The VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo begins in a few weeks with the top 12 teams worldwide.
The VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: Masters Tokyo will take place from June 11 - 25, featuring the top 12 teams from the three franchised VCT leagues from around the globe. The VCT Americas, EMEA, and Pacific ended over the weekend with the final 12 teams finalised for the VCT Masters Tokyo.
This includes four teams from the VCT EMEA, three from the Pacific, three from the Americas, and two invited FGC 2023 teams from China. Four seeded teams will head straight to the playoff bracket, while the eight other teams will do battle in the group stage.
The group stage for the VCT Masters Tokyo will take place from June 11 - 14 with two double-elimination format groups. Each group will feature four teams that will play every match in a best-of-three series. The top two teams from each group will head to the playoffs. This will start from June 16 - 25 in a double-elimination playoff bracket.
All matches will be played in a best-of-three series except the lower bracket final and the grand finals, which will be a best-of-five. It's also worth noting that the three best-placed EMEA teams will qualify for the VCT Champions. As for the worst-placed EMEA team, it will qualify for the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ). The winner of VCT Masters Tokyo will also grant their region an additional slot at their respective LCQ.
Here are the 12 finalists for the VCT Masters Tokyo:
Seeded Teams
1. Fnatic (EMEA)
2. Team Liquid (EMEA)
3. LOUD (Americas)
4. Paper Rex (Pacific)
Group Stage Teams
1. FUT Esports (EMEA)
2. Natus Vincere (LOCK//IN Slot: EMEA)
3. NRG (Americas)
4. Evil Geniuses (Americas)
5. DRX (Pacific)
6. T1 (Pacific)
7. Attacking Soul Esports (FGC 2023: Act 1)
8. EDward Gaming (FGC 2023: Act 1)
VCT Pacific
The VCT Pacific was the first league to finalise the three teams that will be attending VCT Masters Tokyo, mainly the biggest team in Southeast Asia in Paper Rex and two South Korean titans, DRX and T1. While DRX did finish the group stage of the VCT Pacific in first with PRX in second and T1 in third, it was PRX who came out on top after reverse-sweeping DRX in the grand finals.
The Singapore-based organisation managed to maintain its upper-bracket status the entire way during the playoffs, dispatching two of the three South Korean teams in the process. This also includes 2-0 victories against both DRX and T1 on their journey to the grand finals, which shows just how far PRX have come in the past few months. Unfortunately, all VALORANT fans in Tokyo will be unable to catch hometown teams like DetonatioN FocusMe and Zeta Division failing to qualify for the VCT Masters.
VCT EMEA
With the EMEA winning the recent LOCK//IN São Paulo thanks to Fnatic, they were granted four slots to Masters Tokyo. However, Fnatic could only finish as the first runner-up after losing 3-1 to Team Liquid in the grand finals. This came after Fnatic went undefeated during the group stage and initially defeated Liquid 2-0 in the upper bracket final. This forced a lower bracket final showdown between FUT Esports and Liquid, which the latter dominated 3-0 before going on to clinch the EMEA League title.
And with Fnatic and Liquid both occupying a top-seeded spot, two out of the four teams already are from the EMEA, which increases its chances of coming home with another VCT title. The EMEA also gets a nice perk at Masters Tokyo that the top-three best teams in the tournament will qualify for the VCT Champions 2023 while the worst-placed team will head to the LCQ.
VCT Americas
As expected with the VCT Americas, it was LOUD who would come away as the regional franchise champions, having lost just one match throughout their playoff run. This included a 2-0 victory against rivals FURIA Esports, a slightly shaky 2-1 win against Evil Geniuses, and a convincing 3-0 sweep of NRG in the grand finals. While LOUD could only get second best during LOCK//IN São Paulo, they will be out for revenge against Fnatic this time at Tokyo.
With Americas housing plenty of talent and firepower within the franchise region, only three teams could qualify, which meant other big names would have to miss out. While both NRG and EG deserved their spots, teams like Cloud9, Sentinels, and Leviatán will be rueing their missed chances at making it to LAN. However, these teams still have an LCQ to play for that could determine their tournament lives for Champions come July.
The VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo will start from June 11 - 25 with a total of one million USD split amongst 12 teams with the winner getting the lion's share of $350,000 and a direct spot to Champions. Be sure to tune back for more updates as we edge closer to the VCT Masters in Tokyo in just a few short weeks!