Nihon e yōkoso: VCT Masters Tokyo 2023 Preview

On May 28th, the three international leagues came to a conclusion and we got the top international teams participating in the first International event of the year. VCT Masters Tokyo will feature 12 teams with four teams directly placed in the playoffs. Starting 11th June, the first eight teams will take on each other to qualify for the playoffs. In the playoffs, eight teams will take on each other to crown the first winner of revamped VCT. Let’s take a look at the tournament format, attending teams and more. 

VCT Masters Tokyo 2023 Format:

VCT Masters Tokyo will feature a total of twelve teams; four from EMEA, three each from Americas and Pacific and two from China. With Fnatic winning the previous VCT event in VCT LOCK//IN, EMEA secured an additional seat at VCT Masters Tokyo. The practice where the winning region receives an additional seat will continue in Valorant Champions 2023. The region winning the VCT Masters Tokyo gets an additional team in Valorant Champions.

The tournament is split into two stages i.e. Group Stage and Playoffs. With twelve participating teams, the top seeded teams from each region, except China, directly qualify for the playoffs. The four teams directly seeded into the playoffs are Fnatic, LOUD, Paper Rex and Team Liquid. The remaining eight teams viz; NRG, Evil Geniuses, DRX, T1, FUT esports, Natus Vincere, Attacking Soul Esports and EDward Gaming will play the group stage.

Group stage:

Two groups of four are formed for the VCT Masters Tokyo group stage. These two groups are as follows:

• Group A
  • NRG esports
  • Natus Vincere
  • EDward Gaming
  • T1
• Group B
  • Evil Geniuses
  • FUT esports
  • DRX
  • Attack Soul esports

Two teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs. Each group will be a double-elimination bracket. Each game played in the group stage will be a BO3 game. The whole tournament will be played on Patch 6.10 and the active map pool is as follows:

• Ascent
• Bind
• Fracture
• Haven
• Lotus
• Pearl
• Split

Once the group stage bracket is played out, a total of four teams will make it to the playoffs. The fixtures for the opening games of the group stage are as follows:

• Group A:
  • NRG esports vs. Natus Vincere
  • EDward Gaming vs. T1
• Group B:
  • DRX vs. Attacking Soul esports
  • FUT esports vs. Evil Geniuses

Playoffs:

With four teams qualified via the group stage, and four direct qualifiers, a total of eight teams will play the playoffs. Riot will draw the opening round fixtures. The playoffs will be an eight team double-elimination bracket. Similar to the playoffs all the matches except Lower Finals and Grand finals will be BO3. The lower finals and grand finals will be BO5.

VCT Masters Tokyo 2023 Live Event Details and Schedule:

The complete VCT Masters Tokyo event will feature a live audience. Tipstar Dome, Chiba will host the group stage and playoffs until the Lower finals. The Makuhari Messe in Chiba will host the Lower Final and Grand final.

The tickets were on sale previously and the availability can be checked here. The Live event starts 11 June 11:30 AM JST (GMT+9:00). The complete schedule for the event will be as follows:

• Group stage June 11- June 14
  • Upto three BO3s daily
  • Games start 12:00 PM JST

• Playoffs June 16 - June 25
  • Two matches daily until Lower finals
  • Games start 12:00 PM JST

Participating teams:

A total of 12 teams are playing the VCT Masters Tokyo. The twelve teams qualified through three international leagues and China Qualifiers. The twelve teams with the players are as follows:

• VCT Americas:
  • LOUD (Saadhak, Less, Aspas, Tuyz, Cauanzin)
  • NRG esports (FNS, Crashies, Victor, Ardiis, s0m)
  • Evil Geniuses (Boostio, C0m, Ethan, Jawgemo, BcJ)
• VCT EMEA
  • Team Liquid (Redgar, nAts, soulcas, Jammpi, Sayf)
  • Fnatic (Boaster, Leo, Chronicle, Alfajer, Derke)
  • Natus Vincere (Ange1, Suygetsu, Zyppan, Shao, cNed)
  • FUT (Atakaptan, qw1, MrFalin, Mojj, qRaxs, Muj)
• VCT Pacific
  • Paper Rex (d4v41, mindfreak, Jinggg, f0rsaken, Something)
  • DRX (stax, Rb, Zest, MaKo, BuZz, Foxy9)
  • T1 (xeta, Ban, Sayaplayer, Carpe, munchkin)

The action will kick-off on 11th June with FUT taking on Evil Geniuses. You can follow the VCT Twitter for all the updates regarding VCT Masters Tokyo.

Credits: Riot Games // Valorant Champions Tour

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You can also follow VCT Masters Tokyo on Strafe.