The VCT Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) is the final opportunity for the remaining teams in all regions to carve out a spot for themselves at Champions. They’ll each have two chances to show off their skills on an official broadcast before all eyes turn to Sentinels and Gambit.
Teams have had time to prepare new strategies — or bring on new players —to make the most of this tournament. Squads from all over the world, including 100 Thieves, Team Liquid and Paper Rex, will be lacing up for a double elimination event where two losses mean an end to a year, not just the tournament. Only one team from each of the four regions will be able to continue into the final stage.
Two chances in each Last Chance Qualifier
Upcomer will be doing live written coverage of the VCT Last Chance Qualifier, including player interviews throughout the tournament.
Here are the VALORANT rosters that have gone GOLD for #VALORANTChampions:@Sentinels @Envy @GambitEsports @AcendClub @FNATIC @VisionStrikers @KRUesports
@X10Esports_ @teamsecret @TeamVikings @VivoKeyd @crazyraccoon406 pic.twitter.com/Mygsgxe92h— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) September 22, 2021
When does the VCT Last Chance Qualifier begin?
The tournaments run in between Oct. 10th and 17th in all regions. The VCT Last Chance Qualifier for North America begins Oct. 12 and will end on Oct. 17. Eight teams will be competing for each region, matched up based on seeding from Circuit Points. You can find resources on where to watch each region here:
VCT North America (NA) Region
After Envy fell at VCT Masters Berlin, an extra qualification spot wasn’t handed to a North American team. That means that 100 Thieves, who are highly favored to grab the final spot in the region, will have to earn a ticket to Champions. Who knows, though. Cloud9 could come out of nowhere and take it for themselves.
- 100 Thieves
- Gen.G
- XSET
- LG
- FaZE
- Rise
- V1
- Cloud9 Blue
VCT LCQ EMEA region
For EMEA, the three teams that have auto-qualified for Champs include Masters Berlin champions Gambit Esports, as well as Acend and Fnatic. The other EMEA teams competing in the LCQ in search of a Champs spot consist of:
- G2 Esports
- Team Liquid
- SuperMassive Blaze
- Oxygen Esports
- Futbolist
- Guild Esports
- One Breath Gaming
- Anubis Gaming
These teams finished 4th to 10th in the Valorant EMEA circuit, with the final spot going to the winners of Strike Arabia, Anubis Gaming. These eight teams begin their last chance for Champs on Oct. 10, at 11 A.M. EST in a standard double elimination format. Two losses, and you’re out.
The first game of the tournament is G2 Esports versus Anubis Gaming, the fourth seed in EMEA versus the Strike Arabia winners. Afterwards is Futbolist versus Oxygen Esports, which ends day one. On Oct. 11, at 11 A.M. EST, we have SuperMassive Blaze versus Guild Esports, as well as Team Liquid versus One Breath Gaming after. After those games end, we see who has to grind from the lower bracket and who’s in the lead.
VCT LCQ APAC region
For APAC, two teams have already qualified for Champs, including Vision Strikers and Crazy Raccoon. However, the big difference in the APAC region’s LCQ is that ten teams are fighting for one spot instead of eight. These ten teams consist of:
- Paper Rex
- FULL SENSE
- BOOM Esports
- REJECT
- Northeption
- FENNEL
- NURTURN Gaming
- F4Q
- DAMWON Gaming
- Global Esports
The tournament here remains double elimination, with the bracket looking a bit weirder than the one in EMEA. The first two games consist of the lowest seeded teams, starting on Oct. 11 at 3 A.M. EST. Those games are FENNEL versus BOOM Esports and Global Esports versus DAMWON Gaming. While Global Esports wasn’t ranked within the regions of the rest of the teams, they won the Valorant Conquerors Championship to earn their spot in this LCQ.
After those first two games end, the next games start on Oct. 12, at 3 A.M. EST. The first game is between F4Q and Northeption, with NURTURN Gaming facing the winner of the FENNEL/BOOM Esports match afterwards. Then, FULL SENSE and REJECT face off, and the final match of the second day is Paper Rex facing off against the winner of the other Oct. 11 game, Global Esports versus DAMWON Gaming. Then, the teams fight on, whether through the upper or lower bracket, for the final spot in Champs.
VCT LCQ South America (SA) region
In the SA region, the teams that have made it into Champs already consist of KRÜ Esports, Team Vikings and Keyd Stars. The eight remaining teams from Brazil and the LATAM regions fighting for the final spot in Champs are:
- Shark Esports
- Havan Liberty
- FURIA Esports
- Gamelanders Blue
- Six Karma
- Australs
- Infinity
- LAZER
The interesting thing about the SA region’s LCQ is that it won’t be a double elimination format like the other three regions. Instead, they are going with the group format, leaving just the semi-finals and finals to determine who gets the final spot in Champs. Sharks Esports, Australs, LAZER and FURIA Esports are in group A, with the other four in group B. After each team plays once, starting on Oct. 11, 12 P.M. EST The winners face off to see who makes it past groups, and the loser faces the leftover team to see who gets second place in the group to make it to their semi-finals. Past that, it’s a standard playoff bracket, with two matches to determine who plays in the finals, with the winner of that going to Champs.
Aron Garst, Mike Czar and Danny Appleford contributed to this report.
