Valorant Champions Tour back in Iceland

There’s no question that a lot will depend on Rio Games in the coming months in terms of audience development in eSports. So far, the eSports provider has been somewhat restrained with its announcements of dates. There has been a lot of speculation in the scene. Now the cat is out of the bag. The first Masters Tournament of the Valorant Champions Tour is set. We have the information for you.

Riot Games reveals the secret

The new venue of the Valorant Masters is well known. Rio Games has once again chosen the Icelandic capital Reykjavik. If you want to place eSports bets on the best Valorant clans or just enjoy the matches in front of your screen, you should mark the date firmly in your calendar. The first Valorant Masters will be played from April 10 to April 24.

The best teams of the Valorant gaming world are seeded for the offline event in Reykjavik. The other participants will be determined in the coming days and weeks in various, regional elimination games.

Already 2021 Masters Tournament in Reykjavik

Reykjavik is already in the history books of the Valorant Series. Last year, the Masters 2 was held in the Icelandic capital. It was the first ever offline tournament. For the first time, the best Valorant teams in the world met in one place. Masters 1 was still played in online mode by Riot Games.

Corona rule the main reason for Iceland

The idea of the organizer is clear. The top priority is that the Masters tournaments are played in front of live audiences. While the online streams are an important source of revenue for the Riot Games, a live tournament in front of fans logically has a completely different impact. With the fans in the hall, new more attractive sponsorship deals can also be made.

Iceland offers itself as a venue corona-conditionally. In other countries, it is not yet clear what rules and restrictions will have to be observed in April 2022. However, Reykjavik gives the organizers absolute planning security. Riot Games has a commitment that a) teams will be able to travel to the country unhindered and b) that the maximum number of spectators will be allowed to be exhausted. Iceland has become a reliable go-to country for the eSports scene in recent months.

Time zone in Reykjavik another important plus point

In addition to the travel and spectator opportunities, the Icelandic capital can also boast another plus point – the time zone. Iceland is two hours behind the local summer time. The local time is ideal for live broadcasts of the games, on the one hand of course in Europe, but on the other hand especially in Asia and in North America. Riot Games can calculate with an additional plus at the screens due to the user-friendly start times.

The favorites for the Valorant Masters

The favorites for the first European Valorant highlight of the year can be read very well from the rankings. As you know, Riot Games does not work with a world ranking, but with continental rankings. You can see the European ranking below, which you should of course consider for your e-Sport bets:

  1. Acend (Europe)
  2. Gambit Esports (Russia)
  3. Team Liquid (Europe)
  4. Fnatic (Europe)
  5. FunPlus Phoenix (Europe)
  6. Guild Esports (Europe)
  7. G2 Esports (Europe)
  8. LND UTD (Lithuania)
  9. BIG (Germany)
  10. Natus Vincere (Russia)