Knights Arena to host the Challengers Open Qualifiers

With a completely revamped competitive system being introduced into the VCT structure, there was a looming uncertainty regarding the rest of the competitive scene. Riot had released details earlier in the year regarding a dedicated Challengers circuit with an Ascension tournament presenting opportunities for more organizations to earn a promotion to the international leagues. The off-season witnessed several notable players populating the free-agency, and since only a few were signed to partnered teams, the remaining were picked up by teams looking to make an impact in the Challengers circuit.

Until today, however, details regarding the schedule of these tournaments and its format were unknown. As 2023 draws ever closer, Riot decided to finally break silence and released a blog post to clarify all doubts the community might have.

Format:

NA Challengers league will commence January 9 with the Open Qualifiers featuring 256 teams participating in a single bracket tournament until only 32 teams remain. Then the format will change to adopt a double elimination bracket with Best of three matchups to determine the top 4 teams that will qualify for the Challengers main event. As for the second qualifiers, termed the “Last Chance Qualifier” will feature a similar format except only two teams will qualify.

Qualified teams will be joined by the other six invited teams in the Challengers splits, first of which is set to take place in February and the next in April separated by a mid-season invitational. In the first split, teams will be divided into two groups of six which will then be re-seeded into different group compositions based on league points accumulated through the first two events.

Both splits will award teams points based on their placements in the event, while the mid-season invitational following Split one will only feature the top 8 teams from Split 1 granting them an opportunity to rack up more league points, which will be crucial at the end of both splits in determining the eight teams to qualify for the Challengers playoffs running between April through May. Only two of the best from this event will participate in the Ascension tournament for a chance at a League spot in the coming year.

Schedule:

Open Qualifiers #1: January 9-13 with broadcast starting from January 10 onwards at 6 PM ET // 3 PM PT. Open Qualifiers #2: January 17-22 with broadcast starting from January 18 onwards at 6 PM ET // 3 PM PT.