VALORANT Masters: Berlin qualifying update for every region
by Jessica Scharnagle
Last updated: Aug. 23
Qualifiers for Masters: Berlin are well underway in all regions, and fans around the world are cheering for their team to make it to the international stage. To learn more about the teams that have already qualified, check out our primer on the Masters: Berlin qualifiers. To learn more about the qualifying process in each region, keep reading.
Masters: Berlin, which starts Sept. 9, is slated to be slightly different from Masters: Reykjavík in the number of teams that can qualify. There are a total of 16 teams that will compete in Masters: Berlin. The regional slots that make up those 16 teams are listed below:
- North America: 3
- Europe: 4
- Latin America: 1
- Brazil: 2
- Korea: 2
- Japan: 2
- Southeast Asia: 2
Each region has its own Challengers series, and teams compete in a series of Challengers tournaments in order to qualify in the final Challengers round. Those who make it far enough in the final Challengers round will earn their spot at Masters: Berlin.
Learn more about Nerd Street’s 2021 Summer Championships!
North America
Sentinels, 100 Thieves and Envy have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
Qualifiers for the NA region consist of two Challengers tournaments, in which players compete in order to qualify for Challengers Playoffs. Eight teams compete in the Challengers Playoffs, and the top three teams qualify for Masters: Berlin.
At the first Challengers tournament, four teams will secure a spot in Challengers Playoffs and will not compete again until then. The teams who finish fifth through eighth will secure a spot in the next Challengers tournament closed qualifier.
At the second Challengers tournament, the top four teams will advance to the playoffs. The top three finishers at Challengers Playoffs will advance to Masters: Berlin.
NA VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Stage 3 Challengers 1 open qualifier: July 1-4
100 Thieves, XSET, Sentinels, Envy, Kansas City Pioneers, Rise, Version1 and Gen.G Esports qualified for Challengers 1 closed qualifier.
Stage 3 Challengers 1 closed qualifier: July 8-11
100 Thieves, XSET, Sentinels, Team Envy qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Stage 3 Challengers 2 open qualifier: July 23-25
Gen.G Esports, Kansas City Pioneers, Rise, Version1, FaZe Clan, TSM, T1 and Luminosity Gaming qualified for Challengers 2 closed qualifier.
Stage 3 Challengers 2 closed qualifier: July 29 - August 1
TSM, FaZe Clan, Luminosity Gaming and Rise qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs: August 11-15
Sentinels, Envy, 100 Thieves, XSET, TSM, FaZe Clan, Luminosity Gaming and Rise will compete, and the top three will qualify for Masters: Berlin.
Read more: How TenZ became the biggest star in VALORANT
Photo credit: Riot Games
Europe (EMEA)
Acend, SuperMassive Blaze, Gambit Esports and G2 Esports have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
The Europe region follows the same format as NA with two Challengers events and one playoffs, but more teams are involved. Because the Europe region includes the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Turkey, more teams compete in each tournament.
In each of their respective Challengers open and closed qualifiers, six teams from EU, three teams from Turkey and three teams from CIS compete in the playoffs. Out of the 12 teams that make it to Challengers Playoffs, the top four teams will go on to compete at Masters: Berlin.
Europe VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 7-11
Acend, Guild Esports, G2 Esports and FunPlus Phoenix qualified for the playoffs.
Challengers 2: July 28 - August 1
Team Liquid and Giants Gaming qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
CIS VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 6-10
Gambit Esports and Natus Vincere (formerly No Pressure) qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers 2: July 27-31
ForZe qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Turkey VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 6-10
Oxygen Esports and SummerMassive Blaze qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers 2: July 27-31
Fire Flux Esports qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
EMEA VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs breakdown:
Challengers Playoffs: August 12-22
Acend, Guild Esports, G2 Esports, FunPlus Phoenix, Team Liquid and Giants Gaming from Europe; Oxygen Esports, SummerMassive Blaze and Fire Flux Esports from Turkey; and Gambit Esports, Natus Vincere and forZe from the CIS region will compete, and the top four teams will move on to Masters: Berlin.
Photo credit: Riot Games
Latin America
KRÜ Esports have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
Two regions, Latin America North and Latin America South, have just one spot in Masters: Berlin to fight for. The playoffs for LATAM are unique in that they will be held on LAN in Mexico City.
LATAM North VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 6-11
Six Karma and Infinity qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers 2: July 27 - August 1
Border Monsters and LAZER qualified for LATAM North Challengers Playoffs.
LATAM North Challengers Playoffs: August 6-8
Six Karma, Infinity, Border Monsters and LAZER will compete and the top two teams progress to LATAM Challengers Playoffs.
LATAM South VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: June 29 - July 4
KRU Esports and Australis qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers 2: July 27 - August 1
Kaos Latin Gamers and 9z Team qualified for LATAM South Challengers Playoffs.
LATAM South Challengers Playoffs: August 3-5
KRU Esports, Australis, Kaos Latin Gamers and 9z TeamTop will compete and the top two teams will progress to LATAM Challengers Playoffs.
LATAM VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs breakdown:
LATAM Challengers Playoffs: August 17-19
KRU, Australs, Infinity and Six Karma competed.
Photo credit: Riot Games
Brazil
Havan Liberty and Keyd Stars have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
Brazil is one of two regions who have a third Challengers tournament thrown into the mix. Challengers 2 is when Brazilian teams start to qualify for their playoff matches.
In Challengers 2, the top four teams will progress to Challengers Playoffs, while the bottom four teams will have to fight their way through the Challengers 3 bracket to finish in the top four in order to move on.
Brazil VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 1-11
Team Vikings, Gamelanders Blue, FURIA Esports and Sharks Esports qualified for Challengers 2.
Challengers 2: July 17-25
Stars Horizon, Sharks Esports, Team Vikings, Gamelanders Blue qualified for Challengers Playoffs. NOORG 2.0, SLICK, FURIA Esports and INGAMING Esports progressed to Challengers 3.
Challengers 3: July 31 - August 8
Havan Liberty, FURIA Esports, Keyd Stars and Jaguares Esports qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers Playoffs: August 12-22
Stars Horizon, Sharks Esports, Team Vikings, Gamelanders Blue, Havan Liberty, FURIA Esports, Keyd Stars and Jaguares Esports competed.
Photo credit: Riot Games
Korea
F4Q and Vision Strikers have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
Korea is keeping it nice and simple with just one Challengers tournament before the playoffs. Their qualifiers are much different than the other regions.
For teams to advance to the Challengers Playoffs in Korea, they must first go through single-elimination knockout rounds, and then they will enter a group stage that determines which teams advance to the playoffs.
Four groups of four teams compete in the group stage, and the top two teams from each group advance to Challengers Playoffs.
Korea VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 8 - August 1
Single-elimination bracket took place July 8-16.
Group stage: July 18 - August 1
F4Q, TNL Esports, Vision Strikers, NUTURN Gaming, DAMWON Gaming, Prince, World Game Star and GochuGaru qualified for Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers Playoffs: August 6-15
F4Q, TNL Esports, Vision Strikers, NUTURN Gaming, DAMWON Gaming, Prince, World Game Star and GochuGaru competed.
Photo credit: Riot Games
Japan
Crazy Raccoon and ZETA DIVISION have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
Japan’s qualifiers follow the format of most of the other regions, with two qualifying tournaments and a Challengers Playoffs, with the exception of a group stage after their open qualifiers.
Two groups of eight teams compete at each Challengers tournament and the top two teams advance to Challengers Playoffs. The top two teams in the Challengers Playoffs will go on to represent Japan in Masters: Berlin.
Japan VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 10-11
ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon, Northeption and BlackBird Ignis progressed to Challengers Playoffs
Challengers 2: July 22-23
FENNEL, REJECT, Feeling and Insomnia advanced to Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers Playoffs: August 12-15
ZETA DIVISION, Crazy Raccoon, Northeption, BlackBird Ignis, FENNEL, REJECT, Feeling and Insomnia competed.
Photo credit: Riot Games
Southeast Asia
Bren Esports and Paper Rex have qualified for Masters: Berlin.
SEA is another region that has three Challengers qualifiers before their playoffs. Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Vietnam make up the six regions in SEA, and each of their tournaments have different formats to progress to the SEA part of the tournament.
Once teams make it to the SEA Challengers Playoffs, they will have to compete in a group stage before they make it to the double-elimination playoffs bracket. The two teams that win in each group move on to the bracket portion of the tournament.
One interesting point to note is that all of the matches for SEA’s playoffs are a single game, which deviates from the best-of-three format most other regions use.
Southeast Asia VCT Stage 3 Challengers qualifiers breakdown:
Challengers 1: July 8-11
One winner from each of the six regions (with the exception of Hong Kong and Taiwan and Malaysia and Singapore, who move to the next Challengers event) has moved on to Challengers Playoffs: X10 Esports, ONIC Esports, Bren Esports and Team Big BAAM.
Challengers 2: July 22-25
One winner from each region has advanced to Challengers Playoffs: FULL SENSE, Alter Ego, Galaxy Racer, CEBERUS Esports, CBT Gaming and UwU.
Challengers 3: August 5-8
One winner from each region will advance to Challengers Playoffs.
Challengers Playoffs: August 12-22
X10 Esports, ONIC Esports, Bren Esports, Team Big BAAM, FULL SENSE, Alter Ego, Galaxy Racer, CEBERUS Esports, CBT Gaming, UwU, Five Ace e-Sports, Paper Rex, Sharper Esport, BOOM Esports, Oasis Gaming and Ego competed.
Lead image credit: Riot Games
