Fnatic win VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo: Final placements and recap
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesVCT Masters Tokyo has come to a close, with Fnatic claiming the trophy. Here is a recap of the Japanese event and all the results.
- Fnatic sweep Evil Geniuses to win VCT Masters Tokyo.
- Second international title of 2023 for Fnatic who came back from 4-10 down on the last map.
- Chronicle wins his third international trophy.
Fnatic won VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo on Sunday after defeating Evil Geniuses 3-0 in the grand final. In doing so, they reasserted themselves as the dominant force in the scene and made history as the first team to win back-to-back international Valorant titles.
Fnatic captain Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett had called on his team to show “true dominance” after a closely-contested upper bracket final series against the Americas side. This time around, the team went unscathed in a best-of-five series, though the scoreline does not tell the full story: Two of the maps came down to the wire, and Fnatic even had to recover from a 4-10 deficit on Bind in a game that brought back memories of the Icebox comeback against LOUD at VCT LOCK//IN.
Questioned after the match about what gave EMEA the edge over the Americas once again, Fnatic’s Leo ‘Leo’ Jannesson said: “We just practice harder [than NA],” he said. “We put in more hours. We got the extra spot for our region and it’ll show at Champions.”
Despite the loss, this certainly takes nothing away from Evil Geniuses’ Cinderella run. The Americas side came in with very little international experience and pushed Fnatic to their limit in certain moments.
EG were one of the tournament’s feel-good stories, along with Paper Rex, who placed third without star player Ilya ‘something’ Petrov, and EDward Gaming, who ended China’s winless streak and finished in 5th-6th place.
Below is everything you need to know about VCT Masters Tokyo.
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo Final standings and bracket
Placement | Team | Prize Money (USD) |
1 | Fnatic | $350,000 |
2 | Evil Geniuses | $200,000 |
3 | Paper Rex | $125,000 |
4 | NRG | $75,000 |
5-6 | EDG | $50,000 |
Team Liquid | ||
7-8 | DRX | $35,000 |
LOUD | ||
9-10 | T1 | $25,000 |
FUT Esports | ||
11-12 | NAVI | $15,000 |
Attacking Soul |
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo: Results
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo took place from June 11 through 25. Twelve teams from EMEA, Americas, Pacific, and China took part in the tournament, which featured a group stage and a double-elimination playoff bracket. It’s a format that was welcomed by fans and players following the criticism of VCT LOCK//IN’s single-elimination format.
There were four top seeds, one from the Americas and Pacific, and two from EMEA (as the winning region of VCT LOCK//IN). These teams went straight to the playoffs, skipping the group stage. A double-elimination group stage featuring the remaining eight teams determined the last four playoff sides.
All matches will be played in a best-of-three format, with the exception of the playoffs’ lower bracket final and grand final, both of which will be best-of-five series.
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo Playoffs (June 16 — June 25)
Day 8: June 25 (June 24 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Grand Final | Fnatic 3-0 Evil Geniuses | 9:30 PM | 12:30 AM | 5:30 AM |
Past results:
Day 1: June 16 (June 15 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Upper Round 1 | LOUD 0-2 Evil Geniuses | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Upper Round 1 | Team Liquid 2-1 EDG | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 2: June 17 (June 16 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Upper Round 1 | Fnatic 2-0 NRG | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Upper Round 1 | Paper Rex 2-0 DRX | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 3: June 18 (June 17 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Lower Round 1 | LOUD 0-2 EDG | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Lower Round 1 | NRG 2-0 DRX | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 4: June 19 (June 18 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Upper Round 2 | Evil Geniuses 2-0 Team Liquid | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Upper Round 2 | Fnatic 2-0 Paper Rex | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 5: June 20 (June 19 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Lower Round 2 | NRG 2-1 Team Liquid | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Lower Round 2 | EDG 1-2 Paper Rex | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 6: June 21 (June 20 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Upper Final | Evil Geniuses 1-2 Fnatic | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Lower Round 3 | NRG 1-2 Paper Rex | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 7: June 24 (June 23 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Lower Final | Evil Geniuses 3-2 Paper Rex | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo Group Stage (June 11 — June 14)
Group A
Placement | Team | Record |
1 | NRG | 2-0 |
2 | EDG | 2-1 |
3 | T1 | 1-2 |
4 | NAVI | 0-2 |
Group B
Placement | Team | Record |
1 | Evil Geniuses | 2-0 |
2 | DRX | 2-1 |
3 | FUT Esports | 1-2 |
4 | Attacking Soul | 0-2 |
Day 1: June 11 (June 10 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group B Round 1 | FUT 0-2 Evil Geniuses | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Group B Round 1 | DRX 2-0 Attacking Soul | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Group A Round 1 | EDG 1-2 T1 | 2 AM | 5 AM | 10 AM |
Day 2: June 12 (June 11 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group A Round 1 | NRG 2-1 NAVI | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Group B Winners | Evil Geniuses 2-0 DRX | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Day 3: June 13 (June 12 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group A Winners | T1 1-2 NRG | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Group B Losers | FUT 2-1 Attacking Soul | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
Group A Losers | EDG 2-0 NAVI | 2 AM | 5 AM | 10 AM |
Day 4: June 14 (June 13 in NA)
Stage | Match | PT | ET | GMT |
Group B Decider | DRX 2-1 FUT | 8 PM | 11 PM | 4 AM |
Group A Decider | T1 0-2 EDG | 11 PM | 2 AM | 7 AM |
VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo: Teams and rosters
Ten of the 12 tournament slots were determined by the international leagues in EMEA, Pacific and the Americas.
EMEA was represented by four teams at VCT Masters Tokyo following Fnatic’s VCT LOCK//IN victory, which earned the region an extra slot. Pacific and the Americas will have three teams each.
There were also two representatives from China, determined by the FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 1. EDward Gaming, who attended Valorant Champions 2022 and VCT LOCK//IN, make its third international appearance, while this was Attacking Soul Esports’ debut at this level.
Top Seeded Teams
Team | Region | Players |
LOUD | Americas | Saadhak, aspas, Less, cauanzin, tuyz |
Fnatic | EMEA | Boaster, Derke, Alfajer, Leo, Chronicle |
Team Liquid | EMEA | Jamppi, nAts, Sayf, soulcas, Redgar |
Paper Rex | Pacific | f0rsakeN, d4v41, Jinggg, something, mindfreak, CigaretteS |
Group Stage teams
Team | Region | Players |
Evil Geniuses | Americas | jawgemo, Ethan, Boostio, C0M, Demon1 |
NRG | Americas | s0m, FNS, crashies, Victor, ardiis |
FUT | EMEA | qw1, mojj, qRaxs, MrFaliN, ATA KAPTAN |
NAVI | EMEA | ANGE1, cNed, Shao, Zyppan, SUYGETSU |
DRX | Pacific | stax, Rb, BuZz, MaKo, Foxy9 |
T1 | Pacific | ban, Carpe, xeta, Munchkin, Sayaplayer |
Attacking Soul | China | monk, YHchen, bunt, Life, hfmi0dzjc9z7 |
EDward Gaming | China | Haodong, ZmjjKK, nobody, CHICHOO, Smoggy, Abo |