# 2022 Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 1 Masters

The 2022 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT): Stage 1 Masters, also known as the Valorant Masters Reykjavík 2022, 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.

## Venue

Reykjavík was the city chosen to host the competition. All matches were played at Laugardalshöll without spectators.
* Reykjavík, Iceland
* Laugardalshöll
* Reykjavík

## Format
### Tournament spots

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.
This tournament has 12 spots which are divided below:
| Started in | Regions | Regions | Regions | Regions | Regions | Regions | Regions |
| Started in | EMEA | North America | South America | South America | Japan | S.Korea | Asia-Pacific |
| Started in | EMEA | North America | Brazil | Latin America | Japan | S.Korea | Asia-Pacific |
| Knockout stage (4 spots) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Group stage (8 spots) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total (12 spots) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |

### Qualified teams

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 Russian invasion of Ukraine, 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. 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.
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 | Region | Path | Team | ID |
| Starting in the Knockout stage |||||
| EMEA | EMEA | EMEA Stage 1 Challengers runner-up | G2 Esports | G2 |
| North America | North America | NA Stage 1 Challengers winner | The Guard | TGRD |
| Asia-Pacific | MYSG | MYSG Stage 1 Challengers winner ►APAC Stage 1 Challengers winner | Paper Rex | PRX |
| Brazil | Brazil | BR Stage 1 Challengers winner | LOUD | LLL |
| Starting in the group stage |||||
| EMEA | EMEA | EMEA Stage 1 Challengers third-place | Fnatic | FNC |
| EMEA | EMEA | EMEA Stage 1 Challengers fourth-place | Team Liquid | TL |
| North America | 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 | South Korea | KR Stage 1 Challengers winner | DRX | DRX |
| Japan | 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 | Brazil | BR Stage 1 Challengers runner-up ►South America Stage 1 Playoff winner | Ninjas in Pyjamas | NIP |

### Map pool

List of 7 maps are played in this tournament:
* Ascent
* Bind
* Breeze
* Fracture
* Haven
* Icebox
* Split

## Group stage

* 8 teams are divided into 2 groups of four teams each playing in a GSL-style double-elimination format. Two teams from the EMEA could not be placed in the same group.
* Games are held in a Bo3 series.
* 2 teams in each group will qualify for the playoffs.

### Group A

| Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified |
| DRX | DRX | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | 2 | 3 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | 2 | 3 | – | 0 | DRX | DRX | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | Ninjas in Pyjamas | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 4 | 8 | – | 0 | | | |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | Ninjas in Pyjamas | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 4 | 8 | – | 0 | | | |
| Fnatic | Fnatic | 7 | 8 | – | 0 | | | | | | |
| Fnatic | Fnatic | 7 | 8 | – | 0 | | | DRX | DRX | DRX | | | |
| | | | | | | | | DRX | DRX | DRX | | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION |
| Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION |
| | | | | | | Ninjas in Pyjamas | Ninjas in Pyjamas | 13 | 10 | 12 | 1 | | | |
| ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA DIVISION | 6 | 13 | 14 | 2 | | | |
| Fnatic | Fnatic | 7 | 11 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | |

### Group B

| Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Opening Matches | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Winner's Match | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified |
| KRÜ Esports | KRÜ Esports | 5 | 14 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| Team Liquid | Team Liquid | 13 | 16 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| Team Liquid | Team Liquid | 13 | 16 | – | 2 | Team Liquid | Team Liquid | 13 | 11 | 17 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | XERXIA | XERXIA | 7 | 13 | 15 | 1 | | | |
| XERXIA | XERXIA | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | XERXIA | XERXIA | 7 | 13 | 15 | 1 | | | |
| OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | 10 | 10 | – | 0 | | | | | | |
| OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | 10 | 10 | – | 0 | | | Team Liquid | Team Liquid | Team Liquid | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Team Liquid | Team Liquid | Team Liquid | | OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming |
| Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Elimination Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | Decider Match | OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming |
| | | | | | | XERXIA | XERXIA | 9 | 6 | – | 0 | | | |
| KRÜ Esports | KRÜ Esports | 5 | 10 | – | 0 | OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | |
| OpTic Gaming | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | |

## Knockout stage

* 4 seeded teams and 4 teams who qualified for the playoffs will play in a double-elimination tournament.
* All matches are a Bo3 series, except for the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final, which are a Bo5 series.
* The seeded team is drawn against the qualified team from groups.
** Teams from same group will be on opposite sides of the Upper Bracket, meaning they cannot play each other until the Upper Bracket Finals (if both not go down to Lower Bracket).
** Teams from same side in Upper Bracket will be on opposite sides of the Loser Bracket if both go down, meaning they cannot play each other until the Loser Bracket Semifinals.
| Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Quarterfinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | Upper Bracket Semifinals | | | Upper Bracket Final | Upper Bracket Final | Upper Bracket Final | Upper Bracket Final | Upper Bracket Final | Upper Bracket Final | | | | | | | | | | Grand Final | Grand Final | Grand Final |
| Match 1 | Match 1 | Match 1 | Match 1 | Match 1 | Match 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | G2 Esports | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | G2 Esports | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | Match 7 | Match 7 | Match 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A | ZETA DIVISION | 7 | 10 | – | 0 | Match 7 | Match 7 | Match 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A | ZETA DIVISION | 7 | 10 | – | 0 | W1 | G2 Esports | 5 | 11 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | W1 | G2 Esports | 5 | 11 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | Match 2 | W2 | LOUD | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | LOUD | 13 | 3 | 13 | 2 | W2 | LOUD | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | LOUD | 13 | 3 | 13 | 2 | | | Match 11 | Match 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| B | Team Liquid | 10 | 13 | 10 | 1 | | | Match 11 | Match 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| B | Team Liquid | 10 | 13 | 10 | 1 | | | W7 | LOUD | 2 | 13 | | | 13 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | | | | | | | | | 13 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | Match 3 | | | W7 | LOUD | 2 | 13 | | | W8 | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 8 | 11 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | Paper Rex | 13 | 8 | 8 | 1 | | | | | | | | | W8 | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 8 | 11 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | Paper Rex | 13 | 8 | 8 | 1 | Match 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A | DRX | 10 | 13 | 13 | 2 | Match 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A | DRX | 10 | 13 | 13 | 2 | W3 | | | DRX | 13 | 11 | | | 13 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | W3 | | | DRX | 13 | 11 | | | 13 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | Match 4 | W4 | | | OpTic Gaming | 8 | 13 | 15 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| AQ | The Guard | 7 | 13 | 11 | 1 | W4 | | | OpTic Gaming | 8 | 13 | 15 | 2 | | | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | Match 14 | | | | | |
| B | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 7 | 13 | 2 | | | | W11 | LOUD | 9 | 12 | 13 | | | – | – | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | W13 | OpTic Gaming | 13 | 14 | 15 | – | – | 3 |
| Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Round 1 | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Quarterfinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | Lower Bracket Semifinals | | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | Lower Bracket Final | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Match 9 | Match 9 | Match 9 | Match 9 | Match 9 | Match 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 5 | Match 5 | Match 5 | Match 5 | Match 5 | Match 5 | L8 | DRX | 11 | 13 | 4 | 1 | | | | | | | | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | Match 13 | | | | | |
| L1 | ZETA Division | 13 | 4 | 13 | 2 | W5 | ZETA DIVISION | 13 | 10 | 13 | 2 | | | Match 12 | Match 12 | Match 12 | Match 12 | Match 12 | Match 12 | L11 | OpTic Gaming | 15 | | | 13 | 13 | | | – | – | 3 |
| L2 | Team Liquid | 7 | 13 | 7 | 1 | | | | | | | | | W9 | ZETA DIVISION | 6 | 13 | 13 | 2 | | | W12 | | | ZETA DIVISION | 13 | 5 | 8 | – | – | 0 |
| | | | | | | Match 10 | Match 10 | Match 10 | Match 10 | Match 10 | Match 10 | | | W10 | Paper Rex | 13 | 2 | 10 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Match 6 | Match 6 | Match 6 | Match 6 | Match 6 | Match 6 | L7 | G2 Esports | 10 | 7 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| L3 | Paper Rex | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | W6 | Paper Rex | 13 | 13 | – | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| L4 | The Guard | 10 | 8 | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Final rankings

| Rank | Team | Winnings (USD) | Circuit Points |
| 1st | OpTic Gaming | $200,000 | 750 |
| 2nd | LOUD | $120,000 | 500 |
| 3rd | ZETA Division | $85,000 | 400 |
| 4th | Paper Rex | $65,000 | 300 |
| 5th-6th | DRX | $40,000 | 250 |
| 5th-6th | G2 Esports | $40,000 | 250 |
| 7th-8th | Team Liquid | $25,000 | 200 |
| 7th-8th | The Guard | $25,000 | 200 |
| 9th-10th | Ninjas in Pyjamas | $15,000 | 150 |
| 9th-10th | XERXIA | $15,000 | 150 |
| 11th-12th | Fnatic | $10,000 | 125 |
| 11th-12th | KRÜ Esports | $10,000 | 125 |
Source: