Riot announced on Monday that the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters tournament will take place in Reykjavík, Iceland.
We’re going international! VCT Stage 2 Masters will be our first international #VCT event. 10 teams from around the world will be competing in Reykjavík, Iceland on May 24-30. pic.twitter.com/H0fvzZbXDY
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 1, 2021
The tournament will take place from May 24-30 after the conclusion of the second Valorant Challengers Online Open Qualifiers. The VCT Stage 2 Masters will feature the top 10 teams from around the world competing in a LAN Environment and serve as the first-ever LAN tournament for Valorant.
While no team has claimed any of the 10 tournament slots, certain regions will be more represented than others. Two teams from Brazil, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and North America will qualify through each region’s respective Challengers Final, while one team from Japan, Korea, Latin America and Southeast Asia will represent their respective country.
Currently, the VCT is finishing up its first Challengers stage. The first Masters tournament begins on March 11, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it will take place entirely online. Each region will have a separate tournament with eight different teams.
Since Riot released the game during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company hasn’t had any opportunity to host a live event, until now. According to a blog post with more information about the event, teams will quarantine upon arrival in Iceland and there will be no live audience in attendance.
Riot also announced that they are partnering with Verizon for the VCT as the official 5G network provider. Verizon is also sponsoring the League of Legends 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, which will take place in the same location earlier in May.
Top VCT Stage 1 teams
While it is too early to tell which teams will make it to Iceland for the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters tournament, each region is competing separately in Stage 1 at the moment. Here are some of the top teams from each region currently:
EU: Alliance, FunPlus Phoenix, Team Heretics, Ninjas in Pyjamas
NA: Envy, Sentinels, Immortals, XSET
Brazil: FURIA, Gamelanders, Vorax, Team Vikings
CIS: Gambit Esports, One Breath Gaming, CrowCrowd, Divinity
Turkey: BBL Esports, OtherSide, Oxygen Esports
LATAM: Border Monsters, Infinity Esports, Lazer Klan, LDM Esports
All of these teams have qualified for their respective VCT Stage 1 Masters tournaments. Four more teams from each region (five from Turkey) will still have a chance to qualify as well. Their performance in stage one will not impact their chances to qualify for stage two.
