Leviatán's Champions miss sparks VCT format

Masters London champion Leviatán will not compete at VALORANT Champions Shanghai in September. The Argentinian team's failure to qualify, despite its recent international title, has ignited a fierce debate within the VALORANT esports community about the fairness of the VCT points system.

Leviatán is the first team to win a Masters event and still miss the Champions tournament in the same year. The team finished the VCT Americas season with 19 total points, just two points behind the fourth and final qualifying spot. This outcome has led some fans and professionals to call for revised qualification rules.

How the qualification slipped away

Heading into VCT Americas Stage 2, Leviatán seemed a safe bet for Champions. The team held 15 VCT Points from a Stage 1 runner-up finish and its Masters London victory. However, the final Stage 2 playoffs created a perfect storm that eliminated the champions.

NRG and G2 Esports made deep playoff runs, earning enough points to secure qualification. Underdog 100 Thieves locked in a top-two finish early. Leviatán lost its third playoff series to G2 Esports, earning only four additional points. The final blow came from LOUD, whose dark horse run to at least second place in São Paulo sealed the last qualification spots.

The final VCT Americas standings for Champions qualification were as follows:

Assigning blame for the shock exit

Opinions are split on whether Leviatán's failure points to a system flaw or a team error. Some argue it simply highlights the extreme strength of the VCT Americas region. Former Team Liquid coach Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield emphasized this view on the Plat Chat talk show.

“The only thing that you take away from this is just that Americas is absolutely stacked,” Sliggy said. He noted that Leviatán's early Kickoff exit, played without star rookie Bruno “Neon” Rodríguez due to age restrictions, also hurt its point total.

Others, including Sliggy, place responsibility squarely on Leviatán's strategic choices during the key Stage 2 playoffs. The team banned its two best maps, Haven and Split, and deviated from its trusted agent compositions despite not having qualification locked in.

“They were prepping for Champs, but not in Champs. They are to blame,” Sliggy concluded. “To ban Split, a map you’re like 11-0 at, best in the world by far against 100 Thieves, is madness.”

The pressure of a shifting competitive landscape

Some analysts believe Leviatán's case is an outlier. Yet others connect it to broader changes in the VCT ecosystem. VALORANT coach Hoc Wah “Fayde” Chong sees a format flaw, citing frequent meta and map pool changes.

“LEV winning Masters 2 months ago and still missing Champs really highlights a flaw in this circuit format,” Fayde wrote online. He argued the hectic schedule punishes teams that peak early, as they have less time to adapt to new game updates before the next split.

This consistency challenge is exacerbated by a points system that critics say undervalues international success. A team can earn more points from a regional stage win than from a Masters victory. G2 Esports earned nine points for winning Stage 1, while Leviatán received only eight for winning Masters London.

Potential paths for rule adjustments

The debate has spurred suggestions for modifying the qualification system. Professional player Martin “Magnum” Peňkov argued for guaranteed slots for international winners. “Wtf is this system? Surely we give a team who wins international guaranteed slot next year,” he asserted.

A proposed middle ground, borrowing from League of Legends' rules, would grant a Champions slot to a Masters winner only if it also advances to its regional stage playoffs afterward. Another suggestion is to increase the VCT Points awarded for a Masters title to at least 10, placing greater emphasis on global performance.

With more frequent meta shifts and a more open competitive structure planned for next year, calls for system adjustments are growing louder. The stakes will be even higher in VCT 2027, where non-partnered teams qualifying for major events will secure massive support payments.