Valorant Challengers League 2023: Open qualifiers format, schedule, and more

The Valorant Championship Tour, or VCT in short, is about to begin, and Riot Games announced a new format for the event earlier this year. The organizers also gave VCT a partnership system.

With the conclusion of the OFF//SEASON competition, most teams have confirmed their lineups. Valorant esports' 2023 season began with regional Challenger Leagues, and The International Split will begin in February with LOCK//IN in Brazil.

The North American Valorant Challengers League, one of 20+ regional leagues worldwide, begins January 9 with a series of thrilling Open Qualifiers. The Challengers Circuit's biggest area will see 12 teams compete in the 2023 League to join the best teams from North America, Brazil, and LATAM in America's Ascension Tournament and eventually take the stage at the highly awaited global VALORANT tournaments.

Everything players need to know about the Valorant Challengers League 2023 Open Qualifiers

The Challenger league will begin on January 9, 2023. With two Open Qualifiers of five days on January 17 to 22, followed by another on January 17 to 22. From there, teams will be selected to join among some of the finest North American Valorant stars for the 2023 season.

To qualify for one of the six available prestigious Challengers team slots and a chance to compete in the Americas Ascension Tournament later this year, more than 250 teams must survive five days of challenging bracket play.

The format in which the Open Qualifiers will be held

As mentioned, the Challengers Open Qualifiers will have two separate tournaments. Up to six teams will be invited to join the league directly, with the remaining six seats determined through the Open Qualifier series.

The top four teams from Open Qualifier 1 and the top two from Open Qualifier 2 will join the final roster for the 2023 season, along with the invited teams.

Valorant Challengers League (Image via Riot games)

The tournament will be played in a best-of-three, single-elimination style until teams reach Round 32 brackets and will be re-seeded for the main event, consisting of double elimination bracket play with upper and lower brackets.

Additionally, the tournament will feature the same map pool used in VCT Istanbul, and the first two weeks of the Challengers League will be played on the recently released Patch 5.12.

Schedule for the Challengers League

Open Qualifier 1

It will be held from January 9 to 13.

Main Event

January 9 - Single Elimination. There will be broadcasts available.

January 10// 6:00 pm EST

January 11// 6:00 pm EST

January 12// 6:00 pm EST, Winners Qualify for Challengers.

January 13// 6:00 pm EST, Winners Qualify for Challengers.

Open Qualifier 2

Main Event

January 17 - Single Elimination. There will be broadcasts available.

January 18// 6:00 pm EST

January 19// 6:00 pm EST

January 20// 6:00 pm EST

January 21// 8:15 pm EST, Winners Qualify for Challengers.

January 22// 6:00 pm EST, Winners Qualify for Challengers.

Knights Arena, the official tournament organizer for both the NA VCT Challengers and the NA VCT Game Changers 2023, has revealed all relevant information.

About the author

Animesh has been a Call of Duty writer at Sportskeeda for close to two years. A fervent enthusiast of the iconic Mario Bros. franchise and several first-person shooter games, his love for gaming pushed him to merge his passion and profession, and eventually land a writing job in the genre. When creating content, he prioritizes quality and accuracy over speed, verifying multiple official sources. This has helped his meticulous first-person shooter guides garner over two million reads.

Although Animesh holds a Master’s degree in Commerce, he would willingly go back to school; just as long as the school is Hogwarts, so he can jump into the world of spell-casting and fly on broomsticks. He admires gamers Shroud and Beaulo, and would recommend story-driven games like Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, and Far Cry 3 for their captivating narratives and deep player engagement.

Animesh also enjoys multiplayer games such as Valorant, Apex Legends, and Warzone. When he keeps his controller aside, he plays football and badminton, reads books, and cooks.

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Edited by Srijan Sen