Diving Into the 2024 VALORANT Competitive Season: Global Leagues and Events
The 2024 season of VALORANT Esports is almost here, and with it come new changes, new teams, and new formats! Let's have a closer look at what's in store as the Road to Champions kicks off!
Meet the Competitors!
With the addition of promoted teams from 2023, each International League will put forth 11 teams that will be in contention for the title VALORANT World Champion! The VCT will also expand with the debut of VCT CN as the 4th league. Teams will compete through the Kickoff Tournament, 2 Stages of IL competition, and 2 international Masters tournaments to qualify for Champions 2024.
The Kickoff Tournament: A Great Starting Point
The Kickoff Tournament will begin in February, qualifying 2 teams per league for Masters Madrid. We loved starting last season by establishing the best team in the world, and the combination of Kickoff and Masters will create clear front runners regionally and internationally.
International League Start Dates:
- February 16 - VCT Americas
- February 17 - VCT Pacific
- February 20 - VCT EMEA
- February 22 - VCT CN
Kickoff Format:
- Group Stage:
- Eleven teams will be seeded and split into 3 groups
- 2 groups will feature 4 teams and 1 group will feature 3 teams
- The region’s top team, the highest placing team at Champions 2023, will be placed in the group of 3 with a bye to the second round
- The remaining 10 teams will be sorted into pools based on 2023 performance and drawn into the remaining 10 slots
- Each group will feature a double elimination bracket with Best-of-3 matches
- The winning team of each group will move onto the Playoff Stage
- The second-place team of each group will head to the Play-In stage
- Eleven teams will be seeded and split into 3 groups
- Play-In Stage:
- The 3 second-place teams face off in a round-robin format, with 1 team earning a spot in the Playoff Stage
- Playoff Stage:
- 4 teams compete through a single elimination bracket, with the 2 finalist teams securing their place for Masters Madrid
- The team coming from the Play-In stage will be placed on the opposite side of the bracket from the team from their original Group
- Kickoff winner will receive preferential seeding at Masters Madrid and 3 Championship points towards their qualification to Champions
Season Format: The Climb to Champions
Following Masters Madrid, Stage 1 will run from April to early May, opening up the floor for the top 3 teams from each league to qualify for the next global event, Masters Shanghai.
Stage 2 will begin immediately after Masters Shanghai and qualify 4 teams from each region for VALORANT Champions! The winner of the Season Playoffs will be crowned the IL Champion and earn the #1 seed for their region at Champions. At the end of this stage, 3 teams will earn Champions qualifications by finishing in the top 3 of the Stage 2 Playoffs, while the 4th team will earn their spot through Championship Points!
In 2024, Championship Points will be our method to measure teams’ performance throughout the season and recognize season long consistency through Champions Qualification. Here's how it works:
- Winning your regional Kickoff, Masters Madrid, Masters Shanghai, Stage 1 Playoffs, and Stage 2 Playoffs will earn a team 3 points
- Each match win during Stage 1 & 2 earns a team 1 point
- 10 regular season matches per team across Stage 1 & 2
- The first and second seed in each Stage Playoffs will receive a bye to the second round of competition and earn an extra point since those two teams will have access to one less match
With new teams on the block, a revamped competitive structure, and new updates to VALORANT, the stage is set for the most exciting season to date!
