( Major Tournament ) ): Essentially, the storyline could be, "Wrong Opponents, Wrong Time." This tournament could happen after champions as the first major off-season/last VCT tournament that would have all the regional leagues. The format would be an 8-team bracket with 4 slots already locked in by each region's highest placement in champions so like following the Kickoff event for this year each highest placed team region in champs gets a by-pass ( PRX, FNC, EG, and EDG ). The remaining 4 slots will be by regional leagues with 1 slot per league as how this would be in a double elimination in a best of 3 until the lower and grand finals in a best of 5. Each league would have the highest 8 teams ( Excluding the highest placed team in champs ) based on Champions points and battle it out to see who will win and go to this Redemption tournament. With each league having two slots in this tournament, each region will fight an opposing region in a single elimination in a best-of-5 tournament ( Basically like LOL World playoffs ) up into the grand finals and win.

• ( Cross Emblem ): featuring 8 in a double-elimination bracket consisting of 2 Gamechangers, 3 Tier 2, and 3 Tier 1 teams. - The format for this tournament will be different because it allows the viewers to decide the map selection for each game up till the grand finals giving prep time to teams and seeing what maps the viewers would like to see be played. However, the teams playing in each of the games would be randomized by making a roulette and letting fate take its course on which two teams would be playing 1-2 weeks prior to the main event so it allows storylines to happen or to give the audience a sense of excitement on which teams would be playing against each other. An example could be viewers picking the first match having (Icebox, Lotus, and Split as the decider) then two teams chosen by random will have to play those maps. However, the final twist is that all maps can be chosen 2 days prior to the grand finals so meaning the maps not in the pool can be selected to be played in either a best-of-3 or best-of-5 depending on time.

• ( Pick'em Tournament ) - This tournament is a stretch but it could be entertaining in which 8 teams ( Tier 1, 2, or Gamechangers ) would be participating in a normal double-bracket tournament with one twist. When the teams meet each other, they'll flip a coin to see who will go first. The team that wins the coin selection now has a choice - To ban two maps in the pool and choose the first map to be played for the best-of-3 or best-of-5 or ban the first two agents needed for the first map. Whatever the team who won the coin flip chooses, the other team can do the other action. So for example, imagine if the teams were ( NRG vs. 100T ) and NRG won the coin flip, this means that NRG can choose two maps not to be played and pick the first map to be played or ban the first two agents that both teams can't play on the map that 100T picks in which 100T would the option that NRG didn't choose. So essentially, when the team picks a map, the other team will start by banning 2 agents for that map. How the bans work is that one team bans 2 agents then the other team picks 1 agent to ban for both teams not to play. Then both teams pick the first 3 agents and the bans start again, but this time the other team bans 2 agents, and the other team bans 1 making the total of 6 banned agents for the first map. ( Similar to LOL ). So, this off-season is a stretch but what this tournament can provide is new metas especially for maps like Ascent if the bans were like KJ, Jett, and Omen creating more diverse metas.

• ( Tier: DOWN ): 8 teams ( 4 Tier 1 and 4 Tier 2 ) Single-Elimination bracket best-of-3 fighting to see if the gap between Tier 1 and 2 is truly close or far apart in mental and experience.

• ( Fame To Glory ): 16 teams ( 4 Tier 1, 4 Tier 2, 4 Game-Changers, and 4 Teams from Open Qualifiers ) in 2 different brackets. The first bracket is 4 groups consisting of 1 team each, and it'll take the top team from each group to do a Double-Elimination bracket with the best-of-3 going all around.

• ( Final Champions ): This tournament would be cool to see if there were even amount of International Event Winners in which from 2021 - 2024, every "team" that won an International event would participate. This means if possible, the players and staff that won the event can go under the organization that they played for and participate in this tournament. However if there are altercations on getting the team back together, they can find a replacement if needed. Like if we take account only from 2021 - 2023, there were only 8 different teams that won an International Event ( FNC counts as one even though they won Tokyo and Lock-in ), meaning that it could be a double elimination bracket in which the lower and grand finals will be a best-of-5 while every game will be a best-of-3 to see which prime team is the best. Imagine the storylines: FNC vs Optic / Gambit vs Loud / Acend vs EG / SEN vs FPX. I know that metas and maps have been changed, but it'll be nice to see 8 International Team Winners fighting it off to see which team would come out top.

And that's it for now for Ideas. If you don't want to read it, here's a summary:

• Redemption: 8 teams ( 4 quality based of highest placement in Champs ) and 1 from each Regional Winner battle
• Cross Emblem: Viewer picks map selection per game and teams randomize
• Pick'em: Adding the ban system from LOL to Valorant ( 6 agents ban per map )
• Tier: DOWN: Fight between Tier 1 and 2
• Fame To Glory: 16 teams in 4 groups, 1 team per group fight it out
• Final Champion: Battle between International Winners ( Even Teams needed )