With only one split in the inaugural year of the VALORANT partnership era, everything will be on the line over those eight weeks of regular season play of VCT Americas since both Masters Tokyo and Champions 2023 qualification will be up for grabs.
The top six teams from the round-robin regular season will advance to a double-elimination playoff bracket, according to the VCT Americas 2023 format and schedule announcement. The top three teams from this bracket will “[earn] a slot at Masters Tokyo and VCT Champions [2023].” Following Masters Tokyo, there will be a Last Chance Qualifier for each region, where one team will earn a final slot at Champions.
By the numbers, there will be 12 teams in attendance at Masters Tokyo; three from each international league, an extra team from EMEA following Fnatic’s LOCK//IN victory, plus two invited teams from China. There are expected to be 16 teams in attendance at Champions 2023 in Los Angeles; three top teams from each VCT league, the winner of each of the three LCQs, plus four more.
VCT Americas will feature the 10 teams from North America, LATAM, and Brazil playing at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles. While most weeks will feature two matches on Saturday and Sunday, plus a match on Monday, however there is one superweek (five straight days with two matches each) where each team will play twice. Every team will play the other nine in the league in a single best-of-three, and it will all begin on Saturday, April 1 at 2pm CT when Sentinels take on 100 Thieves.
The VCT Americas regular season will run from April 1 to May 20, the playoffs will take place from May 23 to 28, and the Last Chance Qualifier will be held from July 15 to 23.
The official schedules for both VCT EMEA and Pacific have not been released yet.
