For the first time since the current VALORANT Champions Tour format was introduced, a German organization will compete in the
VCT EMEA. After winning the Challengers EMEA Last Chance Qualifier, Eintracht Frankfurt Esports secured a spot in the Stage 2 Play-In of Europe's tier-one league, alongside Joblife, REBORN, and Enterprise Esports. These four Tier 2 teams will now have the opportunity to qualify for
VALORANT Champions Shanghai through Riot Games' new Stage 2 format.
A new format
In addition to the traditional Group Stage, Riot Games has introduced an extra phase for Stage 2 across its international leagues: the Play-In. The goal is to give several Challenger teams and players a direct pathway to compete against Tier 1 opposition. Played in a double-elimination Best-of-three format, the four teams qualified through Challengers EMEA will face the lowest-ranked teams from the first phase of Stage 2, with four playoff spots up for grabs.
The two best-performing teams in the Play-In, whether from VCT EMEA or Tier 2, will advance directly to the upper bracket of the Stage 2 Playoffs. Meanwhile, the teams finishing third and fourth will be placed in the lower bracket. If one of the four Challengers teams is still alive at that point, the road will remain long, as reaching the Stage 2 Grand Final is required to earn direct qualification for VALORANT Champions. Otherwise, their run, while impressive, will ultimately fall short.
A long story
After failing to qualify directly for Challengers EMEA, Eintracht Frankfurt had to take the long route to secure its place. Competing in the VCL DACH, the German organization finished Stage 2 in the Top 3-4, which was not enough to qualify directly for the main event, as it had not earned enough circuit points throughout the season to finish among the top 16 teams in EMEA. As a result, former VCT player Ondřej "
MONSTEERR" Petrů and his teammates first had to battle through a 36-team Play-In to reach the
LCQ Main Event.
Eintracht Frankfurt then dominated the LCQ, posting a flawless 7-0 record in the Swiss Stage to keep its hopes alive. That momentum carried into the Main Event, where the team topped its group with victories over UCAM and French mix team La Masia. Drawn against familiar VCL DACH rival FOKUS in the opening round of the playoffs, the German side cruised to a 2-0 victory before repeating the scoreline against Mandatory in the semifinals. Facing Turkish mix team Çilekler, another squad that had come through the Play-In, Frankfurt completed its remarkable run with a dominant 3-0 victory in the Grand Final, securing a place in the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Play-In, which will take place in Berlin from August 5 to 16.
