VCT 2021, Riot’s first official tournament circuit for VALORANT, all boils down to Champions.
In December, the world championship will see 16 teams from around the world compete in a two-week-long tournament to decide the first VALORANT global champion.
Throughout the year, stages consisting of Challengers and Masters events have given teams the chance to earn circuit points and qualify for the end-of-year tournament.
Eleven teams representing North America, Europe, Brazil, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, and Latin America have qualified for Champions through circuit points obtained over the year. The winner of VCT Masters Berlin in September also automatically qualified.
The four remaining spots—one from NA, one from EMEA, one from South America, and one from Asia—made it to the event through the Last Chance Qualifier in October.
Circuit point standings
EMEA
Team | Points |
Gambit Esports | 470 |
Acend | 375 |
Fnatic | 350 |
G2 Esports | 325 |
Team Liquid | 300 |
SuperMassive Blaze | 225 |
Futbolist | 120 |
Oxygen Esports | 120 |
Guild Esports | 115 |
forZe | 110 |
North America
Team | Points |
Sentinels | 775 |
Team Envy | 450 |
100 Thieves | 375 |
Version1 | 200 |
FaZe Clan | 120 |
XSET | 90 |
Luminosity Gaming | 60 |
Cloud9 Blue | 50 |
Gen.G | 50 |
Rise | 50 |
Brazil
Team | Points |
Team Vikings | 350 |
Vivo Keyd | 225 |
Sharks Esports | 215 |
Havan Liberty | 210 |
FURIA Esports | 145 |
Gamelanders Blue | 135 |
NOORG 2.0 | 65 |
Stars Horizon | 45 |
Jaguares Esports | 40 |
SLICK | 40 |
Southeast Asia
Team | Points |
X10 Esports | 295 |
Team Secret | 225 |
Paper Rex | 225 |
FULL SENSE | 140 |
BOOM Esports | 115 |
Alter Ego | 80 |
Team SMG | 70 |
CBT Gaming | 60 |
CERBERUS Esports | 50 |
Team Big BAAM | 50 |
Korea
Team | Points |
Vision Strikers | 415 |
NUTURN Gaming | 410 |
F4Q | 255 |
DAMWON Gaming | 160 |
TNL Esports | 95 |
Prince | 80 |
GochuGaru | 40 |
World Game Star | 40 |
0 | |
0 |
Japan
Team | Points |
Crazy Raccoon | 475 |
ZETA DIVISION | 305 |
REJECT | 140 |
Northeption | 90 |
FENNEL | 80 |
Feeling | 45 |
Insomnia | 45 |
BlackBird Ignis | 40 |
Lag Gaming | 40 |
SCARZ | 30 |
Latin America
Team | Points |
KRÜ Esports | 495 |
Six Karma | 200 |
Australs | 175 |
Infinity | 170 |
LAZER | 150 |
Border Monsters | 115 |
9z Team | 110 |
Furious Gaming | 45 |
Meta Gaming | 45 |
VELOX | 40 |
All teams qualified for Champions
EMEA
- Gambit Esports
- Acend
- Fnatic
- Team Liquid
Gambit automatically qualified for Champions as the winner of Masters Berlin. The Russian team’s almost flawless run at the tournament culminated in a commanding 3-0 win against NA’s Envy in the finals.
A quarterfinal finish for Acend at Masters Berlin was just barely enough for the EU team to make it to Champions. With 375 points pocketed, Acend beat out regional rivals Fnatic (350) and G2 Esports (325).
Fnatic had to rely on Gambit to qualify for Champions. After failing to make it to Masters Berlin, the team was in danger of being surpassed in the circuit point standings. But because Gambit ended up winning the tournament, EMEA was awarded an extra spot at Champions.
After failing to make it to Masters Berlin, Team Liquid underwent a crucial roster change, removing Kryptix and signing ScreaM’s brother Nivera. A successful run through the EMEA Last Chance Qualifier in October secured the team Europe’s final spot at Champions.
North America
- Sentinels
- Envy
- Cloud9 Blue
Sentinels earned themselves 400 circuit points after making the perfect run at VCT Masters ReykjavÃk and beating Fnatic 3-0 in the finals. The North American team automatically secured a spot in Champions due to their unsurpassable points tally, making them the first squad to qualify for the end-of-year event.
An incredible run to the Masters Berlin finals saw Envy qualify for Champions as NA’s second seed with 450 circuit points. The team had to beat tournament favorites Sentinels and regional rivals 100 Thieves to get that point.
Cloud9 Blue made it to Champions against all the odds. Placed eighth in the circuit point standings, the team had to produce a once-in-a-lifetime performance to make it to the end-of-year event. In the Last Chance Qualifier in October, they beat Version1, Gen.G, XSET, and favorites 100 Thieves, before sweeping Rise 3-0 in the finals.
Brazil
- Team Vikings
- Vivo Keyd
- FURIA Esports
A total of 350 circuit points, which was largely acquired over the course of Masters One and Masters Two, was more than enough for Team Vikings to qualify for Champions. They exceeded the second-place team in the region by over 100 points.
Despite being eliminated from VCT Masters Berlin in the group stage, Vivo Keyd made it to Champions. The 225 circuit points earned throughout the year were narrowly enough to surpass Shark Esports (215) and Haven Liberty (210).
FURIA qualified for Champions after decisively beating South American rivals Gamelanders Blue and Australs in the playoff portion of the SA Last Chance Qualifier in October.
Southeast Asia
- X10
- Team Secret
- FULL SENSE
Although X10 failed to qualify for VCT Masters Berlin, they did enough to earn a spot at Champions. The Thai team secured 295 circuit points over the course of the year, above and beyond any other team in the region.
Team Secret, who signed the former Bren Esports squad in September, qualified for Champions after SEA rivals Paper Rex failed to make it out of the group stage of Masters Berlin. Tied with 225 circuit points apiece, Team Secret’s winning record against Paper Rex in the regional playoffs ended up being the difference-maker.
FULL SENSE took on and beat Korea’s NUTURN and DAMWON in the playoffs and Japan’s Northeption in the finals of the APAC Last Chance Qualifier to earn a place at Champions.
Korea
- Vision Strikers
After advancing to the knockout stage of VCT Masters Berlin in September, Vision Strikers surpassed NUTURN Gaming in the circuit point standings and qualified for Champions as the sole Korean representative at the event.
Japan
- Crazy Raccoon
Crazy Raccoon earned Japan’s only spot at Champions with a win against Brazil’s Havan Liberty at VCT Masters Berlin. As the most consistent team in the region, the team racked up 475 circuit points throughout the year, beating second-place ZETA DIVISON’s 305 points. In total, Crazy Raccoon accumulated 100 circuit points from Masters One, 150 from Masters Two, and 225 from Masters Three.
Latin America
- KRÜ Esports
KRÜ well and truly dominated in Latin America this year. After winning Challengers Stage Two and Three in the region, the team qualified for Champions. A tally of 495 circuit points was more than enough to top second-place team Six Karma.
Published: Nov 1, 2021 04:30 am