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Ascend to Olympus: Riot Games unveils plans for VCT Ascension
At the tail end of last year, Riot Games unveiled the 30 partner organizations that would be part of the VCT Leagues as part of the revamped Valorant Tier 1 scene. During the same announcement, Riot also revealed how teams now relegated to the VCL (Valorant Challenger Leagues) could earn a promotion spot into the Tier 1 scene. There are currently 24 active Valorant Challenger Leagues, with 209 listed active Challenger rosters.
The method of promotion will come about with VCT Ascension, specifically three Ascension tournaments that will serve to promote three teams to the partner leagues for the 2024 season. Those promoted via Ascension will receive similar league benefits as the other partner rosters and receive equal chance to qualify into Masters and Champions. However, promoted teams will have a limited time in the partner leagues, receiving a 2-year licence to stay before having to return to the Challenger Leagues. Each of the VCT leagues will host one Ascension tournament to promote one organization to their league.
VCT Ascension Specifics
According to Riot, all three Ascension tournaments will ‘conclude on LAN and in front of live audiences.’ The Ascension tournaments will take place from the 28th of June to the 16th of July. It will take place right after the conclusion of Masters: Tokyo.
Date for each of Ascension tournaments:
- Pacific Challengers Ascension: 28th June-9th July
- Group Stage: 28th June-4th July
- Playoffs: 7th June-9th June
- Location: Bangkok, Thailand
- EMEA Challengers Ascension: 30th June-16th July
- Group Stage: 30th June-4th July
- Playoffs: 13th July-16th July
- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Americas Challengers Ascension: 30th June-9th July
- Group Stage: N/A
- Playoffs: N/A
- Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Pacific Ascension
Each of the 10 Challenger Leagues will qualify a single team for the tournament. The 10 teams will be placed into the Group Stage, separated into 2 groups. The groups will be played in Single-Round Robin format, in Bo3 format. From there, the top 3 teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. Playoffs will be played in single-elimination format with Bo3s up until the Grand Finals, which will be played as a Bo5.
*1st seed from each group earns bye to playoffs semifinals.
EMEA Ascension
Each of the 9 Challenger Leagues will qualify a single team for the tournament. A final spot will be offered through a Play-In Tournament. As previously revealed by Riot, the 2nd seed from each EMEA Challenger Leagues will automatically qualify for the Play-Ins. These 9 teams will then be placed into 3 groups of 3, competing in Bo1s (single round robin format). The 3rd seed from each group will be eliminated.
*1st seed from each group qualifies to semifinals
*2nd seed from each group will face each other in another Bo1 single round robin to claim the final semifinals spot
The Play-Ins will be played in Bo3 single-elimination format, with the winners of each matchup facing each other in a final Bo5 format. The winner claims the final spot for the Ascension Tournament qualification. The 10 teams in the EMEA Ascension tournament will first enter the Group Stage, where they will be separated into 2 groups of 5. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to Playoffs and feature a single-elimination bracket in Bo5 format.
Americas Ascension
Americas Ascension will include 6 teams: 2 each from the Brazil Challenger Leagues and North America, 1 each from the LATAM leagues (North and South). The 6 teams will be separated into two different locations, separated into 2 groups of 3. The group stage will include a single-round robin format that seeds all 6 teams into a double-elimination playoff bracket. All matches will be played in Bo3 except for the Grand Finals, which will be played in Bo5.
*1st seed from each group earns a bye to 2nd round.
Credit: Riot Games