VCT Champions 2023: Schedule, Format, Teams

August 29, 2023

Updated on: August 29

Mark your calendars as Valorant Champions 2023 will kick off on August 6 as the best Valorant teams from across the globe jet off to Los Angeles to conclude the Valorant Champions Tour with a bang! All the teams have worked hard for this moment, having qualified through the VCT international leagues and Last Chance Qualifiers.

The sixteen competing teams will battle for a slice of the $2.25 million prize purse and the title of world champion, in the exciting culmination of the professional 2023 professional Valorant circuit. Hundreds of fans are expected to flock to the event's two venues: the iconic Shrine Auditorium and Kia Forum, as the first international Valorant event hosted on North American soil.

With the lion's share of the prize pool at $1 million awarded to the winning team, who will emerge victorious at the Valorant Champions 2023? Keep reading to find out more!

Valorant Champions 2023: Format

Valorant Champions 2023

Valorant Champions 2023 will kick off with a bang on August 6 until August 26. The event is in Los Angeles, with the earlier stages at the Shrine Auditorium. The latter stages will be at the Kia Forum.

Group Stage (August 6-13)

  • 16 teams split into four groups of four teams in a double-elimination format
  • All matches are best-of-three
  • Top two teams from each group, eight in total, advance to the Playoffs stage.
Add some Rivalry spice to your VCT Champions games!

Playoffs (August 16-26)

  • Eight teams compete in a double-elimination bracket
  • Teams from the same group are placed in opposite sides of the bracket
  • All matches are best-of-three, excluding the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final, which are best-of-five.

Valorant Champions 2023: Qualified Teams

VCT champions 2023: Qualified teams

Twelve of the sixteen slots for VCT Champions came from the three international leagues for Valorant Champions Tour: EMEA, Americas, and Pacific. Each region also hosted a Last Chance Qualifier to determine the final teams qualified. Unfortunately, no Challengers leagues get a look in at VCT Champions, but maybe in the future!

Several strong Chinese teams competed in the Champions CN Qualifiers to decide the three top teams to represent their region at Valorant Champions. The final slot to complete the sixteen Valorant teams was awarded to EMEA as the winning region for VCT Masters Tokyo.

Here are all the teams competing in Valorant Champions 2023 and their confirmed player rosters by in-game IDs.

Americas

VCT Champions 2023: LOUD

The VCT Americas league hosts some of the best Valorant teams in the game! LOUD came second in the VCT LOCK//IN event and won the overall VCT Americas league, beating NRG to the punch with a decisive 3-0 victory.

KRÜ Esports rightfully earned their place as the fourth slot for Americas through the LCQ for the region, triumphing over Leviatán and Cloud9.

  • LOUD: aspas, Less, Saadhak, tuyz, cauanzin
  • Evil Geniuses: Boostio, Ethan, jawgemo, C0M, Demon1
  • NRG: s0m, FMS, crashies, Victor, ardiis
  • KRÜ Esports: Klaus, NagZ, Daveeys, Melser, keznit

EMEA

VCT Champions 2023: Fnatic

EMEA has established itself as the strongest international league in Valorant Champions Tour 2023 after they earned a fifth slot thanks to Fnatic's victory at VCT Masters Tokyo. This brought Natus Vincere into the fold as the runners-up in the EMEA last-chance qualifier after Giants.

  • Fnatic: Boaster, Derke, Alfajer, Leo, Chronicle
  • Team Liquid: soulcas, Jamppi, Redgar, nAts, Sayf
  • FUT Esports: mojj, qRaxs, qw1, MrFaliN, ATA KAPTAN
  • Giants: Fit1nho, hoody, nukkye, rhyme, Cloud
  • Natus Vincere: ANGE1, Shao, Zyppan, SUYGETSU, cNed

Pacific

VCT Champions 2023: Paper Rex

The VCT Pacific league marks Riot Games' drive to strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific and establish Valorant as a top esports title in the region. After a long regular season, Paper Rex, DRX, and T1 established themselves as the top dogs, earning their slots in Valorant Champions 2023.

ZETA Division fought tooth and nail in the Pacific Last Chance Qualifier, beating Team Secret and Gen.G to the punch.

  • Paper Rex: mindfreak, f0rsakeN, d4v41, Jinggg, something
  • DRX: stax, Rb, BuZz, MaKo, Foxy9
  • T1: xeta, Muchkin, ban, Sayaplayer, Carpe
  • ZETA DIVISION: Laz, crow, Dep, SugarZ3ro, TENNN

China

VCT champions 2023: EDward Gaming

The Chinese teams competed in the Champions China Qualifiers to find the top three squads representing their region at Valorant Champions 2023. They will compete against the other established teams from international leagues, Pacific, Americas, and EMEA.

  • EDward Gaming: Haodong, CHICHOO, nobody, ZmjjKK, Smoggy
  • Bilibili Gaming: Blank, whzy, rin, Kinight, yosemite
  • FunPlus Phoenix: AAAAY, BerLIN, Yuicaw, TZH, Lysoar

Valorant Champions 2023: Playoffs Schedule

Here is the schedule for the VCT Champions Playoffs. All times listed will be in PT, and match winners will be in bold.

Upperbracket Quarter Finals (Day 1 - August 16)

  • 12:00 PM - Fnatic v LOUD
  • 3:00 PM - Paper Rex v FUT Esports

Upperbracket Quarter Finals (Day 2 - August 17)

  • 12:00 PM - DRX v Bilibili Gaming
  • 3:00 PM - EDward Gaming v Evil Geniuses

Upperbracket Semifinals - (August 19)

  • 4:00 AM - LOUD v Paper Rex
  • 7:00 AM - DRX v Evil Geniuses

Lower Bracket Round 1 (August 18)

  • 4:00 AM - Fnatic v FUT Esports
  • 7:00 AM - Bilibili Gaming v EDward Gaming

Lower Bracket Quarterfinals (August 20)

  • 4:10 AM - LOUD v EDward Gaming
  • 7:25 AM - DRX v Fnatic

Upper Bracket Final (August 24)

  • 4:00 AM - Paper Rex v Evil Geniuses

Lower Bracket Semifinal (August 24)

  • 7:00 AM - LOUD v Fnatic

Lower Bracket Final (August 25)

  • 12:00 PM - Evil Geniuses v LOUD

Grand Final (August 26)

  • 12:00 PM - Paper Rex v Evil Geniuses

Valorant Champions 2023: Groups

Before we dive into the exact schedule for the Group Stages and beyond, let's look at how the groups are divided.

  • Group A: Paper Rex, EDward Gaming, Giants, KRÜ Esports
  • Group B: FUT Esports, Evil Geniuses, FUT Esports, T1
  • Group C: Fnatic, ZETA DIVISION, NRG, Bilibili Gaming
  • Group D: Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, DRX, LOUD

Valorant Champions 2023: Group Stage Schedule

VCT Champions 2023

Valorant Champions 2023 will kick off on August 6 with the opening matches for Group D, with fan-favorites Team Liquid and LOUD Taking to the stage first.

Below you will find the schedule for the Group Stage. All times listed will be in PT, and match winners will be in bold. We will update this article with future matches when more information is available.

Group D

August 6 - Opening Matches

  • 12:00 PM - Natus Vincere v Team Liquid
  • 3:00 PM - LOUD v DRX

August 7 - Winners Match

  • 6:00 PM - Natus Vincere v DRX

August 9 - Elimination Match

  • 8:00 PM - LOUD v Team Liquid

August 12 - Decider Match

  • 12:10 PM - LOUD v Natus Vincere

Group B

August 7 - Opening Matches

  • 12:00 PM - T1 v FUT Esports
  • 3:00 PM - Evil Geniuses v FunPlus Phoenix

August 9 - Winners Match

  • 4:45 AM - FUT Esports v Evil Geniuses

August 11 - Elimination Match

  • 2:30 PM - T1 v FunPlus Phoenix

August 13 - Decider Match

  • 4:00 PM - T1 v FUT Esports

VCT Champions 2023

Group C

August 8 - Opening Matches

  • 12:00 PM - NRG v Bilibili Gaming
  • 3:00 PM - ZETA DIVISION v Fnatic

August 10 - Winners Match

  • 6:10 PM - Fnatic v Billibili Gaming

August 12 - Elimination Match

  • 2:50 PM - ZETA DIVISION v NRG

August 13 - Decider Match

  • 2:15 PM - NRG v Billibili Gaming

Group A

August 9 - Opening Matches

  • 12:00 PM - Paper Rex v KRÜ Esports
  • 3:00 PM - EDward Gaming v Giants

August 11 - Winners Match

  • 4:50 AM - Paper Rex v EDward Gaming

August 12 - Elimination Match

  • 12:10 PM - KRÜ Esports v Giants

August 13 - Decider Match

  • 12:10 PM - Giants v EDward Gaming

Valorant Champions 2023: Streams and Where to watch

All Valorant Champions matches will be hosted on the official VALORANT channels on Twitch and YouTube for those who want to catch the action live as it happens. We have embedded the VALORANT Champions Tour YouTube channel below for reader convenience.

Final Thoughts

That was our overview for the 2023 VCT Champions, held in Los Angeles! We will update this article regularly with all match results, schedules, and the current standings. Check out our VCT 2023 predictions to see if we've hit the nail on the head!

Want more Valorant content? We can hook you up with guides to Valorant slangNight Market infopro-Valorant player gear and settings, and more on our blog page!