The next stage of the VALORANT Champions Tour in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will follow a similar trend to VCT Masters Two but with some notable changes, Riot revealed today.
Beginning on Monday, June 28, up to 512 teams representing Europe, Turkey, and the CIS will play in the open and closed qualifiers. The first leg of the tournament—the open qualifiers—will be single elimination, while the second leg—the closed qualifiers—will be double-elimination.
The top eight teams from the open qualifiers will advance to the closed qualifiers, where they’ll face off against eight invited teams. The top eight teams from the closed qualifiers will then qualify for the first main event on July 2.
Invitations for the closed qualifier will be based on a “combination of factors,” according to Riot, including performance from the previous stages of VCT EMEA.
In the first of two main events, each of the three territories—Europe, Turkey, and the CIS—will compete in a separate double-elimination tournament. The top four teams from Europe and the top two teams from Turkey and the CIS will advance to the EMEA Challengers playoffs on Aug. 12.
The bottom four teams from Europe, however, and the teams that placed third through sixth in Turkey and the CIS will proceed to the second main event on July 28. The seventh and eighth place teams in Turkey and the CIS will also secure a spot in the second closed qualifier.
In a similar fashion to the first qualifier, the second qualifier will also be split into two parts. The top eight teams that haven’t already qualified for the playoffs will be invited to the closed qualifier, while up to 512 teams will have another shot at securing the remaining eight spots in the open qualifiers. The top four teams from each territory will advance to the second main event.
In the second main event, eight teams will fight for a slot in the EMEA Challengers playoffs. The top two teams from Europe and the top team from Turkey and the CIS will take up the final slots.
The EMEA Challengers playoffs, which kick off on Aug. 12, will see 12 of the best teams across EMEA compete against each other, including six teams from Europe, three from Turkey, and three from the CIS. This double-elimination event will be held online.
The top four teams from the playoffs will qualify for VCT Masters Berlin in September, where they’ll compete for money, circuit points, glory, and pride.
Here’s the full schedule for VCT EMEA Stage Three.
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