The 2023 Valorant Champions Tour: Tokyo Masters was an international esports tournament organized by Riot Games for the first-person shooter game Valorant, as part of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2023 competitive season. Although officially named Tokyo Masters, the tournament ran from June 11–25, 2023 in Chiba, Japan, instead of Tokyo.
| 2023 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Game | Valorant |
| Location | Chiba, Japan |
| Date | June 11–25, 2023 |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
Tournament format(s) | Offline (LAN) |
| Host(s) |  Japan |
| Venue(s) | Tipstar Dome Chiba (Group stage and Playoffs) Makuhari Messe (Lower Final and Grand Final) |
| Teams | 12 |
| Purse | US$1,000,000 |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | Fnatic |
| Runner-up | Evil Geniuses |
For the 2023 season, this is the only Masters tournament to be played in the international leagues.[1]
Fnatic have defeated Evil Geniuses via 3–0, in the best-of-5 Grand Final, to become the champions of the tournament.[2][3]
Participating teams edit
With the introduction of the international leagues, the season is divided into three leagues: Americas, Pacific, and the EMEA. The winning region of the VCT//LOCK IN 2023 earned an extra berth for their respective region to qualify for the tournament, with Fnatic winning the said tournament, hence they are given 4 slots for their region for this tournament. While the champions of the Americas and Pacific are given one direct slot each to start in the Upper Quarterfinals.[4] China, although Valorant not officially released yet, is given 2 special spots to participate via third-party's competition.
| Region | Path | Team | ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting in the upper bracket quarterfinals | |||
| EMEA | VCT EMEA Champion | Team Liquid | TL |
| VCT EMEA runner-up | Fnatic | FNC | |
| Americas | VCT Americas Champion | LOUD | LOUD |
| Pacific | VCT Pacific Champion | Paper Rex | PRX |
| Starting in the group stage | |||
| EMEA | VCT EMEA League 3rd place | FÜT Esports | FÜT |
| VCT//LOCK IN - slot for EMEA 4th place | Natus Vincere | NAVI | |
| Americas | VCT Americas League runner-up | NRG | NRG |
| VCT Americas League 3rd place | Evil Geniuses | EG | |
| Pacific | VCT Pacific League runner-up | DRX | DRX |
| VCT Pacific League 3rd place | T1 | T1 | |
| China | FGC Valorant Invitational Champion | Attacking Soul Esports | ASE |
| FGC Valorant Invitational runner-up | Edward Gaming | EDG | |
Group stage edit
The group stages consisted of the remaining eight teams who were the runners-up or third placers of their respective regional international leagues around the world.
Group A edit
| Opening Matches | Winners' Match | Advanced to Playoffs | |||||||||||
| Edward Gaming | 1 | ||||||||||||
| T1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| T1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| NRG | |||||||||||||
| NRG | 2 | ||||||||||||
| NRG | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Natus Vincere | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Elimination Match | Decider Match | ||||||||||||
| T1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Edward Gaming | |||||||||||||
| Edward Gaming | 2 | Edward Gaming | 2 | ||||||||||
| Natus Vincere | 0 | ||||||||||||
Group B edit
| Opening Matches | Winners' Match | Advanced to Playoffs | |||||||||||
| FÜT Esports | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Evil Geniuses | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Evil Geniuses | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Evil Geniuses | |||||||||||||
| DRX | 0 | ||||||||||||
| DRX | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Attacking Soul Esports | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Elimination Match | Decider Match | ||||||||||||
| DRX | 2 | ||||||||||||
| DRX | |||||||||||||
| FÜT Esports | 2 | FÜT Esports | 1 | ||||||||||
| Attacking Soul Esports | 1 | ||||||||||||
Playoffs edit
The finalists of the EMEA League, the champions of the Pacific and Americas League all qualified for the tournament directly to the playoffs.
Majority of the playoff matches were a best-of-three series, except for the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final which were played in a best-of-five series. Italicized team had the two-map ban advantage as they were the upper-bracket team.
| Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Final | Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| APAC | Paper Rex | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| B2 | DRX | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| APAC | Paper Rex | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Fnatic | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Fnatic | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| A1 | NRG | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Fnatic | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Evil Geniuses | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Team Liquid | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Edward Gaming | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Team Liquid | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Evil Geniuses | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| AMER | LOUD | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Evil Geniuses | 2 | EMEA | Fnatic | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Evil Geniuses | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower Bracket - Round 1 | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Semifinal | Lower Bracket Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | Team Liquid | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| B2 | DRX | 0 | A1 | NRG | 2 | B1 | Evil Geniuses | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| A1 | NRG | 2 | A1 | NRG | 1 | APAC | Paper Rex | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| APAC | Paper Rex | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| APAC | Paper Rex | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| A2 | Edward Gaming | 2 | A2 | Edward Gaming | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| AMER | LOUD | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Final rankings edit
| Place | Team | Winnings (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Fnatic | $350,000 |
| 2nd | Evil Geniuses | $200,000 |
| 3rd | Paper Rex | $125,000 |
| 4th | NRG | $75,000 |
| 5th–6th | Team Liquid | $50,000 |
| Edward Gaming | ||
| 7th–8th | DRX | $35,000 |
| LOUD | ||
| 9th–10th | T1 | $25,000 |
| FÜT Esports | ||
| 11th–12th | Natus Vincere | $15,000 |
| Attacking Soul Esports |
Marketing edit
In-Game Drops edit
The tournament gave opportunity to all active players to earn in-game drops for free while watching the tournament. Fans must connect their account with their YouTube or Twitch channels, and they must watch the official livestream of the tournament on any Riot Games-approved channels. Each in-game drop had a specific time frame in which it can be earned. The VCT Masters Tokyo Player card were awarded during the Grand Final of the tournament, and the "Unpredictable" title was given out during the duration of the tournament.[5]
Team Deathmatch Showmatch edit
Selected content creators and influencers around the world featured up in a showmatch featuring the game's newest game mode, Team Deathmatch, in which featured Team Japan vs. Team International in a three-game series. The showmatch took place before the Grand Final of the tournament.[6]
| Showmatch | June 25 | Team Japan | 2 | – | 1 | Team International | Chiba, Japan | |
| 12:00 (UTC+9) | Makuhari Messe | |||||||
| Hosted by the Team Japan | ||||||||
| 100 | Piazza | 99 | ||||||
| 100 | District | 87 | ||||||
| 94 | Kasbah | 100 | ||||||
References edit
- ^ "Masters 2023 is coming to Japan!". Valorant Esports. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Stubbs, Mike (25 June 2023). "Fnatic win $1 Million Valorant Masters Tokyo tournament". Forbes. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Rawat, Aditya (25 June 2023). "Fnatic dominates EG to become VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo Champions". AFK Gaming. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Datuin, Sage (3 June 2023). "VALORANT: All VCT Masters Tokyo Teams Preview". Esports Illustrated. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Zalamea, Nigel (25 June 2023). "How to get free VCT Masters Tokyo drops: Exclusive Player card and title". One Esports. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- ^ Collette, Daniel (17 June 2023). "Team Deathmatch Showmatch at Valorant Masters Tokyo Grand Finals". Valorant Esports. Retrieved 25 February 2024.