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The Valorant Champions Tour is Riot Games' global competitive system for professional Valorant. Restructured in 2023 to a fully franchised model, it runs three regional leagues, two international Masters events, and one year-end Champions tournament. Here's how the entire system fits together.
The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) launched in 2021 as an open-circuit ladder system, but underwent a major structural overhaul in 2023 when Riot introduced permanent franchise partnerships. Today, the VCT operates as three elite regional leagues — Americas, EMEA, and Pacific — each populated by 10 invited partner organizations.
The top teams from each regional league qualify for global events: two Masters tournaments held mid-year and one Champions tournament at the end of the year. Champions is VCT's equivalent of a world championship, awarding the season's definitive title to the last team standing.
Each region runs two league splits per year, each split producing a champion and qualifying spots for the next international event. Matches are played weekly in a double round-robin format within the league.
VCT Americas covers North America and Latin America (Brazil/LATAM) in a single unified league. The region has historically been strong in dueling and aggressive play styles, with teams like Sentinels and LOUD producing some of VCT's most memorable performances.
Notable teams: Sentinels, NRG Esports, LOUD, 100 Thieves, Cloud9
VCT EMEA brings together European and Middle Eastern powerhouses. The region is known for disciplined, structured play and strong IGL depth. EMEA has consistently sent multiple teams to international events and has produced multiple VCT Champions winners.
Notable teams: Team Heretics, Fnatic, G2 Esports, BBL Esports, Natus Vincere
VCT Pacific covers South Korea, Japan, South-East Asia and South Asia. The region is known for aggressive, high-variance playstyles — particularly Paper Rex, who have become internationally iconic for their chaotic-but-effective approach. Korean teams like DRX and T1 bring disciplined fundamentals.
Notable teams: Paper Rex, DRX, T1, Global Esports, Zeta Division
Two Masters events are held each year — Masters 1 in spring and Masters 2 in summer. Each event brings together the top teams from all three regional leagues, typically 12 teams total (4 per region). Masters events are held internationally in rotating host cities, delivering a live crowd experience.
The format at Masters is a double-elimination group stage followed by a single-elimination playoff bracket, all played best-of-three except the Grand Final (best-of-five). Each Masters event carries a prize pool of approximately $500,000 USD.
VCT Champions is the pinnacle event of the competitive Valorant calendar. Held each autumn, it features 16 teams from across all three regions plus Last Chance Qualifier winners. The team that lifts the Champions trophy earns the right to be called world champions until the following year.
Champions uses a double-elimination group stage (best-of-three) and single-elimination playoffs (best-of-three, with the Grand Final best-of-five). Prize pool is approximately $2.25 million USD.
Qualification for Masters and Champions is determined by circuit points accumulated across the two regional league splits. Teams earn points for every match win and for placement in each split's playoff bracket. A year-end circuit point total determines which teams qualify for Champions directly and which must attend the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).
The Last Chance Qualifier is a final international tournament held just before Champions. One team per region (three total) earns a Champions spot through the LCQ, giving teams that narrowly missed direct qualification a final shot at the world stage.
Regional spot allocation at international events is weighted to reflect each region's competitive strength, with historically strong regions receiving additional slots.
Follow live Valorant rankings, match results, and team standings at esport.is/valorant/rankings.
* Prize pool structures are set by Riot Games and may vary. Figures reflect approximate 2025–2026 event values.
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The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) is Riot Games' official global competitive circuit for Valorant. Launched in 2021 and restructured in 2023 into franchised regional leagues, it is the highest level of professional Valorant play and culminates each year at the Champions tournament.
Teams qualify for international events through performance in their regional VCT league. The top finishers in VCT Americas, VCT EMEA, and VCT Pacific earn spots at Masters. Champions slots are distributed across regions based on league standings and Masters results throughout the year.
Each of the three VCT franchised leagues (Americas, EMEA, Pacific) fields 10 partner teams. These are organizations that hold permanent partnership agreements with Riot Games. There is no promotion/relegation; instead, underperforming partner teams may be replaced by Riot at the end of a franchise cycle.
VCT Champions features a prize pool of approximately $2.25 million USD. Masters prize pools are typically $500,000 per event. Regional league prize pools vary but each split distributes meaningful prize money to encourage competitive play throughout the regular season.