| 2022 Valorant Champions | |
| Game: | Valorant |
| Location: | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Date: | August 31 – September 18 |
| Administrator: | Riot Games |
| Tournament Format: | GSL Format (group stage) Double Elimination (playoffs) |
| Venues: | Volkswagen Arena Istanbul |
| Teams: | 16 |
| Purse: | $1,000,000 USD[1] |
| Champions: | LOUD |
| Runner-Up1: | OpTic Gaming |
| Mvp: | Bryan "pAncada" Luna (LOUD)[2] |
| Previous: | 2021 |
| Next: | 2023 |
The 2022 Valorant Champions was an esports tournament for the video game Valorant. This was the second edition of the Valorant Champions, the crowning event of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) for the 2022 Valorant competitive season. The tournament was held from August 31 to September 18, 2022, in Istanbul, Turkey.[3] [4] [5]
"Fire Again" was the tournament's theme song, put together by Ashnikko.[6]
were the defending champions, but failed to qualify for the event after losing to G2 Esports in the VCT 2022: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier.[7]
LOUD won the Valorant world championship after defeating OpTic Gaming in the finals by a score of 3–1.[8]
Istanbul was the city chosen to host the competition. The tournament was held at the Volkswagen Arena Istanbul, with spectators from knockout stage.
Sixteen teams qualified for the global crowning event of the circuit, with ten teams qualifying through points earned throughout the season, while the remaining six teams qualified via the Last Chance Qualifiers.
| Qualification path | Regions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | South America | East Asia | Asia-Pacific | ||||||
| Brazil | Latin America | China | Japan | S.Korea | |||||
| Regional Circuit Points (10 spots) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Last Chance Qualifier (6 spots) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total (16 spots) | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ||||
The following teams qualified for the event:
| Region | Team | Qualification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FunPlus Phoenix | EMEA Regional Circuit Points #1 | ||
| Fnatic | EMEA Regional Circuit Points #2 | ||
| Team Liquid | EMEA Last Chance Qualifier winner | ||
| North America | OpTic Gaming | NA Regional Circuit Points #1 | |
| XSET | NA Regional Circuit Points #2 | ||
| 100 Thieves | NA Last Chance Qualifier winner | ||
| Asia-Pacific | Paper Rex | APAC Regional Circuit Points #1 | |
| Thailand | XERXIA Esports | APAC Regional Circuit Points #2 | |
| Indonesia | BOOM Esports | APAC Last Chance Qualifier winner | |
| East Asia | South Korea | DRX | KR Regional Circuit Points #1 |
| Japan | ZETA DIVISION | JP Regional Circuit Points #1 | |
| China | Edward Gaming | EA Last Chance Qualifier winner | |
| South America | Brazil | BR Regional Circuit Points #1 | |
| Furia Esports | SA Last Chance Qualifier runner-up | ||
| Latin America | Leviatán | LATAM Regional Circuit Points #1 | |
| KRÜ Esports | SA Last Chance Qualifier winner | ||
The group stage took place August 31 – September 8, 2022. 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. Only the top 2 teams in each group will qualified for the playoffs.
The knockouts were a double-elimination tournament that took place September 9–18, 2022, at Volkswagen Arena, Istanbul. 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.
| Pos | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | LOUD | $300,000 |
| 2nd | OpTic Gaming | $150,000 |
| 3rd | DRX | $110,000 |
| 4th | FunPlus Phoenix | $80,000 |
| 5th–6th | XSET | $60,000 |
| Fnatic | ||
| 7th–8th | Team Liquid | $40,000 |
| Leviatán | ||
| 9th–12th | 100 Thieves | $25,000 |
| KRÜ Esports | ||
| ZETA Division | ||
| Paper Rex | ||
| 13th–16th | Furia Esports | $15,000 |
| XERXIA Esports | ||
| BOOM Esports | ||
| Edward Gaming |