[Updated] VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs: Preview, Schedule, and More

Valorant

4 May

Foo Zen-Wen

The VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 concluded their regular season last night. With that, we proceed into the Playoffs in several days’ time. Karmine Corp and Fut Esports finish top of their respective brackets, leading to them earning a Round 1 bye.

Yesterday’s game also saw Team Liquid narrowly qualify for Playoffs after decimating their opponents Gentle Mates, assisted by FUT’s similar performance over BBL, qualifying Liquid through map differential.

Click Here: VCT EMEA Split 1 Playoffs Full Visual and Format

Which TEAMS have QUALIFIED for VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs?

The teams that have qualified are as follows:

As mentioned previously, Karmine Corp and FUT Esports qualified for Playoffs as the top seeds from their respective groups (Alpha and Omega), allowing them to skip the first round of Playoffs.

FORMAT for VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs

The benefit of coming in as the first seed can be realized from the following ruling: the top 3 teams qualify for VCT Masters Shanghai.

Playoffs will be held as a hybrid elimination bracket. The first round will be single-elimination, transitioning into double-elimination from Round 2 onwards.

Karmine and FUT will both begin in the upper bracket of Round 2 – meaning that winning a single series puts them into the Upper Finals and Top 3 in Playoffs. Hence, the benefit of 1st seed.

All series except for the Lower Finals and Grand Finals will be played as Bo3. The following two will be Bo5 format.

SCHEDULE for VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs

Playoffs will begin on the 8th of May, running until the 12th of May. As mentioned above, the first day will include the round of single-elimination, featuring the following teams: Fnatic, Team Liquid, NA’VI, and Team Heretics.

Wednesday // 8th May

Fnatic vs Team Liquid [5pm CET]
NA’VI vs Team Heretics [8pm CET]

Thursday // 9th May

Karmine Corp vs TBA [5pm CET]
FUT Esports vs TBA [8pm CET]

ANALYSIS for VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs

Day 1 (Knockout Round)

Liquid’s form throughout Split 1 hasn’t been the absolute best, however, two factors come into play. They are a new roster, an amalgamation of leftover talent from last year and a core three from challengers team, Apeks. We see their potential slowly ramp up as the season went on. While their victory over Gentle Mates has to be taken with some caution, it does bode well for them going forwards. Moreover, Liquid come in Playoffs as the defending Playoffs champions from last year.

Second factor, Fnatic has not looked the same as last year. While we catch glimmers here and there of the former glorious emperors of EMEA, they are a shadow of their former selves. Added to that, they were the only EMEA roster to maintain their full roster from last year – aside from Gentle Mates, who promoted from Ascension with their full roster. Meaning, of all the teams, they have the most footage available of them.

NA’VI come into Split 1 looking like one of the strongest teams in the league, with a powerful offense made up of their formerly successful roster on FPX from 2 years ago. Their sole loss this season was from the most unexpected of sources – BBL. Nonetheless, they are strong favorites to take this Playoffs.

Lastly, we have the runners-up from Kickoff, Team Heretics. With a fairly strong Split 1 performance, Heretics look hungry to seal the deal. Interestingly, the last time Heretics faced NA’VI was during the Playoffs of Kickoff, eliminating the yellow giants from Madrid contention.

Fnatic is favored to win the series, however, we anticipate a close match considering one’s rise in form and the other’s dip. NA’VI is favored in the rematch considering current form, however, just barely.

How to WATCH VCT EMEA 2024 Split 1 Playoffs

You can watch the VCT EMEA Playoffs livestreamed on the official Twitch and YouTube channels in English. VCT EMEA is also streamed in the following languages: French, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, Finnish, Ukrainian on Twitch. Finally, Turkey and Poland also stream on YouTube: Turkish stream and Polish stream.

Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

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