4 reasons to watch VALORANT Champions 2022

On August 31, one of the biggest events in the world of esports will begin, the main championship in the world of VALORANT with the uncomplicated name VALORANT Champions 2022. We will talk about what is remarkable about this tournament and tell about the reasons why esports fans should not ignore this event.

VALORANT Champions 2022 Format

The championship will be held in two stages. It starts from the group stage, which will be held in the double-elimination format. Participants will compete there in Bo3 matches. After that, the two best teams from each quartet will go to the playoffs to conquer the tournament.

In the final stage, the teams will also face each other in bo3 matches in most matches, however, the lower bracket final and the grand final will differ from regular matches in the bo5 format.

Prize fund

At the moment, it is not known what the prize pool will be for VALORANT Champions 2022. Last year, $1,000,000 was raffled off at the Valorant World Championship, and the winner in the person of Acend got the main prize of $350,000. Vice-champion then received $150,000.

If nothing changes this time, then the prize fund, in spite of everything, will be quite large, and if the organizers increase it, this will to some extent increase the level of competitiveness of the teams and their motivation to win.

Additionally, we know that 50% of user purchases of skins from the Champions 2022 Skin Collection go to teams.

List of participants

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

A few reasons not to miss VALORANT Champions 2022

Now let's get to the fun part! Let's discuss several reasons why not only fans of this unusual shooter esports discipline, but also ordinary guests of the esports world should not miss the upcoming Valorant championship.

1. Tournament level

It's no secret that VALORANT Champions 2022 is The International in the world of Valorant. From this follows a lot of interesting moments that we can see as part of the ongoing event. The incredible thirst of the players to win with a noticeable desire, backed up not only by the significance of the event, but also by a large prize pool.

Speaking about the prize money, it is worth stepping back and saying that we still do not know how much money will be raffled between the teams, but last year the teams raffled off not much more than $1,000,000 between each other. Compared to the same Dota 2 and The International, this is certainly not enough, but if we compare the usual Major tournament from CS:GO or the Major championships for the same Dota 2, then you can see how far Riot Games go with the development of their shooter disciplines.

It is noteworthy that this is one of the few events in which there will be a real clash of all regions. Usually, tournaments are observed on the professional stage, in which teams of the same divisions play against each other: North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Latin America, Korean division, Asia-Pacific region. This time, representatives of all the above divisions will face off in one tournament in order to prove that it is their region that can be called the best in the Valorant world.

And let's not forget - the main prize in the form of $350,000 is perhaps the strongest motivation for winning this championship! Again, at the moment we still don't know how much Riot Games funds will be given away between the participants of the event, but the million dollar tournament already sounds quite hype, right?

2. "Second youth"

I would like to place the opportunity to fulfill myself in a relatively fresh shooter on the international eSports scene into a separate category and indulge in a little philosophical reasoning and educational program for those who are not in the subject. In other words, let's dive a little into history.

One of the brightest examples of the above is Kirill 'ANGE1' Karasev. At the end of his career in CS:GO, the Ukrainian showed, to put it mildly, not the best results, and as a result, Kirill was in the HellRaisers roster not only as an experienced and good player, but as one of the co-owners of the organization with a good salary.

The volitional decision of the player to go to conquer the Valorant stage turned out to be successful and Karasev's bet played. As a result, $80,000+ in prize money earned over a couple of years, which, by the way, is 43% of the prize money earned over the 12 years of his CS:GO career. Kirill did not remain without high-profile titles either and became the champion of VCT 2022 Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen, a tournament with a prize pool of $650,000. Solid, isn't it?

Another equally successful, and even more successful example is Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo. The CS:GO player failed to achieve great results in 3 years of his career and barely passed the $15,000 mark in prize money earned. “Twistzz on minimum wages” is the only way he was remembered by the public because of his appearance, but as soon as the player switched to Valorant, his life changed.

Significant titles began to go to the Canadian piggy bank one after another, and the victory at the VCT 2021 Stage 2 Masters - Rejkjavik showed that he was a really talented player and was simply not in his discipline. Having exchanged a realistic tactical shooter for more futuristic shooting games with a touch of fantasy, Valorant, the e-sportsman has finally found himself and after the completion of the upcoming championship, it is highly likely that he will overcome the mark of $100,000 in prize money earned, which, to put it mildly, not every Valorant player succeeds.

Recall that recently TenZ had a successful collaboration with Finalmouse and a new series of Starlight Pro computer mice sold 40,000 copies in a few hours and brought more than $7,600,000 to its creators. Would this marketing campaign have been such a success if his success in Valorant was the same as in CS:GO? Of course not. By the way, you can read about it in our material here.

Stories like those of ANGE1 and TenZ give players more motivation in the world of the Riot Games shooter, and VALORANT Champions 2022 could be a springboard for talented esports players.

3. New meta

After VALORANT Champions 2022, a new meta will definitely appear in the game for some characters with a unique use of one or another weapon and not the most standard use of their abilities. This applies not only in the world of Valorant, but also in other disciplines. After every major tournament, players try to imitate their idols and put into practice what they have learned, and this case is no exception. VALORANT Champions 2022 is a great opportunity to learn something new.

4. Promotion from Riot

We previously reported that Riot Games added new content to the game, changing the style of maps to match the tournament theme. You can feel like a participant in the championship and join the general spirit of the community by watching professional matches of the current tournament together with other users. New in-game things will help you enhance this feeling, and getting new player cards will help you to immerse yourself in the world of the Valorant professional scene even more.

Probably Riot Games will add tournament viewing rewards like what Valve did with their CS:GO and how Blizzard does in such situations. There are still doubts about this hypothesis, but it is also possible that Valorant developers will add such an opportunity in order to increase the motivation of users to watch the tournament.

Here you can add impressive production for the tournament. So, for example, the main soundtrack for the championship looks like.

In general, the tournament should be very interesting. We do not recommend to miss it for those who like to watch something interesting in the world of eSports!

VALORANT Champions 2022 runs from August 31 to September 18. 16 teams will fight in pursuit of the Valorant main tournament title and in the hope of receiving an as yet unnamed, but solid cash reward.