After Fnatic were established as one of the world’s best teams and Team Liquid proved the importance of stepping up at just the right moment, one additional team is ready to join in on the competition in VCT EMEA—and it all starts with the 2024 Kickoff tournament.
Each of the four VCT regions will begin with their own Kickoff tournaments to start the 2024 VALORANT season, following a double-elimination bracket to decide the two teams from each region that will play at Masters Madrid. Since there is no rotational regional play this year before Masters, every match is hugely important right from the beginning, with each potentially setting the tone for the entire season to follow.
The VCT’s new point system for 2024 gives the league a fresh look, alongside the new Chinese region and an additional partnered team slot in the three regions from last year. Since there is an uneven number of teams, the highest-placing team from the 2023 season gets a bye in the first round of the Kickoff tournament.
In the EMEA region, the team with the best finish last season was Fnatic due to their performance at Champions 2023, even though Team Liquid won the EMEA Championship.
VCT EMEA Kickoff bracket and format
The VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament will run from Feb. 20 to March 1 in Berlin. The tournament has three stages. First is groups, where the 11 EMEA teams have been divided into three in a double-elimination bracket as follows:
- Group A: FUT Esports, Team Heretics, GiantX, Karmine Corp
- Group B: NAVI, BBL Esports, Team Liquid, KOI
- Group C: Team Vitality, Gentle Mates, Fnatic (bye)
After the group stage, the second-place team from each group will move to the Play-ins. The final stage is the Playoffs, which include the semifinals and the grand finals match. The top two teams from the region will both represent EMEA at Masters Madrid.
VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament schedule and matches
Group stage
Tuesday, Feb. 20
- 10am CT: Team Heretics 2-0 FUT Esports
- Heretics win 13-11 on Lotus
- Heretics win 13-10 on Bind
- 1pm CT: Karmine Corp 2-1 GIANTX
- KC win 13-11 on Split
- GIANTX win 13-10 on Sunset
- KC win 13-4 on Lotus
Wednesday, Feb. 21
- 7am CT: NAVI 2-1 BBL Esports
- BBL win 13-8 on Bind
- NAVI win 13-6 on Ascent
- NAVI win 13-6 on Breeze
- 10am CT: Team Liquid 2-0 KOI
- Liquid win 13-10 on Icebox
- Liquid win 13-11 on Bind
- 1pm CT: Team Vitality 2-0 Gentle Mates
- Vitality win 13-10 on Sunset
- Vitality win 13-7 on Lotus
Thursday, Feb. 22
- 10am CT: Team Heretics 2-0 Karmine Corp
- Heretics win 13-4 on Split
- Heretics win 13-4 on Lotus
- Heretics advance to semifinals.
- 1pm CT: FUT Esports 2-1 GIANTX
- FUT win 13-6 on Split
- GIANTX win 13-8 on Icebox
- FUT win 13-7 on Sunset
- GIANTX are eliminated.
Friday, Feb. 23
- 7am CT: NAVI 2-0 Team Liquid
- NAVI win 13-7 on Split.
- NAVI win 13-7 on Breeze,
- NAVI advances to semifinals.
- 10am CT: KOI 2-0 BBL
- KOI win 13-5 on Bind.
- KOI win 13-10 on Split.
- BBL are eliminated.
- 1pm CT: Fnatic 2-0 Vitality
- Fnatic win 14-12 on Lotus.
- Fnatic win 13-5 on Ascent.
- Fnatic advances to semifinals.
Sunday, Feb. 25
- 7am CT: Vitality 2-1 Gentle Mates
- Gentle Mates win 13-4 on Breeze.
- Vitality win 15-13 on Lotus.
- Vitality win 13-3 on Sunset.
- Vitality advances to Play-In, Gentle Mates are eliminated.
- 10am CT: Karmine Corp 2-1 FUT Esports
- KC win 20-18 on Lotus.
- FUT win 13-4 on Bind.
- KC win 13-7 on Sunset.
- Karmine Corp advances to Play-In, FUT is eliminated.
- 1pm CT: Team Liquid vs. KOI
- KOI win 13-11 on Sunset.
- Team Liquid win 14-12 on Icebox.
- KOI win 13-10 on Split.
- KOI advance to Play-In, Team Liquid is eliminated.
Play-ins
Monday. Feb. 26
- 7am CT: Play In round one
- 10am CT: Play In round two
- 1pm CT: Play In round three
Semifinals
Thursday, Feb. 29
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
- 1pm CT: TBD vs TBD
Grand Final
Friday, March 1
- 10am CT: TBD vs TBD
