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VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo: Format explained
The VCT league inaugural event, VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo, is less than a month away. Featuring all the partnered teams, the São Paulo LAN will additionally feature two Chinese organizations. The event will take place at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo starting 13th February. The twenty-day event will feature thirty-two teams taking on each other and battling it out for the first LAN trophy of the Official VCT Circuit.
VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo Format:
The event will feature thirty-two teams, thirty partnered organizations from the Americas, EMEA and the Pacific and two invited Chinese organizations. The invited Chinese organizations are EDward Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix. EDG was part of the Valorant Champions 2022, and FPX recently promoted their ZHUQUE to the main lineup.
The event will feature two groups of 16, i.e. Alpha and Omega. Random draws decided the fixtures in the group. With four regions participating, the draw ensures no intra-region match-ups. The draws also maximized the possibility of inter-regional matches in the second round.
The sixteen teams in the group will play each other in a single-elimination Best of three brackets until two teams remain. The Semifinals will decide the winner of the respective group and will be a Best of five match. The Grand final will have the Alpha winner taking on the Omega winner in a Best of five series.
Fixture Drawing process:
The teams in each region were assigned a number between 1-10. The Chinese teams were paired with teams from the Americas and EMEA as the teams from the Pacific scrim the Chinese team often. For the remaining fixture, the draws were randomized.
Group Pairings:
In the first round of competition, the Alpha group will feature the following pairings:
- Americas vs Pacific - 3
- EMEA vs Pacific - 2
- Americas vs EMEA - 2
- China vs EMEA -1
The Omega group will feature the following pairings:
- Americas vs Pacific - 2
- EMEA vs Pacific - 3
- Americas vs EMEA - 2
- Americas vs China - 1
VCT LOCK//IN Format Explanation:
The format will be a single-elimination bracket format. A single loss will result in direct elimination from the tournament. Teams will play the matches on LAN and in front of a live audience. The format is straightforward and brutal. Added to the fact that some teams/players might've not played in front of a live crowd can lead to LAN jitters giving a massive advantage to teams with experience.
While the drawbacks of the format seem enormous, it is constructed to adjust the match-ups in the limited time frame of 20 days. A direct double-elimination bracket between the 32 teams will amount to double the matches, and the logistics for the same are unimaginable. Even a group stage will result in a lot of matches. e.g. four groups of eight will mean a total of 52 stage matches. The event also needs days off for the teams to cool off. Thus, the format used was the only possible format that maximizes inter-region matches and ensures teams are not forced to overwork themselves.
Credits: VCT Twitter
