VALORANT’s VCT Explained – ProSettings.net

Introduction

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VCT (which stands for VALORANT Champions Tour) is the game’s official esports competition. It’s where the best players play, and it’s what everyone refers to when they talk about the ‘pro scene’. But the Champions Tour has a pretty confusing schedule, which runs through the whole year. If you’re new to the scene and need VCT explained, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got a quick guide on how VCT works, from the format to how teams qualify, what majors are, and more.

Note: The VCT Format changes slightly from season to season. However, the core structure of VCT remains the same; it’s mostly things like how many teams qualify for Champions or how the points are calculated for a team. Before a season starts, Riot Games usually releases a video explaining the format changes. 

Match Rules and Map Pick System

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Before we get into the competition format, let’s first quickly go through how matches work in VCT. The rules are almost identical to a normal competitive match.

The first team to get 13 rounds wins the map; however, if the score is tied on 12-12, the match enters overtime, where the teams have to win by two rounds to win the match. Most matches in VCT are best of threes (first team to win two maps wins the match) with key matches like in Major Finals being best of fives.

Before matches are played, there is the map pick and ban phase. This adds a strategic layer to matches, as teams have to anticipate which maps they want to avoid playing against certain opponents.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Explained

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To put it simply, Tier 1 consist of all the teams that compete with each other to become VCT champions. Tier 2 consists of all teams fighting to make their way into Tier 1. 

VALORANT has a franchising system (which means that a select group of partnered teams are decided and included upfront) so you’ll mostly see the same teams in the VCT circuit with little to no organic movement between the various tiers of competition. There are over 40 franchised T1 teams divided into four different regions.

What Does A VCT Season Look Like

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The VCT Season structure is quite straightforward. Here are the key events you need to look out for.

Note: VCT runs through most of the year, like a regular sports season. So, as a casual VCT watcher, you usually don’t watch all of the International Leagues. You generally watch your home league or the league where your favorite teams are. 

VCT International League Stages

Region-specific leagues where teams fight for a coveted spot in the Masters. There are a total of four regions: Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and CN, with each having its own tournament.

Americas includes South and North American teams, EMEA is Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Pacific includes the rest of Asia, and CN is China. 

There are multiple League Stages per year, and teams that finish high in the playoffs of those League Stages will advance to Masters.

VCT Masters

The second biggest event in VCT. The teams that qualify from the different regions fight here to win it at the big stage and take home a massive prize pool. A team’s performance in the Masters is important to be able to qualify for Champions. 

VCT Champions

This is the VCT event to watch. It’s the biggest event of the year, and winning it means you are the best in the world. It’s essentially a world championship for VALORANT.

Example Schedule

Let’s take a look at the VCT 2025 schedule to understand things better. Here is how the season went:

• VCT 2025: China Kickoff
• VCT 2025: Americas Kickoff
• VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff
• VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff
• VALORANT Masters Bangkok 2025
• VCT 2025: Americas Stage 1
• VCT 2025: China Stage 1
• VCT 2025: Pacific Stage 1
• VCT 2025: EMEA Stage 1
• VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025
• VCT 2025: China Stage 2
• VCT 2025: Pacific Stage 2
• VCT 2025: EMEA Stage 2
• VCT 2025: Americas Stage 2
• VALORANT Champions 2025

Tier 2 and Ascension

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Tier 2 is basically filled with teams trying to get into Tier 1. It has over 20 leagues with hundreds of teams competing to make their way into their League’s Ascension Tournament. The Ascension Tournament pits the best teams across all regions against each other, where they fight to get a chance to compete in Tier 1.

All Tier 1 Leagues have an open Ascension Qualifier spot; this is reserved for Tier 2 teams that make their way through the Ascension Tournament into Tier 1. Ascension always starts just after the previous VCT season to allow teams to qualify for next season.

How to Watch VCT

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For new watchers, we’d recommend getting started by watching your home region. This will help you find the team that you want to support, and matches are played at convenient times for your timezone.

You can also just skip the ILs and just watch the Playoffs for the Masters/Champions event. Of course, Masters and Champions are must-watches, as they are the peak of VALORANT esports.

All the matches are livestreamed on the VALORANT Champions Tour YouTube Channel. You will also find videos explaining the format for every event, as well as all VODs of previous matches. 

Similarly, all the regions also have their dedicated YouTube channels. 

Conclusion

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VCT is a big part of VALORANT, and the developers have connected the esports with the game very well. Every year when the VCT starts, there is a new song released, as well as a skin bundle. Teams also have their own Classic skins, and the revenue for that is split with that team. So, if you want to support a team, that’s the way to do it.

VCT can feel daunting with the sheer amount of matches and all the different leagues. But you can start by watching the Masters, then slowly get into the International Leagues if you’re interested. You don’t need to watch all the matches across the various leagues.