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VALORANT Champions 2021 in Berlin: Everything you need to know

VALORANT Champions 2021 is kicking off on Wednesday (1 December)!

The tournament is the crowning event of the 2021 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) and will see 16 of the best teams from all around the world duking it out from 1 to 12 December in Berlin, Germany for the right to be crowned as the first-ever VALORANT world champions.

Here's everything you need to know about VALORANT Champions:

Prize Pool

VALORANT Champions features a total prize pool of US$1 million, with the champions taking the lion's share of US$350,000. All teams in the event are guaranteed to take home at least US$20,000 while eight squads that qualify for the playoffs will secure themselves at least US$40,000.

Here's the full breakdown of the prize pool:

1st: US$350,000

2nd: US$150,000

3rd-4th: US$90,000

5th-8th: US$40,000

9th-12th: US$20,000

13th-16th: US$20,000

Teams

VALORANT Champions 2021 features 16 of the best teams from all across the world. (Photo: VALORANT Champions Tour/Riot Games)
VALORANT Champions 2021 features 16 of the best teams from all across the world. (Photo: VALORANT Champions Tour/Riot Games)

VALORANT Champions features 16 of the best teams from across the VCT, with 12 teams getting direct invites to the tournament based on the amount of circuit points they amassed during the regular season while the remaining four teams earned their spot in the event through the last chance qualifiers.

Russia's Gambit Esports notably earned their direct invite to VALORANT Champions after they claimed the championship of VCT Masters Berlin in September.

Meanwhile, the rest of the direct invites were distributed between seven of the top regions in the VCT. North America (NA); Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); Southeast Asia (SEA); and Brazil each received two direct invites while Latin America (LATAM), South Korea, and Japan each received one.

Finally, the four teams from the last chance qualifiers hailed from NA, EMEA, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and South America (SA).

Here's the full list of teams at VALORANT Champions:

  • Gambit Esports (Masters Berlin champions)

  • Sentinels (NA circuit points)

  • Team Envy (NA circuit points)

  • Acend (EMEA circuit points)

  • Fnatic (EMEA circuit points)

  • X10 CRIT (SEA circuit points)

  • Team Secret (SEA circuit points)

  • Team Vikings (Brazil circuit points)

  • Keyd Stars (Brazil circuit points)

  • KRÜ Esports (LATAM circuit points)

  • Vision Strikers (South Korea circuit points)

  • Crazy Raccoon (Japan circuit points)

  • Cloud9 Blue (NA qualifier)

  • Team Liquid (EMEA qualifier)

  • FURIA Esports (SA qualifier)

  • FULL SENSE (APAC qualifier)

Format

VALORANT Champions is split into two phases, starting with the Group Stage from 1 to 8 December followed by the Playoffs from 9 to 12 December.

Group Stage

The Group Stage will see the 16 participating teams split into four groups of four teams each, where they will compete in a double-elimination format with best-of-three matches to decide which eight teams will advance to the Playoffs.

Competition in each group will begin with the teams being paired off into preliminary matches. The winners of the preliminary matches will advance to winner's match while the losers will be duking it out in the first elimination match.

The loser of the first elimination match will exit the tournament in 13th-16th place while the winner will advance to the decider match. Meanwhile, the winner of the winner's match will take the top seed of the group and qualify for the Playoffs while the loser will have to play in the decider match.

The winner of the decider match will then qualify for the Playoffs as the second seed of their group while the loser will exit the tournament in 9th-12th place.

Here are the groupings for the Group Stage:

Group A: Acend, Team Envy, X10 CRIT, Keyd Stars

Group B: Sentinels, KRÜ Esports, Team Liquid, FURIA Esports

Group C: Gambit Esports, Team Secret, Team Vikings, Crazy Raccoon

Group D: Vision Strikers, Fnatic, FULL SENSE, Cloud9 Blue

Playoffs

The eight teams that qualify for the Playoffs will compete in a single-elimination bracket with all matches being a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a best-of-five series.

Here's the schedule for VALORANT Champions:

The schedule for the VALORANT Champions 2021 Group Stage and Playoffs. (Photo: VALORANT Champions Tour/Riot Games)
The schedule for the VALORANT Champions 2021 Group Stage and Playoffs. (Photo: VALORANT Champions Tour/Riot Games)

How to Watch

VALORANT Champions will be streamed live on the official VALORANT Twitch and YouTube channels in English. Separate broadcasts are also available for fans from Russia, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan.

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