How can I play in VCT next year? Here’s how to qualify for VCT Challengers

Every VALORANT player who queues up a ranked competitive match thinks about going pro and playing the game on a big stage in front of a raucous crowd just a little bit. And as VALORANT and the VCT ecosystem continues to grow and change, new avenues to reach the top begin to appear.

Going into 2023 and the new partnership model instituted by Riot Games, players and teams will be able to reach the top-tier international leagues through regional Challengers leagues. If you’re looking to reach Challengers yourself, then you’re in the right place.

Here’s how you could potentially play in VCT next year.

How to qualify for VCT Challengers

Run the full Challengers gauntlet

Beginning in 2023, Riot will begin running regional Challengers leagues across the world. There will be a total of 21 circuits, including ones for North America, Brazil, all the EMEA regional league locations from 2022, Korea, Japan, and several others. Like the Challengers events for 2022, the 2023 Challengers leagues for each region will start with open qualifiers.

Riot will likely seek out other tournament organizers across the world to run the qualifiers, each with their own site or platform they will use to field signups and build the bracket. Official VCT sites were used for signups during 2022 in regions like EMEA and Korea, while in North America the organizers used both Nerd Street Gamers and Battlefy to field signups.

Most of the Challengers events will have their own rules, but for the most part, you’ll have to sign up as a full team of five during the registration period. You’ll likely also need to be of a certain rank just to sign up.

If you qualify for the Challengers tournament through the open qualifier, you’ll have to finish as one of the top teams to have a chance to be invited to the Ascension event, a tournament that will determine the single best Challengers team from the Americas, EMEA, and Asia. The winner of each of the three regional Ascension events will earn a two-year promotion to the international VCT league.

Qualify for Challengers in-game (coming soon)

While this avenue for Challengers qualification isn’t available yet, it’s something the team at Riot Games is very high on. The VALORANT team has been working on an in-game tournament/competition system that’s meant to go beyond ranked, and it could be used to determine new Challengers teams as early as 2024.

In theory, the top teams from these in-game competitions that can be signed up for within the VALORANT game itself could compete against the lowest ranking Challengers teams in do-or-die matches with those Challengers spots in the line. In a way, it works as relegation for the poorly performing Challengers teams, who will need to hold off new, unknown online stars to keep their spot.

Riot has promised more information on this system before the end of 2023.