The VCT EMEA Stage 1 will feature 11 teams that will battle it out for 3 spots at VCT Masters Shanghai at the end of May.
With the VCT Masters Madrid already done and dusted, we now look ahead to the regional leagues, starting with the VCT EMEA Stage 1. There will be 11 teams taking part in the VCT EMEA Stage 1, much like the EMEA Kickoff that will consist of 10 franchise teams and one EMEA Ascension team. It will start later today, April 3rd and will go on until May 12th, which is also when the grand finals will take place.
Only the top three teams will be granted a spot to VCT Masters Shanghai, one more than what the EMEA Kickoff offered, which saw Karmine Corp and Team Heretics claim the two spots at Madrid. And not only are there now three slots to Shanghai at the end of May, the winner of the VCT EMEA Stage 1 will also get three EMEA Championship Points, which will go a long way as the season progresses.
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VCT EMEA Stage 1 - Format & Schedule
The group stage portion of the VCT EMEA Stage 1 will take place from April 3rd to May 3rd with 11 teams separated into two single round-robin groups. The first is Group Alpha and it will consist of five teams whilst Group Omega will have six teams. And unlike traditional group stage matches, the VCT EMEA Stage 1 will instead have cross-group matches. This means that teams in Group Alpha will go up against teams in Group Omega.
All games in the group stage are a best-of-three series with there being five weeks worth of games to look forward to. There will be two matches a day, three times a week from every Wednesday to Friday. The top three teams from both Group Alpha and Omega will proceed to the playoffs. And speaking of the playoffs, it will be a hybrid-elimination bracket where placing first in the group stage is key to avoid what's to come.
Teams that finish second and third during the group stage will also move on to the playoffs, but in the knockout round. This will be a single-elimination bracket that will further trim the list of teams in the playoffs from six to four. From there, the teams that win the best-of-three knockout round will join the first-seeded teams in the double-elimination phase of the playoffs bracket. All games will also be in a best-of-three series, bar the lower bracket final and grand final, which will be a best-of-five.
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VCT EMEA Stage 1 - Groups
Group Alpha
Karmine Corp
Fnatic
Team Vitality
Team Liquid
BBL EsportsÂ
Group Omega
Team Heretics
Natus Vincere
KOI
FUT Esports
GIANTX
Gentle MatesÂ
Group Alpha has five teams in it with the likes of Karmine Corp, Fnatic, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, and BBL Esports who will be vying for just three spots into the playoffs. As for Group Omega, you will find the rest of the teams like Team Heretics, NAVI, KOI, FUT Esports, Gentle Mates, and GIANTX. And as this will be cross-group matches, it will create some interesting match-ups that could determine a specific team's fate down the line.
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VCT EMEA Stage 1 - Teams
With KC being the only team with three Championship points, they are currently tied alongside Gen.G Esports and EDward Gaming while Sentinels is in the lead with six. Winning the VCT EMEA Stage 1 is crucial for them to keep up with the Masters Madrid winners in hopes of being on level ground by the time they meet at Masters Shanghai. But while KC was the team to win the VCT EMEA Kickoff, their international performances weren't up to par with the rest of the world.
Both KC and Heretics failed to qualify to the playoffs of Masters Madrid with the former winning one of three matches in the Swiss Stage whilst the latter lost two in a row and was one of two teams alongside FunPlus Phoenix to get eliminated from the tournament. FPX was also the only team that KC managed to get a win over as both teams got eliminated at the hands of the VCT Pacific Kickoff second seed, Paper Rex.
Many have argued that more experienced teams on the international stage like Fnatic, NAVI, and Liquid would have fared much better. But then again, their own regional performances haven't been up to scratch and the VCT EMEA Stage 1 will be the perfect stage to showcase a comeback for some of the region's biggest orgs.
Be sure to catch the start of the VCT EMEA Stage 1 later today at 5:00 p.m. CEST on the VCT EMEA's official Twitch and YouTube channels.
