VCT 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo tournament format revealed
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VCT 2023 São Paulo LOCK//IN
Provided by Riot Games.
Category:
VALORANT
Tier 1

VCT 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo tournament format revealed

The bracket is set, and teams are ready to officially start the VCT 2023 season
Image of Michael Czar
Michael Czar
|

Published: Jan 17, 2023 05:06 pm

To start off the first season of franchised play in VALORANT Champions Tour history, the VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo tournament will be a unique tournament to start off 2023. Including all franchised teams from all over the world, each will play in a single elimination tournament in São Paulo, Brazil. This means it won’t be as long as previous international tournaments, but will still show off the skills each team has heading into their respective regional tournaments later in VCT 2023.

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VCT 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo will be single-elimination

There will be 32 teams competing for the VCT 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo title including all franchised teams and two invited Chinese teams. These are the teams:

Americas

  • 100 Thieves
  • Cloud9
  • Evil Geniuses
  • FURIA
  • KRÜ Esports
  • Leviatán
  • LOUD
  • MiBR
  • NRG
  • Sentinels

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

  • BBL Esports
  • Fnatic
  • FUT Esports
  • Giants
  • Karmine Corp
  • Koi
  • Team Heretics
  • NAVI
  • Team Liquid
  • Team Vitality

Pacific

  • DetonatioN FocusMe
  • DRX
  • Gen.G
  • Global Esports
  • Paper Rex
  • Rex Regum Qeon
  • T1
  • Talon Esports
  • Team Secret
  • ZETA Division

China

  • EDG
  • FPX

With a large variety of teams mixed in with little to no seeding, the first matchups were drawn entirely randomly, but with a design to have no regions face each other in the first round. The full list of starting matches are:

  • Koi versus NRG
  • DetonatioN FocusMe versus Giants
  • Gen.G Esports versus LOUD
  • FunPlus Phoenix versus Karmine Corp
  • BBL Esports versus DRX
  • Cloud9 versus Paper Rex
  • Evil Geniuses versus Team Heretics
  • MiBR versus Talon Esports
  • Team Liquid versus Team Secret
  • NAVI versus KRÜ Esports
  • ZETA Division versus Leviatán
  • Team Vitality versus Global Esports
  • FUT Esports versus Rex Regum Qeon
  • 100 Thieves versus EDG
  • Sentinels versus Fnatic
  • T1 versus FURIA
VCT 2023
Half of the schedule for the VCT 2023 LOCK//IN tournament. | Provided by Riot Games.

The first eight matches from the above order consist of one side of the massive bracket, while the second half represents the second side. As a single-elimination tournament, the first loss a team faces will mark their elimination from the tournament. So, in the grand finals, we’ll have two undefeated teams from each half of the bracket facing off for the LOCK//IN São Paulo title.

VCT 2023 LOCK//IN
The second half of the schedule for the VCT 2023 LOCK//IN tournament. | Provided by Riot Games.

Match details

As for the VCT 2023 LOCK//IN São Paulo matches, the majority of matches are in a best-of-three format.

When teams reach the semifinals, each match during and afterwards will turn into a best-of-five series. Even the grand finals are a best-of-five, instead of the traditional best-of-seven finals.

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Author
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Michael Czar
Polish-Canadian game enthusiast. I've been entrenched in gaming for as long as I can remember, with my first game being Pokemon Yellow and my most played games being Borderlands 2 and Overwatch. I have a degree in Film Studies, but writing about esports just makes my job all the better.
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