VALORANT Champions 2022: Teams, schedule, venue, more
Riot Games will soon hold its biggest tournament of the year, the VALORANT Champions, from September 2 to 18 in Istanbul, Turkey. The second iteration of the annual grand event is the end of the line for what the pros have been working for the entire year as they compete in VALORANT Champions Tours.
Leading to the 2022 VALORANT Champions, professional teams worldwide are currently competing in VCT Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen from July 10 to 24. Later in August, Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) in multiple regions will take place to seed six teams. Meanwhile, the remaining 10 are decided from the total points made in both Challengers and Masters.
“Our goal is to see our biggest international events played in front of a live audience and both of these cities [Copenhagen and Istanbul] provided clear pathways towards this goal, while also providing the best possible guarantee that all qualified teams will be able to safely attend and compete,” Riot’s Global Communications Lead for VALORANT Esports Anton Ferraro wrote in the post that revealed the location for the 2022 VALORANT Masters and Champions.
More about VALORANT Champions
While it has been revealed that the tournament is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, no details have been officially released about the exact venue. However, according to multiple reports and leaks, Riot was keen on having a live audience for the occasion. Therefore, the game’s enthusiasts can expect a big and wide arena for this year’s Champions.
Aside from the arena, the total prize pool remains to be unknown. Last year, the tournament had a total prize pool of $1,000,000, and the figure is likely be around that this year as well.
At the time of writing, there are only six teams out of 16 total spots to have qualified for the Champions. North America and APAC each have two teams, and the rest are from Brazil and Korea. The teams are OpTic Gaming, XSET, LOUD, Paper Rex, XERXIA, and DRX. The remaining 10 teams will soon be announced after the conclusion of Stage 2 Masters and LCQs. Allocation per region is as below:
NA: 3
APAC: 3
EMEA 3
SOUTH ASIA 2
EAST ASIA 1
KOREA: 1
JAPAN: 1
BRAZIL 1
LATAM: 1
Riot will stream Champions live on VALORANT’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. Reportedly, players and fans alike may also stream the tournament live alongside select streamers via watch parties. The developer will soon provide further details regarding eligible streamers.
Game leaks: new items, agent in VALORANT
Similar to any other esports tournaments, Riot will likely release a limited-time Champions-specific skin bundle to celebrate the event. Last year, the developer released an Exclusive type of cosmetics in a bundle called the Champions 2021 Collection. Within the event-exclusive package, Riot introduced Vandal and Karambit skins, which were received well by players.
Aside from Champions cosmetics, there have been rumors that VALORANT will be receiving a brand new agent. According to EarlyGame’s Szymon Bielawski, data miners found a file with the codename Mage, which led many to believe a new agent would soon be available in the game.
