The first VCT Major of the year will start soon and once again we will see the very best Valorant gameplay. This time in the Icelandic capital Rejkjavík. Here we have summarized everything you need to know.

The VCT Stage 1 Masters is definitely not what we had in mind, especially when it comes to the teams that qualified. But are we less happy because of that? Probably not – the opposite is the case! Valorant Esports history is being made right before our eyes, so we can hardly wait for this event.

Apart from esports, this event is probably also the date when we will learn more about the new agent, new maps and the developers’ future plans. We are sure that many of you will share our anticipation for the event, so we have summarized all the information about the tournament for you here!

VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík: All Teams

Let’s start with the twelve teams that managed to qualify for the event. If you’re not quite familiar with the Valorant pro scene, we’ll warn you – this list may look a little weird.

We would like to mention that FunPlus Phoenix also managed to qualify for the tournament, but unfortunately, due to the war in Ukraine, they cannot participate. For this reason, Team Liquid has taken over their spot.

VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík: Tournament Format

Seems like winning a Challenger tournament is a big deal after all. Unlike other VCT Tournaments, the playoffs are played in a double knockout system. Furthermore, the top four teams from the strongest regions advance directly to the playoffs. These regions are:

• EMEA (G2 Esports)
• North America (The Guard)
• APAC (Paper Rex)
• LATAM vs Brazil (TBA)

And what about the other eight teams? They will be split into two groups, which will also be played in a double knockout format. The top two teams in each group will then advance to the playoffs.

VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík: Distribution of the prize money

We don’t know the exact distribution of the prize money in terms of real money. However, we do know how many VCT Circuit Points will be distributed at this tournament. This is probably even more important, as these points can be used to qualify for this year’s World Championship. As soon as we have more information about the tournament’s prize money, we will update this section.

VCT Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík: Schedule & Stream

The tournament will start on April 10, 2022 and will run over two weeks until it ends on April 24, 2022. We expect the matches to take place at around 16:00 MEST (three matches per day), and you’ll be able to watch them on Valorant’s official Twitch channel:

Valorant: How to put together the optimal team

Which roles do you need to fill? How do you divide up the positions? And who is the in-game leader? We have the answers!

Many roles for five positions in the team

You can roughly divide the roles and responsibilities in a team. There is the solo defender, who can hold a point alone. The Support, who makes room with skills that need to be respected. The In-Game Lead makes the calls and works with the information of his teammates. The Entry Fragger and the Secondary are the players who go together on a point and are not afraid of enemy contact. The Sniper, who preferably holds certain angles with an Operator and can get a big advantage for the round with a First Blood, can also be beneficial to the team. Last but not least, there is the Lurker, who preferably keeps opponents busy at the other end of the map and comes from an unexpected side after enemy rotations.

The individual roles can also partially overlap or can be left out entirely or can change from round to round. An in-game leader can also be a solo defender and can also focus on minimap and communication due to defensive play. A balanced team with the assignment of such roles has the advantage that the team members know what their tasks are in the current round and can thus also build on the strengths of their agents.

The Spearhead: Entry Fragger & Secondary

The Entry Fragger is optimally the first player to make contact with the opponents around the Objective being targeted by the team. This can also be an important place on a map as a defender, e.g. to gain some control over the center in Ascent. By his push he makes room for the other mates, passes on the positions of the opponents and has the chance to get the point alone by nimble kills. The best agents for this role are Phoenix and Reyna.

As a secondary, you try to build on the moves, information and kills from the entry fragger. At a certain point, it pays to take a different position, hold different angles, or get behind enemy lines very quickly to take opponents who are rotating out of the action. Jett, Raze, Omen and Breach are particularly suitable for this role.

The Solo Defender

Since most maps have 3 main lanes, only two of them can be defended with a duo, the third “lane” then belongs to the solo defender. On Attack the role is obsolete, but an agent made for this role can here protect the team from flanks or focus on making sure the spike is well placed and defend them additionally with appropriate skills. Those who like this style of play might be satisfied with Cypher, Sage and Sova.

The Support

The main task of the support player is the optimal use of his abilities to make it easier for his own team to attack a point. This includes for example optimal placement of Smokes and the use of Flashes. As supports, many agents are suitable for this role: The solo defender agents can support well in the offense to get information or to cover some angles. Other agents are suitable as supports thanks to their sight-blocking abilities, like Brimstone and Viper, which can make it very easy to access a point. But Sova or Skye are also welcome in the role, as they can scout ahead with their Recon abilities.

The In-Game Leader

No team can function without an IGL. The game starts with the operator choice: Who plays which agent? How should the team split up on the map by default? Which agents do the opponents have? What do we have to pay attention to? How do we time the round? All this information and more have to be communicated to the team. If you want to take the role of the IGL, you should look for an agent who supports this role additionally like all agents who can get additional information by ability like Cypher, Sova and Raze.

The Sniper

Do you have an operator god in your team? Then let him take the role of the Sniper. Defensively, the Sniper can hold many angles where he can stand faster than the enemy team and get free kills especially against slow peeks. If it goes a bit offensive, he tries to move out after the spearhead, gradually covering positions where opponents can come. Good agents to support the sniper’s playstyle are for example Jett to play more offensive angles without risk or Cypher who rotates to other points after building up camera and tripwires to stay unpredictable.

The Lurker

Last but not least, there are the Lone Wolfs, who don’t like to hang out with the team, also called Lurker. This role is also useful in a team to avoid giving half the map to the opponents or to get impatient opponents when they don’t expect it because they rotate through their own spawn. Omen, Reyna and Jett are especially useful for playing off the enemy team, as their abilities make them less likely to fall victim to refrags or to escape from a bad position after a successful kill.

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