The VCT EMEA League Kickoff is set to begin later today!
The VCT 2024 season has officially begun as we head towards the start of the EMEA League Kickoff later today. The VCT Americas had its start a few days ago, followed by the VCT Pacific a day later. And now, we will get to witness the start of the VCT EMEA League Kickoff that will take place from today, February 20th to March 1st.
And with there being no LOCK//IN this season, the Kickoff will be a good starting point for all teams to determine who will head to the first international event of the year, the Masters Madrid. Every region will get two representatives from Kickoff to compete against one another and the EMEA will be no different. Fnatic will be the most sought-after team, having won two major events last season, the VCT LOCK//IN as well as Masters Tokyo.
However, Fnatic faltered when it came to Champs while the region as a whole failed to impress when it mattered most. Despite being one of the most dominant leagues in the VCT, EMEA will have to prove itself once again on the big stage. Aside from Fnatic, the likes of Natus Vincere will be one to look out for after they managed to bring back the former FunPlus Phoenix roster under one banner.
Team Liquid will also be another contender as they were the only team to defeat Fnatic in a grand final last season. Even GIANTX could be a dark horse once more after it managed to qualify for Champs the year before. And like the other major regions, there will be 11 teams in this year's EMEA Kickoff with Gentle Mates joining the list for the next two seasons after proving its worth during Ascension EMEA.
VCT EMEA League Kickoff - Format & Schedule
Like other partnered leagues, the EMEA Kickoff will be an 11-team tournament with three stages to play through. The group stage will feature three double-elimination format (GSL) groups with two groups of four and one group of three. All matches will be a best-of-three series with the top-placed team getting a direct spot to the playoffs. All second-placed teams will head to the play-in stage, which is a three-team single round-robin.
The three teams will play one another to determine the fourth and final playoff squad, which will be a single-elimination bracket with the semifinals being a best-of-three and the grand finals being a best-of-five. The final two teams will earn a spot to Masters Madrid but it's yet to be determined the advantage the winner of Kickoff will receive.
And it's only Group C that the highest placing team from Champions 2023 will receive a bye in the first round of games. With Fnatic being in the group, they automatically received a bye and will only need to play one best-of-three series to determine their fates. Fnatic will be grouped alongside Team Vitality and the EMEA Ascension winners, Gentle Mates. Both Vitality and GM will play the opening best-of-three with the winner moving on to face Fnatic for a spot in the playoffs.
Group A has an interesting list that features FUT Esports, Team Heretics, GIANTX, and Karmine Corp. As for Group B, the likes of Natus Vincere and Team Liquid make up some of the heavy hitters alongside KOI and BBL Esports. It will be exciting to see who pulls through as Fnatic has arguably the easiest run to the grand finals.
VCT EMEA League Kickoff - Teams
Fnatic will be the obvious choice for many fans in the EMEA League Kickoff given the team's successes last season. But even after great international performances at both the LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo, Fnatic still lost to Team Liquid in the EMEA League grand finals last year. This would also put plenty of eyes on Liquid and if they can repeat their heroics from last season, which will be a challenge seeing as NAVI are in the same group as them.
Multiple teams have gone through roster changes over the off-season with Fnatic being the only team to not mess with its starting line-up. However, the same can't be said for its coaching staff as Jacob “mini” Harris has since stepped down to assistant coach. He has since been replaced with Chris “Elmapuddy” Tebbit, formerly of Gen.G Esports. And both BBL Esports and KOI also have refreshed rosters for the new season so it will be interesting to see how Group B plays out in the coming days.
FUT Esports would be the most experienced of the lot in Group A after they attended all three international events last year alongside a third-place finish during the EMEA League. And before its merger, GIANTX (formerly known as Giants) managed to qualify for Champs via the EMEA LCQ, so there is a chance that they will put up a fight in the group stage. Both Karmine Corp and Team Heretics had forgettable runs last year and would hope to change this up this time round.
Group A
FUT Esports
GIANTX
Karmine Corp
Team Heretics
Group B
BBL Esports
KOI
Natus Vincere
Team Liquid
Group C
Fnatic
Gentle Mates
Team VitalityThe VCT EMEA League Kickoff begins later today with Group A being the first, followed by Group B, and then Group C. It will go on until March 1st, which is just under two weeks until the start of Masters Madrid. Be sure to catch all the action on the official VCT Twitch channel.
