VCT 2024 Season Preview

With some trailing tournaments at the end of 2023, it is time to look at the excitement in store for Valorant fans with our VCT 2024 season preview. The Valorant Champions Tour 2024 hosts several international tournaments as well as a range of Tier 2 events. For Valorant betting fans, this will be a key page to save to your browser so that you do not miss the events when they go live. There are so many things happening for Valorant next year, let’s break it down!

What is the Valorant Champions Tours?

The Valorant Champions Tour (commonly referred to as VCT) is the global esports tournament series for Riot Games’ FPS title VALORANT. It is managed by Riot Games and their official partners and goes on all calendar year. They often make adjustments and improvements to the format before moving into the next edition of VCT.

The VCT has a series of partnered teams who are core members of franchised league. Those partnered teams are playing at the Champions level, the highest tier of play across VCT. Those teams will take part in the International Leagues, the Masters events and the respective World Championships.

There are also Challengers and Premier events which are for the lower tiers of play. Teams in Challengers have the opportunity to ‘ascend’ to the Champions tier. And the brand new Premier level is a new format which is accessible from directly in the game itself.

VCT 2024 Calendar

The image above shows what the full calendar of esports events look like for Valorant in 2024. This includes all of the International events as part of the Valorant Champions Tour. It also includes Valorant Challengers and Premier events. Also, do not forget the Valorant Game Changers Championship events. These are hosted by Riot Games and act as a secondary tournament circuit for marginalised genders.

In this article we will be going through in finer detail what each of these sections mean and what you can expect from the action unfolding in 2024 for Valorant esports. Crucially, for betting fans we will also be letting you know how you can get involved in betting on VCT 2024.

Partnered Teams in VCT 2024

In 2024 there will be a total of four regions which will have their own collection of partnered teams. This will be across Americas, EMEA, Pacific and the brand new China international league. Teams are currently confirmed for all teams except China.

Americas

• 100 Thieves
• Cloud9
• Evil Geniuses
• FURIA Esports
• KRÜ Esports
• Leviatán
• LOUD
• MIBR
• NRG
• Sentinels
• G2 Esports (Ascended)

All of these teams except for G2 Esports started in VCT as a partnered team during 2023. G2 have ascended from the Challengers to qualify into the top International League for a minimum of 2 years. This region is host to some exceptional teams. This includes Evil Geniuses who won VCT Champions 2023 as well as LOUD who came third.

EMEA

• BBL Esports
• Fnatic
• FUT Esports
• Giants
• Karmine Corp
• KOI
• Natus Vincere
• Team Heretics
• Team Liquid
• Team Vitality
• Gentle Mates (Ascended)

Gentle Mates are the team who qualified into the EMEA International League. They will have a minimum of 2 years at this level to prove themselves. The EMEA group of partnered teams has the highly performing Fnatic who got top 4 at this years world championships as well as winning the Tokyo Masters 2023. Of course, there are definitely team shuffles to watch out for. This includes Team Heretics who almost have a brand new team moving into VCT 2024.

Pacific

• DetonatioN FocusMe
• DRX
• Gen.G Esports
• Global Esports
• Paper Rex
• Rex Regum Qeon
• T1
• Talon Esports
• Team Secret
• ZETA DIVISION
• Bleed Esports (Ascended)

The ring leaders of this group of teams is certainly Paper Rex who secured 2nd place at VCT Champions 2023. A noteworthy mention to DRX too who secured top 6. The Challenger team here is Bleed Esports who managed to overcome all the hurdles necessary to make it to the top division of play in 2024.

China

Valorant has only just launched in China, as of July 12 2023. So, of course, we have not immediately identified the top teams for the game. It’s possible that it will be securing some games from the title Cross Fire. However, there is a lot of action to take place to verify which teams will secure the partner spots for VCT 2024. That being said, they will definitely have representation at the Masters events since it will be top 2 of each region making it to that tournament.

Kick-Off and International Leagues for VCT 2024

VCT in 2024 is going to start with the Kick-Off event. This will be a 2 week tournament where each partnered team in their respective region will play in a double elimination format.

Since there are 4 regions of partnered teams, the top 2 in each of those regions will qualify for the first Masters event of the year which will take place in Madrid, Spain.

The video below talks in a bit more detail about how all of this works.

How do the VCT International Leagues work in 2024?

There are two stages of International Leagues (ILs). For the first IL stage teams will be competing in their region to qualify to the 2nd global event, based in Shanghai.

After the Shanghai event, teams will continue to the second IL stage. This is the last phase before the VCT Champions event. It is also the last opportunity for teams to collect championship points to help them qualify to the biggest event of the year.

What are championship points?

Championship points are earned by winning matches throughout the 2024 VCT season. Points for winning increase with each subsequent event through the year, so consistency becomes highly rewarded. For example, qualification to global events will be based on recent performance as well as championship points.

Madrid 2024 – VCT Masters

The first global event of the year will be held in Madrid, Spain. 8 teams in total will qualify for this event from the 4 regions of partnered teams. This looks as if it will be another opportunity for teams to secure championship points to help them reach the Champions event in August 2024.

This is the first major event before moving into the first stage of International League season play. The Tokyo Masters event in 2023 had a $1,000,000 USD prize pool. Teams will be hoping to be playing for at least that amount of cash in 2024.

Shanghai 2024 – VCT Masters

This is the second global event of 2024. For the first time ever for Valorant, a major event will be hosted in China. The city selected is Shanghai and it will celebrate China’s addition as a partnered region. There is a lot of anticipation surrounding this event as Riot Games hopes that they can penetrate the Chinese gaming market.

Teams will continue to accumulate championship points from attending this event. 12 teams in total will qualify to play in Shanghai based on the performance from the first stage of the International League.

VCT Champions 2024

After the second stage of International League there will be the final event of the year for partnered teams. This takes place in August and will have a total of 16 teams attending. The prize pool for this event in 2023 was $2,250,000 USD. Expectations will be for the prize pool to at least match this level.

Fans will be wondering whether the globally recognised esports team Evil Geniuses will be able to take the crown again. Or will there be another team who can challenge them? In 2023 there were teams from the 3 different partnered regions in the top 4 of the final LAN of the year. Can we get the same type of diversity this time with the inclusion of China?

Valorant Challengers

This is the 2nd division of play during the 2024 VCT season. Teams are competing in each partnered region to have a chance at qualifying to the professional level. In 2023 the 3 teams that ‘ascended’ were G2 Esports, Bleed Esports and Gentle Mates.

There will be 2 splits in the first part of the year which will gauge how teams are performing. During this period there will be more flexibility between partnered teams and Challenger teams to swap players. The Challengers Ascension tournament will take place after VCT Champions 2024. This will cast a bigger spotlight on the 2nd division of play in Valorant esports.

From October is when the 2025 season will technically begin and where teams will have another shot at making it to the international level!

Valorant Esports – Premier

This is a totally new part of VCT 2024. Riot Games have announced that they will have an in-game tournament/league system that you can register to. You are meant to be able to create your own team and participate easily in the structured

tournaments. Depending on the level you get to in Premier, you will have the chance to rise the ranks and make it to the Challenger stage. For a lot of aspiring professional players, this is the first step to getting yourself noticed. It’s to be seen how successful this will be for Riot, but it is a feature that would be heavily in demand in other esports titles such as CS2 and Dota 2.

Valorant Game Changers Championship 2024

The Game Changers Championship has been created by Riot Games to make Valorant esports more accessible to under-represented genders. Top women’s squads will be qualifying through a range of regional events to make it to this global Valorant tournament.

This event takes place towards the end of the calendar year and is a really special time in esports where we can celebrate under-represented talent. Esports would be more exciting if it were representing a more diverse community of players. Particularly in Valorant where it is so popular among all genders.

How do you bet on VCT 2024 matches?

Valorant betting is on the rise. Bookmakers are reporting that it is becoming more and more popular for their customers. As esports betting sites continue to ramp up their offering for Valorant, it is beginning to spread to more traditional bookmakers as well. And due to the data that is now available to sites for matches, more and more different betting markets are being created. This is making the live-betting options very interesting for bettors.

If you want to bet on VCT 2024, the first thing you need to do is wait for the match fixtures to be confirmed. Once match-ups and dates are locked in, you will start to see bookmakers put up their odds. From there you can start to place your bets. Make sure you have selected the right betting site to bet with. The more esports-focused ones are more likely to have sophisticated market options. And those that really celebrate Valorant esports may even have bespoke welcome bonuses to offer to new customers.

FAQ for Valorant Championship Tour 2024 Betting