Valorant fans in the region will be pleased to know that the competitive season is just around the corner. The 20 best teams in APAC will be duking it out starting next week in the VCT APAC Challengers Stage 1 Playoffs! It will be a three-stage tournament, starting with the play-ins, followed by the group stage and the knockouts. The teams will be playing for a cut of the USD 150,000 Prize Pool, and more importantly - one of two seats in Masters 1.

8 teams will be taking part in the play-ins (GSL format), with only 4 moving forward to join the other 12 teams in the group stages. Dates: 10-13 March.

For the play-ins, we have:

• Team Big Baam (VN)
• Onic Esports (ID)
• Full Sense (TH)
• Action (PH)
• Griffin Esports (HK/TW)
• Fancy United Esports (VN)
• NN (MY/SG)
• Global Esports (SA)

In the group stages, there will be 12 + 4 teams going through a GSL format stage as well. 8 teams will move on to the knockout stage. Dates: 16-21 March.

• Boom Esports (ID)
• Made In Thailand (TH)
• Cereberus Esports (VN)
• Xerxia (TH)
• Naos Esports (PH)
• Bleed Esports (SG)
• Paper Rex (MY/SG)
• Bonkers (OCE)
• Boy With Love (ID)
• South Built Esports (PH)
• Velocity Gaming (SA)
• Oblivion Force (HK/TW)

For the knockouts, 8 teams will go through a series of double elimination brackets, with the final 2 teams being invited to Masters 1 in Iceland. Dates: 24-27 March. Liquipedia.

Want to watch the action live? Follow the official Valorant esports website for the latest info and details.

It looks like the Valorant teams who missed out on qualifying for Valorant Champions 2021, are in luck. Riot Games has announced the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) for the tournament. Teams who haven't qualified for the pinnacle of Valorant esports events, taking place at the end of the year, will get one more chance to qualify for the tournament - all they have to do is defeat all the other LCQ teams to get the single spot.

For the upcoming LCQ, the competing teams will be:

• Southeast Asia - 3
• China - 2
• Korea - 2
• Japan - 2
• South Asia - 1

Two slots for SEA have already been taken up by Boom Esports (ID) and FULL SENSE (PH), with the third one to be determined after VCT 2021: Stage 3 Masters - Berlin in September (we'll be seeing Bren Esports or Paper Rex as they are currently tied in points). As of writing, the last known team are REJECT (JP).

The VCT APAC LCQ will take place during 13-17 October, so make sure you mark those dates on your calendar if you're keen on finding out who will qualify for Valorant Champions!