After Fnatic was established as one of the world’s best teams and Team Liquid proved the importance of stepping up at just the right moment, one additional team is ready to join in on the competition in VCT EMEA, and it all starts with the 2024 Kickoff tournament.
Each of the four VCT regions will begin with their own Kickoff tournaments to start the 2024 VALORANT season, following a double-elimination bracket to decide the two teams from each region that will play at Masters Madrid. Since there is no rotational regional play this year before Masters, every match is hugely important right from the beginning, with each potentially setting the tone for the entire season to follow.
The VCT’s new point system for 2024 gives the league a fresh look, alongside the new Chinese region and an additional partnered team slot in the three regions from last year. Since there is an uneven number of teams, the highest-placing team from the 2023 season gets a bye in the first round of the Kickoff tournament.
In the EMEA region, the team with the best finish last season was Fnatic due to their performance at Champions 2023, even though Team Liquid won the EMEA Championship.
VCT EMEA Kickoff bracket and format
The VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament will run from Feb. 20 to March 1 in Berlin. The tournament has three stages. First is groups, where the 11 EMEA teams have been divided into three in a double-elimination bracket as follows:
- Group A: FUT Esports, Team Heretics, GiantX, Karmine Corp
- Group B: NAVI, BBL Esports, Team Liquid, KOI
- Group C: Team Vitality, Gentle Mates, Fnatic (bye)
After the group stage, the second-place team from each group will move to the Play-ins. The final stage is the Playoffs, which include the semifinals and the grand finals match. The top two teams from the region will both represent EMEA at Masters Madrid.
VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament schedule and matches
Group Stage
Tuesday, February 20
- 10am CT: Team Heretics vs FUT Esports
- 1pm CT: Karmine Corp vs GiantX
Wednesday, February 21
- 7am CT: BBL Esports vs NAVI
- 10am CT: KOI vs Team Liquid
- 1pm CT: Gentle Mates vs Team Vitality
Thursday, February 22
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
- 1pm CT: TBD vs TBD
Friday, February 23
- 7am CT: TBD vs TBD
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
- 1pm CT: Fnatic vs TBD
Play-ins
Sunday, February 25
- 7am CT: Group A runner-up vs Group B runner-up
- 10am CT: Group B runner-up vs Group C runner-up
- 1pm CT: Group A runner-up vs Group C runner-up
Semifinals
Thursday, February 29
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
- 1pm CT: TBD vs TBD
Grand Final
Friday, March 1
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
