After a successful end to VCT 2021 circuit, Riot Games has announced a brand new series of events for the new year. The Valorant Champions Tour is back for 2022, and it’s better than ever.
VCT 2021 was Valorant’s first official pro circuit, which brought some of the best teams in the world to the prestigious stage of Berlin. After a nail-biting final with Gambit, the championship series saw Acend lift the Champions 2021 trophy. The year-long competition has returned for 2022, and this time it’s better designed to bring younger talent to the fore.
Riot Games has changed the VCT format for 2022 to better facilitate independent tournament organizers and the female esports scene. The circuit will no longer have three Masters events and will culminate earlier to provide professional players a proper offseason break.
VCT 2022 will have only two stages featuring Challengers and a Masters event. The two stages will help pick the participants of the Champions 2022 event, the calendar’s biggest LAN tournament. The Challengers stage will take place in one open qualifier, which will lead to multi-week league competition. Top teams will lock horns for a slot in the international Masters LAN tournament. Both Challengers events will have the same format for 2022 to find the ultimate champion for 2022.
The year-long circuit will wrap up quicker this time around. The VCT Champions 2022 finals will take place sometime in September to set three months aside for the offseason. This will allow teams to swap rosters and pick new players. Third-party tournament organizers can also utilize this off-time to manage tournaments, including the best teams.
Riot Games will be utilizing this offseason to focus more on marginalized players in Valorant. VCT Game Changers is set to kick off in March, but the third stage main event and first Game Changers LAN Championship will occur at the end of 2022. The format will be the same as 2021, with three series featuring an open qualifier and a double-elimination bracket. The developer has also teased a new tournament circuit for October, inspired by the Ignition series, but not much is known about it yet.
Last Chance Qualifier: TBA (August)
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