| 2022 VCT: Stage 1 Masters | |
| Game: | Valorant |
| Location: | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Date: | April 10–24, 2022 |
| Administrator: | Riot Games |
| Venues: | Laugardalshöll |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Purse: | [1] |
| Champions: | OpTic Gaming |
| Previous: | 2021: Stage 3 |
| Next: | 2022: Stage 2 |
| Runner-Up1: | LOUD |
The 2022 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT): Stage 1 Masters, also known as the Valorant Masters Reykjavík 2022,[2] was an international tournament organized by Riot Games for the first-person shooter game Valorant, as part of the Valorant Champions Tour's 2022 competitive season. The tournament ran from April 10–24, 2022, in Reykjavík, Iceland. The city also previously hosted the 2021 VCT Stage 2 Masters.[3]
Reykjavík was the city chosen to host the competition. All matches were played at Laugardalshöll without spectators.[4]
The champion teams from the Asia-Pacific; EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and North America Stage 1 Challengers were all directly qualified to the upper bracket quarterfinals. Which of the two regions Latin America and Brazil win the South America Playoff (the match between two runner-up teams from Challengers of twos) will get quarterfinals spot for their Challengers winner. The remaining eight teams were seeded in the GSL formatted group stage and were divided into two groups of four teams.[5]
This tournament has 12 spots which are divided below:
| Started in | Regions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | South America | Japan | S.Korea | Asia-Pacific | ||||
| Brazil | Latin America | |||||||
| Knockout stage (4 spots) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Group stage (8 spots) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total (12 spots) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
FunPlus Phoenix originally qualified for the Stage 1 Masters after winning the 2022 EMEA Stage 1 Challengers; however, due to the travel restrictions caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, they were not able to field a team and were forced to withdraw from the competition. Riot then decided to replace them with Team Liquid as EMEA's third representative.[6] With this, the squad was still awarded $25,000 and 200 circuit points, which is equivalent to an eighth-place finish — the lowest place they could have earned at the tournament.[7]
Brazil's Challengers runner-up Ninjas in Pyjamas had won Latin America's Challengers runner-up Leviatán in South America Playoff match, leading to South America's spot in Knockout stage was given to Brazil's Challengers winner LOUD instead of Latin America's Challengers winner KRÜ Esports.
| Region | Path | Team | ID | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting in the Knockout stage | |||||
| EMEA Stage 1 Challengers runner-up | G2 Esports | G2 | |||
| North America | NA Stage 1 Challengers winner | The Guard | TGRD | ||
| Asia-Pacific | MYSG Stage 1 Challengers winner ►APAC Stage 1 Challengers winner | Paper Rex | PRX | ||
| Brazil | BR Stage 1 Challengers winner | LOUD | LLL | ||
| Starting in the group stage | |||||
| EMEA Stage 1 Challengers third-place | Fnatic | FNC | |||
| EMEA Stage 1 Challengers fourth-place | Team Liquid | TL | |||
| North America | NA Stage 1 Challengers runner-up | OpTic Gaming | OPTC | ||
| Asia-Pacific | Thailand | Thailand Stage 1 Challengers winner ►APAC Stage 1 Challengers runner-up | XERXIA | XIA | |
| South Korea | KR Stage 1 Challengers winner | DRX | DRX | ||
| Japan | JP Stage 1 Challengers winner | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA | ||
| Latin America | LATAM South | LATAM South Stage 1 Challengers runner-up ►LATAM Stage 1 Challengers Winner | KRÜ Esports | KRÜ | |
| Brazil | BR Stage 1 Challengers runner-up ►South America Stage 1 Playoff winner | Ninjas in Pyjamas | NIP | ||
List of 7 maps are played in this tournament:
| Rank | Team | Winnings (USD) | Circuit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $200,000 | 750 | |
| 2nd | LOUD | $120,000 | 500 |
| 3rd | ZETA Division | $85,000 | 400 |
| 4th | Paper Rex | $65,000 | 300 |
| 5th-6th | $40,000 | 250 | |
| G2 Esports | |||
| 7th-8th | $25,000 | 200 | |
| The Guard | |||
| 9th-10th | $15,000 | 150 | |
| XERXIA | |||
| 11th-12th | $10,000 | 125 | |
| KRÜ Esports |
Source:[8]