Riot Games announced today the official tournament details for LOCK//IN, the largest event in the history of the VALORANT Champions Tour. From February 13th to March 4th, 32 of the best teams in the world will battle it out at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo for three weeks of intense competition.

LOCK//IN: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

LOCK//IN will see every team from the Americas, Pacific, EMEA leagues as well as two invited representatives from China.

AMERICAS TeamsPACIFIC TeamsEMEA TeamsInvited Teams from China
100 ThievesDetonatioN FocusMeBBL EsportsEDG
Cloud9DRXFnaticFPX
Evil GeniusesGen.GFUT Esports
FURIAGlobal EsportsGiants
Kru EsportsPaper RexKarmine Corp
LeviatánRex Regum QeonKOI
LOUDT1NAVI
MiBRTalon EsportsTeam Heretics
NRGTeam SecretTeam Liquid
SentinelsZETA DivisionTeam Vitality

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtQkEsheJNw

To accommodate the largest number of teams Riot Games has hosted at a single event, the tournament will use a single elimination format. Subsequent events will return to a double elimination format.

To maximize the number of inter-regional matches at LOCK//IN, a random draw process was implemented that paired teams from different regions in the first round, while also maximizing the possibility of inter-regional matches for the second round. 

First, regions were paired into 16 first round match-ups, with each match-up consisting of two team slots. 

  • EMEA vs PACIFIC – 5 match-ups
  • AMERICAS vs PACIFIC – 5 match-ups
  • AMERICAS vs EMEA – 4 match-ups
  • CHINA vs AMERICAS – 1 match-up
  • CHINA vs EMEA – 1 match-up

Each team slot was assigned a random number from 1-10 to account for the 32 teams in attendance. (Americas 1-10, EMEA 1-10, PACIFIC 1-10, China 1-2). In line with our goal to maximize geographically diverse competition, teams from China were paired with team slots from the AMERICAS and EMEA.

Second, the 16 match-ups were distributed across two sides of the single elimination bracket to maximize inter-regional matches for the first two rounds. For this event, the two sides of the bracket will be referenced as Alpha & Omega: 

Alpha MatchesOmega Matches
AMERICAS vs PACIFIC – 3AMERICAS vs PACIFIC – 2
EMEA vs PACIFIC – 2EMEA vs PACIFIC – 3
EMEA vs AMERICAS – 2EMEA vs AMERICAS – 2
CHINA vs EMEA -1CHINA vs AMERICAS – 1

Finally, a random draw assigned each of the 32 teams a number from 1-10 that corresponded to their region and an already placed team slot, giving us our final bracket. 

SCHEDULE

LOCK//IN will consist of three stages of competition:

  • Alpha Matches – February 13 -19
    • Alpha Matches will play out until two teams remain.
    • Each match will be a Best-of-Three.
  • Omega Matches – February 22 – 27
    • Omega Matches will play out until two teams remain.
    • Each match will be a Best-of-Three.
  • Finals Stage
    • The remaining four teams play through the Semifinals and Finals until a champion is crowned.
    • Matches in this stage will be Best-of-Five. 
LOCK//IN: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Live Event Schedule:

  • Monday Feb 13 – Alpha Matches
  • Tuesday Feb 14 – Alpha Matches
  • Wednesday Feb 15 – Alpha Matches
  • Thursday Feb 16 – Dark Day
  • Friday Feb 17- Alpha Matches
  • Saturday Feb 18 – Alpha Matches
  • Sunday Feb 19 – Alpha Matches
  • Monday Feb 20 – Dark Day
  • Tuesday Feb 21 – Dark Day
  • Wednesday Feb 22 – Omega Matches
  • Thursday Feb 23 – Omega Matches
  • Friday Feb 24 – Omega Matches
  • Saturday Feb 25 – Omega Matches
  • Sunday Feb 26- Omega Matches
  • Monday Feb 27- Omega Matches
  • Tuesday Feb 28 – Dark Day
  • Wednesday Mar 1 – Dark Day
  • Thursday Mar 2 – Semifinals
  • Friday Mar 3 – Semifinals
  • Saturday Mar 4 – Finals
LOCK//IN: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
LOCK//IN: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Additional information on Drops, Watch Parties, and more will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

VCT OFFICIAL CHANNELS

Additional details about LOCK//IN can be found through the official VALORANT Esports social channels:

  • Twitter: @valorantesports
  • Facebook: /valorantesports
  • Instagram: @valorantesports
  • Photos from the Event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/valorantesports/albums
  • Official VALORANT Esports News: valorantesports.com/news
  • Web: http://valorantesports.com

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