On September 24, the sixth edition of
VALORANT Champions will take place in Shanghai, China, with one of the 16 participants set to lift the most prestigious trophy of the season. Last year,
NRG won the title in Paris after an unforgettable final against
Fnatic.
This year, the American team will defend its title alongside former champions and teams still eager to claim the ultimate trophy. Some teams will also be making their first appearance in the competition with high ambitions, and all of them will be looking to be crowned champions on October 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The competition format
Champions will begin with the group stage. Featuring four groups of four teams each, all matches will be played as best-of-threes in a double-elimination format, as in previous editions. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs. The group stage will take place from September 24 to October 4.
The playoffs, featuring the world's top eight teams, will be held from October 7 to 18. Matches will once again be played as best-of-threes in a double-elimination bracket. However, the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final will be played as best-of-fives. At the end of the Grand Final, the winner will be crowned and the Champions MVP will also be named, with the award having gone to Brock "brawk" Somerhalder last year.
The teams
There will be 16 participants, with four teams from each region, all distributed evenly across the four groups. Here are the teams participating:
VCT Americas: 100 Thieves, LOUD, NRG, G2 Esports
VCT Pacific: Global Esports, Nongshim RedForce, Paper Rex, T1
VCT EMEA: Karmine Corp, Team Liquid, FUT Esports, Team Vitality
VCT China: TYLOO, JD Gaming, EDward Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming
Former champions LOUD, EDward Gaming and NRG will all be looking to potentially become the first team to win the competition twice. On the other hand, Karmine Corp, Global Esports, TYLOO and JD Gaming will be making their first-ever appearance at the competition.
It is also worth noting that Leviatán's absence from the competition may come as a surprise. The Argentine team became the first in history to win a Masters during the season without subsequently qualifying for Champions.
How to follow the competition?
The entire competition will be available to follow through the
VALORANT Esports social media accounts, with the main broadcast channels being the competition's
Twitch,
YouTube and
TikTok accounts. The co-streamers for the competition will also be announced soon, and fans will be able to watch the matches through their Twitch channels.
