VCT China Stage 1 Survival Guide | GosuGamers

VCT China Stage 1 Survival Guide | GosuGamers

Time Stamp: April 4, 2024 7:11 AM
Source Node: 2535586

The first-ever VCT China Stage 1 franchise league is set to start tomorrow until May 12th.

This week is the start of the VCT 2024 Stage 1 split across the major regions and China is the second to start its season after the EMEA. This year has been immense for the region as it officially became part of the franchise league with the VCT China Kickoff and now the VCT China Stage 1, which starts tomorrow until May 12th. And the top three teams by the end of the tournament will qualify for China’s first-ever international VCT event, Masters Shanghai.

The 11 teams taking part in VCT China Stage 1 includes 10 franchise teams alongside the Ascension winner from last season, Dragon Ranger Gaming. Despite coming from the lower tier, DRG have been one of China’s more underrated teams as they finished in the semifinals of VCT China Kickoff, just one win away from representing the region at Masters Madrid. Of course, it was FunPlus Phoenix and EDward Gaming who had the opportunity instead.

However, both teams could not make the same mark as last season as FPX was one of the first two teams to get eliminated from Madrid first. Even EDG couldn’t make it past the Swiss Stage as they failed to qualify to the playoffs, even if they had a great start to the tournament.

The first round of VCT China Stage 1 is the group stage, starting from April 5th to May 5th that will have 11 teams split into two single round-robin groups. The first is Group Alpha that will feature just five teams, which includes the winner of VCT China Kickoff. As for the first runner-up, they will be in group Omega, which is a six-team group. The group stage will go on for five weeks with two games a day, three days a week from Fridays to Sundays.

There is also a new format to come with Stage 1 of all franchise leagues as VCT China will have cross-group matches. This means that teams in Group Alpha will play against teams from Group Omega, instead of against other teams in the same group. All matches during the group stage will be a best-of-three series with the top three teams from each group moving on to the playoffs.

Even the playoffs will have a new hybrid format with the winners from Group Alpha and Omega receiving a bye into the upper bracket semifinals. As for the teams that finished second and third in the group stage, they will go up against one another in the single-elimination knockout round. Only the two winners will join the number-one seed from the group stage in the double-elimination bracket.

And from there, only the top three teams (two in the grand finals as well as the third-placed team) will get a shot at Masters Shanghai. While this is great for multiple reasons, only the winner of VCT China Stage 1 will get three Championship points, which will go a long way in the season. All matches in the hybrid-playoff bracket will be a best-of-three series except for the lower bracket final and grand final, which will be a best-of-five.

Group Alpha

Group Omega

As EDG are in Group Alpha, they will be joined by underdogs like DRG as well as one of the dark horses of China, Bilibili Gaming. Nova Esports as well as Wolves Esports make up the rest of the group. But it is the first three mentioned that have a greater chance of making it to the next phase, given how well they have performed since the start of the 2024 season. As for Group Omega, FPX look to be the team to push through alongside Trace Esports and Titan Esports Club.

So far, EDG are the only team to have three Championship points to its name after winning Kickoff. They are tied alongside Gen.G Esports and Karmine Corp while Sentinels have six after winning Masters Madrid. And seeing as only the winners of each regional league will get three points, it’s imperative that EDG keep a stronghold of the leaderboard in China if they want to have any hopes of qualifying to the next international event.

Since the start of last season, EDG has been the only constant from China that has taken part in international events. While the likes of FPX, BLG, and Attacking Soul Esports have also qualified, only EDG have done so consistently since the start of 2023. Unfortunately, the team does look burnt out given the number of games the region as a whole has had to play since the end of Champions last season.

And given China’s poor showing at Masters Madrid just a few weeks ago, this could be the time for some new blood to freshen up the scene both domestically and internationally. The likes of DRG come to mind as they have been arguably the best performing team from Ascension across the four major franchise leagues.

Be sure to catch all the action from the VCT China Stage 1, starting tomorrow until May 12th on the official Twitch and YouTube channels.

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