VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2026 Format Changes Explained: New Path to Champions and Major Events

Riot Games has unveiled extensive changes for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2026, including new tournament structures, more international tournaments, and a dedicated pipeline for Challengers teams to play on the biggest stage in VALORANT. These modifications will come a year earlier than was originally stated as Riot speeds up its transition to a more open competitive format.

With Masters staged in Santiago and London, and Champions taking place in Shanghai, the 2026 season is likely to be one of the most globally diverse seasons in VALORANT history while providing long-awaited opportunities for Tier 2 teams to play against the best.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 Locations

The 2026 VCT season will feature three major international tournaments across the globe:

• Masters Santiago (Chile) – The first Masters event of 2026 and the first international VALORANT LAN in South America since 2023.

• Masters London (United Kingdom) – The second Masters of the year and the first-ever global VALORANT competition hosted in the UK.

• Champions Shanghai (China) – The season finale, where the 2026 world champion will be crowned.

Moreover, all four International Leagues (Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China) will become destination events, expanding regional finals to new cities. VCT China will go one step further and host its entire competitive year as a five-city tour.

VCT 2026 Format Changes

Riot is implementing major structural VCT 2026 format changes for Kickoff, Masters, and Playoffs:

• Kickoff - Triple Elimination: Teams will have three lives prior to elimination. Teams will play for three consecutive days — every day, a qualifier is produced for the Masters Santiago.
• Masters Expansion: Both Masters tournaments will now be 12 teams instead of 8, with more slots available for qualification across regions.
• Bracket Play for All Events: Group stages and Swiss formats are going away; all tournaments will use high-stakes bracket play.
• Stage 2 Roadshows: Each league will conclude Stage 2 with live in-person events in different cities, as was tested in Tokyo and Chongqing for 2025.

Challengers Teams Can Qualify for Champions

The biggest change of 2026 is the new direct path for Challengers teams to qualify for Champions. For the first time in the partnership era, four Challengers teams - one from each region - will compete against Tier 1 teams in their best-of-five Stage 2 Playoffs.

If they are successful there, they qualify for VALORANT Champions Shanghai directly rather than needing to pass through the old Ascension system to move up. While Challengers teams do not get free entry as their Tier 1 competitors do, having the opportunity to play their way into Champions is an absolute game-changer for Tier 2 talent in the VALORANT ecosystem.

Riot will also provide travel assistance, financial stipends, and revenue share from Champions digital goods, allowing those teams to compete on equal footing with the partnered Tier 1 organizations without the risks that may be associated with Ascension.

This change provides additional pathways and opportunities for aspiring teams to compete, while adding more unpredictability to the season, as regional powers could face serious challenges from local and international Tier 2 teams hungry to make history. We also recently covered the VCT 2025 Champions Teams' best map, which you absolutely should not miss.

Riot’s Vision for 2026 and Beyond

Leo Faria, Global Head of VALORANT Esports, characterized 2026 as a transitional year ahead of even bigger competitive changes for VALORANT in 2027, underscoring that VALORANT is focused on accessibility and opportunity, with more global competition, bigger stakes, and a new ecosystem that welcomes both seasoned organisations and up-and-coming teams.

By catalyzing the pathway to execution and opening some new pathways, Riot will continue to promote VALORANT as the flagship competitive FPS esports title, while enabling a structurally viable future for the next generation of competitors.