May 22, 2023
After 8 weeks of the regular season, we can now confirm that your 6 VCT EMEA Playoff teams will be Fnatic, Natus Vincere (NAVI), Team Liquid, Giants, FUT Esports, and Team Vitality! Fnatic had a flawless regular season, and look to be the team to beat coming into the playoffs at the very top of the table. NAVI finished a close second, and definitely won’t make it easy for Fnatic heading into the final week of competition. Meanwhile, Team Liquid, Giants, FUT Esports, and Team Vitality all come in as underdogs, having had seasons filled with ups and downs, but the potential for an upset can never be written off.
VCT EMEA 2023 Playoffs: Dates & format
The VCT EMEA 2023 Playoffs kick off on May 23 and conclude on May 28. With 6 days of action, the playoffs will feature a double-elimination format, with the top 2 teams receiving a bye to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, and the remaining 4 teams starting their playoff journey in the Opening Round. The 2 losing teams from the Opening Round will drop into the Lower Bracket Round 1, where defeat will result in elimination. The winning teams will face the top 2 regular season teams in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, with the winners going to the Upper Bracket Final. The losing teams will drop to the Lower Bracket Round 1, and will have to fight through to the Lower Bracket Final to have a chance of making the Grand Finals on Sunday!
The schedule will be as follows (all games are best-of-three unless specified):
Tuesday May 23
- 5:00 PM CEST - Opening Round
- 8:00 PM CEST* - Opening Round #2
Wednesday May 24
- 5:00 PM CEST - Upper Bracket Semifinal #1
- 8:00 PM CEST* - Upper Bracket Semifinal #2
Thursday May 25
- 5:00 PM CEST - Lower Bracket Round 1 #1
- 8:00 PM CEST* - Lower Bracket Round 2 #2
Friday May 26
- 5:00 PM CEST - Upper Bracket Final
- 8:00 PM CEST* - Lower Bracket Round 2
Saturday May 27
- 5:00 PM CEST - Lower Bracket Final (Best-of-five)
Sunday May 28
- 5:00 PM CEST - Grand Final (Best-of-five)
*Games at this time may start later depending on the length of the previous match
VCT EMEA 2023 Playoffs: Masters & Champions Qualification
The playoffs are the sole determining factor of who will qualify for Masters Tokyo this year. Thanks to Fnatic’s win at LOCK//IN at the start of March, the EMEA region will have 4 representatives at the global event instead of 3. These will be the 4 teams remaining when the Upper and Lower Bracket Finals of playoffs are set.
From here, the top 3 teams from EMEA at Masters will automatically qualify for Champions 2023 in Los Angeles, while the 4th team will participate in the Last Chance Qualifier against the other 6 teams from EMEA for the final spot!
VCT EMEA 2023 Playoffs: How to Watch
We’re happy to reveal that the VCT EMEA Playoffs will be available to watch in 14 languages - English, Spanish, Turkish, French, German, Arabic, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, and Ukrainian. These are all available to access via valorantesports.com/live.
More information on watch parties will be announced in due course, but you can expect your favorite EMEA streamers to be involved across at least 15 different languages!
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