EMEA VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs: Scores, schedule, bracket

It’s crunch time for EMEA.

The VCT Stage Three Challengers Playoffs will decide which four teams make it to Masters Berlin in September. 

Starting on Aug. 12, six VALORANT teams from Europe, three from Turkey, and three from CIS will compete in a double-elimination bracket. The teams will be seeded based on results from the regional Challengers qualifiers.

The first and second-seeded teams from Europe and the first-seeded teams from Turkey and CIS will clash in round two of the upper bracket after the lower seeds face off in the opening round of the tournament.  

Every match in the EMEA Challengers Playoffs—aside from the lower bracket final on Aug. 21 and the grand final on Aug. 22—will be a best-of-three. The two exceptions will be best-of-fives.

Teams

Europe

• Acend
• FunPlus Phoenix
• G2 Esports
• Giants Gaming
• Guild Esports
• Team Liquid

Turkey

• FIRE FLUX ESPORTS
• Oxygen Esports
• SuperMassive Blaze

CIS

• ForZe
• Gambit Esports
• Natus Vincere

Patch 3.02, KAY/O

Riot has confirmed the playoffs will be played on Patch 3.02 and KAY/O, the game’s newest agent, will be available. The patch will have almost no bearing on the event. The main changes to the game came in the form of the economy in Patch 3.0 on June 22. Players should be accustomed to these changes at this stage of the circuit.

Bracket

Schedule/Scores

The EMEA VCT Stage Three: Challengers Playoffs kick off on Aug. 12 with the tournament’s opening round. A champion will be crowned a week later on Aug. 22 in the grand final. The four top teams of the event will advance straight to Berlin.

Aug. 12

• Upper bracket round one
  • Natus Vincere 2-1 Team Liquid (Na’Vi 13-10 Icebox, Liquid 13-7 Bind, LIVE on Split)
  • Guild Esports 2-0 forZe (Guild 13-4 Icebox, 14-12 Haven)
  • FunPlus Phoenix 2-0 Fire Flux Esports (FPX 15-13 Ascent, FPX 13-7 Bind)
  • Oxygen Esports 2-1 Giants Gaming (Oxygen 13-11 Ascent, Giants 13-2 Split, Oxygen 13-9 Breeze)

Aug. 13

• Upper bracket round two
  • Acend 2-0 Na’Vi (Acend 13-7 Breeze, 17-15 Icebox)
  • Gambit Esports 2-0 Guild Esports (Gambit 13-8 Ascent, 19-17 Icebox)
  • SuperMassive Blaze 2-0 FPX (13-6 Ascent, 13-10 Split)
  • G2 Esports 2-0 Oxygen (13-2 Icebox. 14-12 Breeze)

Aug. 14

• Lower bracket round one
  • Team Liquid 2-0 Oxygen (13-1 Haven, 13-3 Breeze)
  • forZe 2-1 FunPlus Phoenix (FPX 13-4 Icebox, forZe 24-22 Bind, forZe 13-8 Split)

Aug. 15

• 8am CT: Lower bracket round one
  • Guild 2-0 Fire Flux (13-6 Split, 13-0 Ascent)
• 10am CT: Lower bracket round one
  • Giants 2-1 Na’Vi (Giants 14-12 Ascent, Na’Vi 13-7 Breeze, Giants 13-8 Split)

Aug. 16

• 10am CT: Upper bracket semifinals (Masters Three Berlin qualifying match)
  • Acend 2-1 Gambit (Acend 13-7 Bind, Gambit 13-10 Ascent, Acend 13-5 Icebox)
• 12pm CT: Upper bracket semifinals (Masters Three Berlin qualifying match)
  • SuperMassive Blaze 2-0 G2 (13-4 Bind, 13-5 Ascent)

Aug. 18

• 10am CT: Lower bracket round two
  • Team Liquid 2-0 forZe (13-7 Bind, 13-10 Breeze)
• 12pm CT: Lower bracket round two
  • Giants 2-1 Guild (Giants 13-10 Split, Guild 17-15 Bind, Giants 15-13 Ascent)

Aug. 19

• 10am CT: Lower bracket round three (Masters Three Berlin qualifying match)
  • Gambit 2-1 Liquid (Liquid 13-11 Split, Gambit 13-3 Bind, Gambit 16-14 Icebox)
• 12pm CT: Lower bracket round three (Masters Three Berlin qualifying match)
  • G2 2-1 Giants (Giants 13-8 Icebox, G2 13-3 Bind, G2 13-4 Ascent)

Aug. 20

• 10am CT: Lower bracket round four
  • Gambit 2-1 G2 (Gambit 13-3 Ascent, G2 13-7 Icebox, Gambit 14-12 Bind)
• 12pm CT: Upper bracket final
  • SuperMassive Blaze 2-1 Acend (Acend 13-6 Bind, SMB 13-5 Split, SMB 13-10 Haven)

Aug. 21

• 8am CT: Lower bracket final (best-of-five)
  • Gambit 3-1 Acend (Gambit 18-16 Ascent, Gambit 13-4 Bind, Acend 13-9 Breeze, Gambit 13-7 Haven)

Aug. 22

• 8am CT: Grand finals (best-of-five)
  • Gambit 3-1 SuperMassive Blaze (SMB 13-1 Ascent, Gambit 13-11 Split, Gambit 13-5 Bind, Gambit 13-3 Haven)

Where to watch

The event will be streamed in English and ten other languages, including Turkish, Russian German, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, and Czech. The main hub for the event will be VALORANT’s official Twitch channel. But a second, third, and fourth channel will also be available throughout the tournament.

The event will be broadcast in English on the main channel on Monday to Thursday and Saturday, the second channel on Friday and Sunday, the third channel on Monday to Friday and Sunday, and the fourth channel on Saturday. Each channel will feature live commentary and analysis.