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VCT EMEA Stage 3: Schedule, format, qualifiers, challengers playoffs, more

Riot Games has revealed all the details about VCT EMEA Stage 3, the final phase of the VCT, introducing a few minor changes and tweaks.

By Nikola Savic |

First Published June 11, 2021, 20:38

VCT EMEA Stage 3: Schedule, format, qualifiers, challengers playoffs, more

With VCT Masters Reykjavik done and dusted - the first international LAN for the esport - Stage 2 is over.

Now we have Stage 3, we already knew it would be in Berlin but Riot Games have released yet more details on11th June that reveal that Stage 3 will look different again from what has come before.

The biggest change being the introduction of a double elimination system, something both fans and players were requesting to see.

If you want to know more, read on as here is everything you need to know about Stage 3.

VCT EMEA Stage 3 Schedule

VCT EMEA Stage 3 Schedule (Picture: Riot Games)

Stage 3 kicks off on 28th June with Qualifier 1, and it will conclude with the Masters 3 event in Berlin, from 9th September until 19th September.

Below you can see the full schedule:

Event	Date
Open Qualifiers 1	28-30 June
Closed Qualifiers 1	30 June - 2 July
Main Event 1 Europe	7-11 July
Main Event 1 Turkey	6-10 July
Main Event 1 CIS	6-10 July
Open Qualifiers 2	20-22 July
Closed Qualifiers 2	22-24 July
Main Event 2 Europe	28 July - 1 August
Main Event 2 Turkey	27-31 July
Main Event 2 CIS	27-31 July

VCT EMEA Stage 3 Format

VCT EMEA Stage 3 Format (Picture: Riot Games)

VCT EMEA Stage 3 will mostly keep the format already used in Stage 2 with a few stages.

VCT EMEA Stage 3 is separated into 3 regions: EU, TR and CIS.
Each region has its own Qualifiers and Main Events
There will be two Qualifiers and Main Events

Qualifier 1 + Main Event 1

Split into Open and Closed Qualifier
Open will have up to 512 teams, single elimination bracket
Top 8 teams advancing to the closed qualifier
Closed Qualifier: the top 8 teams from the open qualifier + the top 8 invited teams, double-elimination bracket.
The top 8 teams advance to the Main Event 1, with a double-elimination format
The top four teams from the EU and the top two teams from both TR and CIS advance to the EMEA Challengers Playoffs
The bottom four teams from the EU and teams placed from 3rd to 6th in TR and CIS will advance directly to the Main Event 2

The cycle will repeat for Qualifier 2 + Main Event 2, with the two top teams from the EU, one team from TR and one team from CIS advancing to the Playoffs.