Valorant Esports — 2026 Schedule

How the 2026 VALORANT Champions Tour works

The VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is built on four international leagues: Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. Each has 12 teams, for 48 in total. The season has three phases. Kickoff started on January 15 and used a triple-elimination bracket for the first time. Stage 1 split each league into two groups of six for a single round robin of best-of-three matches, and the top four from each group reached the playoffs. Stage 2 decided who goes to Champions.

Each phase leads to an international event. Kickoff sent teams to Masters Santiago, and the top three from each Stage 1 playoff (12 teams) went to Masters London. For Champions, the top two from each Stage 2 playoff qualify. Each league's last two spots go to the teams with the most Championship Points that haven't already qualified. Teams earn those points all season by winning league matches and placing well at Masters.

Two 2026 changes are worth knowing. Ascension, the promotion tournament for Americas, EMEA and Pacific, is gone. Instead, four Challengers teams per region joined the Stage 2 play-ins, so a non-partner team had a direct path to Champions. And this is the last season of the current format. In April 2026, Riot announced that from 2027 the league regular seasons will be replaced by VCT Cups (two per territory each year), partnerships will run in two-year cycles, and open qualifiers will give any team a route to Masters and Champions. Open qualifiers for the 2027 Kickoff events start in the last quarter of 2026.

The biggest VALORANT events of 2026

• Masters Santiago (Chile, finished in March): now 12 teams, up from eight. Nongshim RedForce won, with Paper Rex second.
• Masters London (June): Leviatán won, and Paper Rex finished second again.
• Champions Shanghai (September 24 to October 18): the first Champions held in China. Sixteen teams play a double-elimination group stage of four groups of four, all best-of-three. The top two from each group advance to playoffs, which end with the grand final at Mercedes-Benz Arena on October 18. The prize pool is $2.25 million, with $1 million to the winner. NRG are the defending champions.

Where to watch VCT for free

All VCT broadcasts are free. Riot streams the main English broadcast on the official VALORANT Twitch channel and the @ValorantEsports YouTube channel, and on valorantesports.com. Vertical streams for phones run on TikTok. During Champions, regional VCT channels carry local-language broadcasts, and Riot's co-streaming program means hundreds of creators can show the matches live with their own commentary. Full VODs go up on YouTube.

Watching can earn in-game rewards. Link your Riot and Twitch accounts and turn on the campaign in Twitch's Drops tab. At Champions 2026, 30 minutes of group or playoff viewing earns the "Prepared" title, and watching the grand final earns the "Stamp of Approval" spray.

What time VCT matches are on in Eastern Time

• VCT Americas: Stage 2 group matches started at 2 PM Pacific, which is 5 PM ET.
• VCT EMEA: 5 PM Central European time, which is 11 AM ET.
• VCT Pacific: 5 PM Korea time, which is 4 AM ET during daylight time.
• Champions Shanghai: the first match of the day usually starts around 4-5 AM ET, with the second around 8 AM ET. Shanghai is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.

Tips for following VCT

Play Pick'Ems in the Esports tab of the VALORANT client. For Champions, group-stage picks locked on September 24 and playoff picks lock around 2:10 AM PT on October 7. Strong brackets earn a gun buddy, and a perfect bracket earns a title. Most Champions matches start before sunrise ET, so a spoiler-free YouTube VOD with breakfast is often the most practical way to watch from the US. Next season will look very different, so expect new team names in the 2027 open qualifiers.