2023 Valorant Champions
Tournament information
GameValorant
LocationLos Angeles
Inglewood
DatesAugust 6–August 26
AdministratorRiot Games
Tournament
format(s)
GSL Format (group stage)
Double Elimination (playoffs)
Venue(s)
2
Teams16
Purse$2,250,000 USD
Final positions
ChampionsEvil Geniuses
Runner-upPaper Rex
Tournament statistics
Attendance11,500

The 2023 Valorant Champions was an esports tournament for the video game Valorant. This was the third edition of the Valorant Champions, the crowning event of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) for the 2023 Valorant competitive season. The tournament was held between August 6 and August 26, 2023 in Los Angeles and Inglewood, California, United States.[1] Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament based on their result in the regular season leagues, 2023 Masters Tokyo, and the regional Last Chance Qualifiers.

"Ticking Away" was announced as the tournament's theme song, produced, composed and performed by Grabbitz and bbno$.[2][3]

LOUD were the defending champions,[4] but lost to Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket final.[5]

Evil Geniuses became the first North American team to win the Valorant world championship after defeating Paper Rex in the finals by a score of 3–1.[6]

History

In September 2022, Riot announced the 30 teams partnered for the 2023 Champions Tour.[7] Following the inclusion of the 2023 LOCK//IN event, Riot announced the location of 2023 Champions as Los Angeles.[1]

To promote the event, on July 31, 2023, Riot released the anthem for the tournament, "Ticking Away". The track features artists Grabbitz and bbno$. In coordination with the track release, Riot hosted events across four LA neighborhoods featuring live music, food and livestreaming tournament matches.[2][8] Additionally, Riot released a number of videos featuring bbno$ as "The Random".[9]

On July 23rd, the sixteen qualified teams were announced by Riot Games.[10]

Junta de Andalucía was announced as the Global English Broadcast Partner on August 7th.[11]

Venues

Los Angeles and Inglewood were chosen to host the competition. The tournament was held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall for the majority of the tournament, and at the Kia Forum for the top 4 teams on the final three days. [12][1]

California
Los Angeles Inglewood
Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall Kia Forum
Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles on the opening day of the tournament with spectators.
Kia Forum hosts the final three days of the event.

Qualified teams

Sixteen teams qualified for the global crowning event of the circuit, with teams either qualifying through their respective league or through Last Chance Qualifiers. The top 3 teams of each league during the playoffs or Masters Tokyo for EMEA immediately qualified for Champions, while the other 7 teams had to battle it out in the Last Chance Qualifiers in their respective regions including China. The following teams qualified for the event:[13] [14]

Qualified teams for 2023 Valorant Champions
LeagueTeamQualification
EMEA Fnatic Masters: EMEA #1
Team Liquid Masters: EMEA #2
FUT Esports Masters: EMEA #3
Giants Gaming EMEA Last Chance Qualifier winner
Natus Vincere Masters Slot: EMEA LCQ runner-up
Americas Evil Geniuses Americas League
NRG Americas League
LOUD Americas League
KRÜ Esports Americas Last Chance Qualifier winner
Pacific Paper Rex Pacific League
DRX Pacific League
T1 Pacific League
ZETA DIVISION Pacific Last Chance Qualifier winner
China Edward Gaming China Qualifier winner
Bilibili Gaming China Qualifier runner–up
FunPlus Phoenix China Qualifier #3

Group stage

The group stage took place from August 6 – 13, 2023. All 16 teams were divided into 4 groups of four teams each playing in a GSL-style double-elimination format. Games were held in a best-of-three series. The top 2 teams in each group qualified for the playoffs.

Draw Rules

16 Teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4 teams. Teams from the same region cannot be placed in the same group. If a team is drawn into the same group as another team from their region, they will be placed in the next valid group with the exception of the EMEA LCQ #2 seed, which was Natus Vincere. Matchups were based on the draw pools, with Pool 1 teams facing Pool 4 teams and Pool 2 teams facing Pool 3 teams in each group. These pools were determined by the performance of teams at Masters Tokyo and the Last Chance Qualifiers. [15]

Bracket

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its group, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of maps the team won in that match. Teams with map pick/ban choice (i.e., the higher-seeded team or upper-bracket team) are marked by an asterisk.

Note: Times are in the local time of Los Angeles (PDT) (UTC−7).[16]
Group A
Round 1Winner's MatchQualified
August 9 12:00 pm
1Paper Rex*2
August 10 6:00 pm
4KRÜ Esports0
1Paper Rex*2
August 9 3:00 pm
2Edward Gaming0
2Edward Gaming*2
3Giants Gaming1
A1Paper Rex
A2Edward Gaming
Elimination MatchDecider Match
August 13 12:00 pm
August 11 12:00 pm2Edward Gaming*2
4KRÜ Esports03Giants Gaming0
3Giants Gaming*2
Group B
Round 1Winner's MatchQualified
August 7 3:00 pm
1Evil Geniuses*2
August 8 6:00 pm
4FunPlus Phoenix0
1Evil Geniuses*2
August 7 12:00 pm
2FUT Esports0
2FUT Esports*2
3T10
B1Evil Geniuses
B2FUT Esports
Elimination MatchDecider Match
August 12 3:00 pm
August 10 3:00 pm2FUT Esports*2
4FunPlus Phoenix03T10
3T1*2
Group C
Round 1Winner's MatchQualified
August 8 3:00 pm
1Fnatic*2
August 9 3:00 pm
4ZETA DIVISION0
1Fnatic*2
August 8 12:00 pm
3Bilibili Gaming0
2NRG Esports*0
3Bilibili Gaming2
C1Fnatic
C2Bilibili Gaming
Elimination MatchDecider Match
August 13 3:00 pm
August 11 3:00 pm3Bilibili Gaming*2
4ZETA DIVISION02NRG Esports0
2NRG Esports*2
Group D
Round 1Winner's MatchQualified
August 6 12:00 pm
1Team Liquid*0
August 7 6:00 pm
4Natus Vincere2
4Natus Vincere1
August 6 3:00 pm
2DRX*2
2DRX*2
3LOUD1
D1DRX
D2LOUD
Elimination MatchDecider Match
August 12 12:00 pm
August 10 12:00 pm4Natus Vincere*1
1Team Liquid*03LOUD2
3LOUD2

Knockout stage

The knockouts are a double-elimination tournament that took place from August 16–26, 2022. All matches were a best-of-three series, except for the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final, which were a best-of-five series.

Qualified teams

Eight teams qualified for the double-elimination playoff portion of the tournament from the group stage.

Qualified teams for Champions Playoffs
GroupTeamRegion
Group A Paper Rex Pacific League
Edward Gaming China
Group B Evil Geniuses Americas League
FUT Esports EMEA League
Group C Fnatic EMEA League
Bilibili Gaming China
Group D DRX Pacific League
LOUD Americas League

Bracket

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in the bracket, while the numbers on the right indicate the number of maps the team won in that match. Teams with map pick/ban choice (i.e., the higher-seeded or upper-bracket teams) are marked with an asterisk. In cases where teams have the same seed from groups, a coin is flipped to determine which team gets the map pick/ban choice. The teams that won the coin toss are indicated with two asterisks. For the grand finals, the team who advanced from the upper bracket gets to ban the first two maps and have map pick/ban choice.

Note: Times are in the local time of Los Angeles (PDT) (UTC−7).
Upper Bracket QuarterfinalsUpper Bracket SemifinalsUpper Bracket FinalGrand Final
August 16 12:00 pm
C1Fnatic*0
August 19 3:00 pm
D2LOUD2
D2LOUD1
August 16 3:00 pm
A1Paper Rex*2
A1Paper Rex*2
August 24 12:00 pm
B2FUT Esports0
A1Paper Rex**2
August 17 12:00 pm
B1Evil Geniuses1
D1DRX*2
August 19 12:00 pm
C2Bilibili Gaming0
D1DRX**0
August 17 3:00 pm
B1Evil Geniuses2
B1Evil Geniuses*2August 26 12:00 pm
A2Edward Gaming1A1Paper Rex*1
B1Evil Geniuses3
Lower Bracket Round 1Lower Bracket QuarterfinalsLower Bracket SemifinalsLower Bracket Final
August 20 12:00 pm[lower-alpha 1]
August 18 12:00 pmD1DRX*1August 25 12:00 pm
C1Fnatic*2C1Fnatic2August 24 3:00 pmB1Evil Geniuses*3
B2FUT Esports0C1Fnatic1D2LOUD2
August 20 3:00 pmD2LOUD*2
August 18 3:00 pmD2LOUD*2
C2Bilibili Gaming1A2Edward Gaming1
A2Edward Gaming**2

Prize pool

Riot Games raised the prize pool for the 2023 Champions tournament to $2.25 million, an increase from the $1 million of 2022. The winner of Champions received $1 million. [18]

Place Team Prize (USD)
1stEvil Geniuses$1,000,000
2ndPaper Rex$400,000
3rdLOUD$250,000
4thFnatic$130,000
5th–6thDRX$85,000
Edward Gaming
7th–8thBilibili Gaming$50,000
FUT Esports
9th–12thNatus Vincere$30,000
T1
NRG Esports
Giants Gaming
13th–16thKRÜ Esports$20,000
FunPlus Phoenix
ZETA DIVISION
Team Liquid

Notes

  1. ↑ The August 20 matches did not feature live audiences due to Hurricane Hilary.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Daniels, Tom (March 6, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023 heads to Los Angeles". Esports Insider. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Fragen, Jordan (2023-07-27). "Riot doubles down on music for Valorant Champions Tour 2023". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  3. ↑ "Ticking Away by VALORANT on Tidal". Tidal (service). Archived from the original on 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  4. ↑ Field Level Media (September 19, 2022). "LOUD defeat OpTic to win Valorant Champions 2022". Reuters. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  5. ↑ Datuin, Sage (2023-08-25). "Evil Geniuses Take Down LOUD To Qualify For VALORANT Champions Grand Finals". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. ↑ "Evil Geniuses win Valorant Champions 2023: Final standings and recap". Dexerto. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. ↑ Daniels, Tom (2022-09-21). "All VALORANT Champions Tour partner teams unveiled by Riot Games". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  8. ↑ Styles, Serah. "VALORANT TAKEOVER // LOS ANGELES". VALORANT. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  9. ↑ DON'T WATCH VALORANT CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES!!!, retrieved 2023-08-28
  10. ↑ Robertson, Scott; Iwamasa, Karli (2023-07-24). "All teams qualified for VALORANT Champions 2023". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  11. ↑ Nicholson, Jonno (2023-08-07). "Riot Games partners with Junta de Andalucía for 2023 VCT Champions". Esports Insider.
  12. ↑ Ferraro, Anton (June 16, 2023). "CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES: TICKET SALE INFORMATION". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  13. ↑ Ferraro, Anton (April 27, 2023). "THE ROAD TO CHAMPIONS 2023!". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  14. ↑ Bencomo, Brian (July 23, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023: All qualified teams". NerdStreet. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ Santos, Diogo (July 23, 2023). "Champions 2023 groups and opening matches drawn". VLR.gg. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  16. ↑ Ferraro, Anton (July 27, 2023). "CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ Czar, Michael (2023-08-20). "VALORANT Champions 2023 goes crowdless amidst hurricane concerns in Los Angeles". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  18. ↑ Moore, Brandon (July 28, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023 prize pool sees 125% increase from 2022". Esports.gg. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
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