2023 Valorant Champions

2023 Valorant Champions

Tournament information
Game	Valorant
Location	Los Angeles and Inglewood, United States
Dates	August 6–August 26
Administrator	Riot Games
Tournament format(s)	GSL Format (group stage) Double Elimination (playoffs)
Venue(s)	2 Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall (Group Stage and Bracket Stage) Kia Forum (Upper Bracket Finals, Lower Bracket Semifinals and Finals, and Grand Finals)
Teams	16
Purse	$2,250,000 USD
Final positions
Champions	Evil Geniuses
Runner-up	Paper Rex
Tournament statistics
Attendance	11,500
MVP	Max "Demon1" Mazanov (EG)
←  2022 2024  →

The 2023 Valorant Champions was an esports tournament for the video game Valorant . This was the third edition of the Valorant Champions, the crowning event of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) for the 2023 Valorant competitive season. The tournament was held between August 6 and August 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, along with Inglewood, California, United States. ^[1] Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament based on their result in the regular season leagues, 2023 Masters Tokyo, and the regional Last Chance Qualifiers.

"Ticking Away" was announced as the tournament's theme song, produced, composed and performed by Grabbitz and bbno$. ^{[2] [3]}

LOUD were the defending champions, ^[4] but lost to Evil Geniuses in the lower bracket final. ^[5]

Evil Geniuses from Americas won the Valorant world championship after defeating Paper Rex from Pacific in the finals by a score of 3–1. ^[6]

History

In September 2022, Riot announced the 30 teams partnered for the 2023 Champions Tour. ^[7] Following the inclusion of the 2023 LOCK//IN event, Riot announced the location of 2023 Champions as Los Angeles. ^[1]

To promote the event, on July 31, 2023, Riot released the anthem for the tournament, "Ticking Away". The track features artists Grabbitz and bbno$. In coordination with the track release, Riot hosted events across four LA neighborhoods featuring live music, food and livestreaming tournament matches. ^{[2] [8]} Additionally, Riot released a number of videos featuring bbno$ as "The Random". ^[9]

On July 23rd, the sixteen qualified teams were announced by Riot Games. ^[10]

Junta de Andalucía was announced as the Global English Broadcast Partner on August 7th. ^[11]

Venues

Los Angeles and Inglewood were chosen to host the competition. The tournament was held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall for the majority of the tournament, and at the Kia Forum for the top 4 teams on the final three days. ^{[12] [1]}

California
Los Angeles	Inglewood	Los Angeles Inglewood
Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall	Kia Forum
Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles on the opening day of the tournament with spectators.	Kia Forum hosts the final three days of the event.

Qualified teams

Sixteen teams qualified for the global crowning event of the circuit, with teams either qualifying through their respective league or through Last Chance Qualifiers. The top 3 teams of each league during the playoffs or Masters Tokyo for EMEA immediately qualified for Champions, while the other 4 teams had to battle it out in the Last Chance Qualifiers in their respective regions (EMEA was given additional spot for Last Chance Qualifier runner-up due to Fnatic had won Masters Tokyo). ^{[13] [14]} China, although Valorant not officially released yet, is given 3 special spots to participate via a qualifier of third-party host.

Qualified teams for 2023 Valorant Champions

League		Team	Qualification
EMEA		Fnatic	Top 3 of EMEA teams in Masters Tokyo
		Team Liquid	Top 3 of EMEA teams in Masters Tokyo
		FUT Esports	Top 3 of EMEA teams in Masters Tokyo
		Giants Gaming	EMEA Last Chance Qualifier winner
		Natus Vincere	EMEA Last Chance Qualifier runner-up
Americas		Evil Geniuses	Americas League top 3
		NRG	Americas League top 3
		LOUD	Americas League top 3
		KRÜ Esports	Americas Last Chance Qualifier winner
Pacific		Paper Rex	Pacific League top 3
		DRX	Pacific League top 3
		T1	Pacific League top 3
		ZETA DIVISION	Pacific Last Chance Qualifier winner
China		Edward Gaming	China Qualifier top 3
		Bilibili Gaming	China Qualifier top 3
		FunPlus Phoenix	China Qualifier top 3

Group stage

The group stage took place from August 6 – 13, 2023. All 16 teams were divided into 4 groups of four teams each playing in a GSL-style double-elimination format. Games were held in a best-of-three series. The top 2 teams in each group qualified for the playoffs.

Draw Rules

16 Teams were drawn into 4 groups of 4 teams. Teams from the same region cannot be placed in the same group. If a team is drawn into the same group as another team from their region, they will be placed in the next valid group with the exception of the EMEA LCQ #2 seed, which was Natus Vincere. Matchups were based on the draw pools, with Pool 1 teams facing Pool 4 teams and Pool 2 teams facing Pool 3 teams in each group. These pools were determined by the performance of teams at Masters Tokyo and the Last Chance Qualifiers. ^[15]

Bracket

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its group, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of maps the team won in that match. Teams with map pick/ban choice (i.e., the higher-seeded team or upper-bracket team) are marked by an asterisk.

Note: Times are in the local time of Los Angeles (PDT) (UTC−7). ^[16]

Group A

	Round 1					Winner's Match					Qualified
	August 9 12:00 pm
	1	Paper Rex	2
						August 10 6:00 pm
	4	KRÜ Esports	0
						1	Paper Rex	2
	August 9 3:00 pm
						2	Edward Gaming	0
	2	Edward Gaming	2
	3	Giants Gaming	1
											A1	Paper Rex
											A2	Edward Gaming
	Elimination Match					Decider Match
						August 13 12:00 pm
	August 11 12:00 pm					2	Edward Gaming	2
	4	KRÜ Esports	0			3	Giants Gaming	0
	3	Giants Gaming	2

Group B

	Round 1					Winner's Match					Qualified
	August 7 3:00 pm
	1	Evil Geniuses	2
						August 8 6:00 pm
	4	FunPlus Phoenix	0
						1	Evil Geniuses	2
	August 7 12:00 pm
						2	FUT Esports	0
	2	FUT Esports	2
	3	T1	0
											B1	Evil Geniuses
											B2	FUT Esports
	Elimination Match					Decider Match
						August 12 3:00 pm
	August 10 3:00 pm					2	FUT Esports	2
	4	FunPlus Phoenix	0			3	T1	0
	3	T1	2

Group C

	Round 1					Winner's Match					Qualified
	August 8 3:00 pm
	1	Fnatic	2
						August 9 3:00 pm
	4	ZETA DIVISION	0
						1	Fnatic	2
	August 8 12:00 pm
						3	Bilibili Gaming	0
	2	NRG Esports	0
	3	Bilibili Gaming	2
											C1	Fnatic
											C2	Bilibili Gaming
	Elimination Match					Decider Match
						August 13 3:00 pm
	August 11 3:00 pm					3	Bilibili Gaming	2
	4	ZETA DIVISION	0			2	NRG Esports	0
	2	NRG Esports	2

Group D

	Round 1					Winner's Match					Qualified
	August 6 12:00 pm
	1	Team Liquid	0
						August 7 6:00 pm
	4	Natus Vincere	2
						4	Natus Vincere	1
	August 6 3:00 pm
						2	DRX	2
	2	DRX	2
	3	LOUD	1
											D1	DRX
											D2	LOUD
	Elimination Match					Decider Match
						August 12 12:00 pm
	August 10 12:00 pm					4	Natus Vincere	1
	1	Team Liquid	0			3	LOUD	2
	3	LOUD	2

Playoffs stage

The Playoffs are a double-elimination tournament that took place from August 16–26, 2022. All matches were a best-of-three series, except for the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final, which were a best-of-five series.

Qualified teams

Eight teams qualified for the double-elimination Playoffs portion of the tournament from the group stage.

Qualified teams for Playoffs

Group	Seed 1	Seed 2
A	Paper Rex	Edward Gaming
B	Evil Geniuses	FUT Esports
C	Fnatic	Bilibili Gaming
D	DRX	LOUD

Bracket

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in the bracket, while the numbers on the right indicate the number of maps the team won in that match. Teams with map pick/ban choice (i.e., the higher-seeded or upper-bracket teams) are marked with an asterisk. In cases where teams have the same seed from groups, a coin is flipped to determine which team gets the map pick/ban choice. The teams that won the coin toss are indicated with two asterisks. For the grand finals, the team who advanced from the upper bracket gets to ban the first two maps and have map pick/ban choice.

Note: Times are in the local time of Los Angeles (PDT) (UTC−7).

Upper Bracket Quarterfinals

Upper Bracket Semifinals

Upper Bracket Final

Grand Final

August 16 12:00 pm

C1

Fnatic

0

August 19 3:00 pm

D2

LOUD

2

D2

LOUD

1

August 16 3:00 pm

A1

Paper Rex

2

A1

Paper Rex

2

August 24 12:00 pm

B2

FUT Esports

0

A1

Paper Rex

2

August 17 12:00 pm

B1

Evil Geniuses

1

D1

DRX

2

August 19 12:00 pm

C2

Bilibili Gaming

0

D1

DRX

0

August 17 3:00 pm

B1

Evil Geniuses

2

B1

Evil Geniuses

2

August 26 12:00 pm

A2

Edward Gaming

1

A1

Paper Rex

1

B1

Evil Geniuses

3

Lower Bracket Round 1

Lower Bracket Quarterfinals

Lower Bracket Semifinals

Lower Bracket Final

August 20 12:00 pm [lower-alpha 1]

August 18 12:00 pm

D1

DRX

1

August 25 12:00 pm

C1

Fnatic

2

C1

Fnatic

2

August 24 3:00 pm

B1

Evil Geniuses

3

B2

FUT Esports

0

C1

Fnatic

1

D2

LOUD

2

August 20 3:00 pm

D2

LOUD

2

August 18 3:00 pm

D2

LOUD

2

C2

Bilibili Gaming

1

A2

Edward Gaming

1

A2

Edward Gaming

2

Prize pool

Riot Games raised the prize pool for the 2023 Champions tournament to $2.25 million, an increase from the $1 million of 2022. The winner of Champions received $1 million. ^[18]

Place	Team	Prize (USD)
1st	Evil Geniuses	$1,000,000
2nd	Paper Rex	$400,000
3rd	LOUD	$250,000
4th	Fnatic	$130,000
5th–6th	DRX	$85,000
	Edward Gaming
7th–8th	Bilibili Gaming	$50,000
	FUT Esports
9th–12th	Natus Vincere	$30,000
	T1
	NRG Esports
	Giants Gaming
13th–16th	KRÜ Esports	$20,000
	FunPlus Phoenix
	ZETA DIVISION
	Team Liquid

Notes

1. The August 20 matches did not feature live audiences due to Hurricane Hilary. ^[17]

References

1. Daniels, Tom (March 6, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023 heads to Los Angeles". Esports Insider. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
2. Fragen, Jordan (2023-07-27). "Riot doubles down on music for Valorant Champions Tour 2023". VentureBeat . Retrieved 2023-08-28.
3. "Ticking Away by VALORANT on Tidal". Tidal (service) . Archived from the original on 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
4. Field Level Media (September 19, 2022). "LOUD defeat OpTic to win Valorant Champions 2022". Reuters. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
5. Datuin, Sage (2023-08-25). "Evil Geniuses Take Down LOUD To Qualify For VALORANT Champions Grand Finals". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
6. "Evil Geniuses win Valorant Champions 2023: Final standings and recap". Dexerto. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
7. Daniels, Tom (2022-09-21). "All VALORANT Champions Tour partner teams unveiled by Riot Games". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
8. Styles, Serah. "VALORANT TAKEOVER // LOS ANGELES". VALORANT . Retrieved 2023-08-28.
9. DON'T WATCH VALORANT CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES!!! , retrieved 2023-08-28
10. Robertson, Scott; Iwamasa, Karli (2023-07-24). "All teams qualified for VALORANT Champions 2023". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
11. Nicholson, Jonno (2023-08-07). "Riot Games partners with Junta de Andalucía for 2023 VCT Champions". Esports Insider.
12. Ferraro, Anton (June 16, 2023). "CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES: TICKET SALE INFORMATION". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
13. Ferraro, Anton (April 27, 2023). "THE ROAD TO CHAMPIONS 2023!". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
14. Bencomo, Brian (July 23, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023: All qualified teams". NerdStreet. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
15. Santos, Diogo (July 23, 2023). "Champions 2023 groups and opening matches drawn". VLR.gg. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
16. Ferraro, Anton (July 27, 2023). "CHAMPIONS LOS ANGELES: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW". Valorant Esports. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
17. Czar, Michael (2023-08-20). "VALORANT Champions 2023 goes crowdless amidst hurricane concerns in Los Angeles". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
18. Moore, Brandon (July 28, 2023). "VALORANT Champions 2023 prize pool sees 125% increase from 2022". Esports.gg. Retrieved July 31, 2023.