Team Liquid win VCT 2023 EMEA League: Final placements and recap

The VCT EMEA league has come to an end, with Team Liquid pulling off an unexpected win against Fnatic in the final. Here is our recap of the tournament.

Eight months later, Fnatic tasted defeat again. The VCT LOCK//IN winners cut a frustrated figure as they were defeated by Team Liquid 3-1 in the grand final of the VCT EMEA League. Two days earlier, the upper bracket match between the two teams had ended with a swift 2-0 victory for Fnatic.

This is Fnatic’s first defeat in an official match since the 2-1 loss to DRX at Valorant Champions 2022, in September. After going a perfect 9-0 in the regular season and beating FUT Esports and Team Liquid en route to a grand final spot, Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett’s troops stumbled at the final hurdle in a hard-fought series where three of the four maps went down to the wire.

As the top four teams from the EMEA league, Team Liquid, Fnatic, FUT Esports and NAVI will represent the region at the upcoming VCT Masters event in Tokyo. The three best-placed teams in Japan will also qualify for Valorant Champions, while the worst-placed team will join the EMEA sides who finished the season fifth through tenth in the last-chance qualifier.

VCT 2023 EMEA League: Final placings and results

The VCT EMEA League began on March 27 with the regular season, where the ten teams faced off in a single round-robin stage, with every match featuring a best-of-three format. Matches were played on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with the exception of an early super week (five straight days of games for the first week).

Only six teams progressed from the regular season to the double-elimination playoffs. In the end, the top four teams of the VCT EMEA League will qualify for VCT Masters Toky. There will also be a last-chance qualifier in July, giving teams one more chance to secure a spot at the Valorant Champions.

Playoffs (May 23 — May 28)

Day 1: May 23

Day 2: May 24

Day 3: May 25

Day 4: May 26

Day 5: May 27

Day 6: May 28

Regular season (March 27 — May 19)

Week 1 schedule (March 27 — March 31)

Note: Due to visa issues, Fnatic played their matches against Giants and BBL with substitute player kamyk instead of Alfajer.

Week 2 schedule (April 5 — April 7)

Day Match PT ET GMT April 12 NAVI 2-1 Team Heretics 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM April 13 KOI 0-2 FUT 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM Team Liquid 0-2 Fnatic 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM April 14 Giants 2-0 BBL 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM Vitality 2-0 Karmine Corp. 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM

Week 4 schedule (April 19 — 21)

Note: The match between KOI and Fnatic was postponed after a number of Fnatic players returned positive tests.

Week 5 schedule (April 26 — 28)

Week 6 schedule (May 3 — May 5)

Note: Liquid’s Sayf did not play this week’s match due to sickness. Harmii subbed in for Sayf against NAVI.

Day Match PT ET GMT May 10 Fnatic 2-0 KOI 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM Giants 2-1 Vitality 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM May 11 FUT 0-2 NAVI 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM Karmine Corp. 0-2 Fnatic 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM May 12 Team Liquid 2-1 BBL 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM KOI 2-1 Team Heretics 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM

Day Match PT ET GMT May 17 Fnatic 2-0 NAVI 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM May 18 Team Heretics 0-2 Vitality 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM Karmine Corp. 0-2 Giants 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM May 19 Team Liquid 2-1 KOI 9 AM 12 PM 5 PM BBL 0-2 FUT 12 PM 3 PM 8 PM

VCT 2023 EMEA: Standings

Darker Green = Qualified for playoffs’ upper bracket round 2. Light Green = Qualified for playoffs’ upper bracket round 1. Red = Eliminated.

VCT 2023 EMEA League: Teams and players

Below you can find all the teams competing in the VCT EMEA league and their respective lineups: