It's a new year, and a new competition: the VCT is now a closed circuit made up of 30 partnered teams. Alongside two Chinese rosters, they've all been gathered in São Paulo for VCT LOCK//IN this month to showcase their newest teams and get their region a headstart in 2023.

The 32-team, two-bracket tournament kicks off on February 13. The teams will be fighting not only for themselves, but also for their region — the LOCK//IN champions will award their region one extra slot for this year's only Masters event, come this Summer.

VLR.gg has compiled everything that you need to know for the four-week tournament, which is split into three big stages, the first of which being the Alpha Bracket.

Format

The 32 teams have been split into two 16-team brackets: the Alpha and Omega bracket, named after the lore's Alpha and Omega Earths. Every match in these brackets will be a Bo3, where each team's life will be on the line, as the brackets are single-elimination.

Alpha Bracket's teams are:

Prize Pool

There are $500,000 USD on the line in Brazil, half as much as money for double the teams. The prize distribution is as follows:

  • 1st place: $100,000
  • 2nd place: $60,000
  • 3rd-4th place: $40,000
  • 5th-8th place: $25,000
  • 9th-16th place: $10,000
  • 17th-32nd place: $5,000

Unlike last year, there are no VCT Points up for grabs. Whichever region comes out on top will have an extra slot at this year's Masters events, hosted in Japan later this year.

Teams will also collect 50% of net proceedings from the LOCK//IN Capsule. The limited edition capsule collection includes the Misericórdia knife, which has four variants (one for the VCT, three for each superregion), three regionally themed cards, and a spray. The capsule has been on sale since Feb. 8, and will be in the game's shop until March 7.

Schedule (Alpha Bracket)

Monday, February 13

Tuesday, February 14

Wednesday, February 15

Thursday, February 16

  • Dark Day (no matches scheduled)

Friday, February 17

Saturday, February 18

Sunday, February 19

Broadcast

VCT LOCK//IN will give out exclusive drops, which means that you can earn in-game rewards from watching official streams. If you connect your Valorant account with your Twitch or YouTube account, you may be rewarded in-game with a LOCK//IN-themed title and buddy.

The "Locked In" title can be earned by watching a live game from February 13 to March 4, and the Dad Hat Buddy by catching the streams on March 4.

English Broadcast Talent

  • Yinsu Collins (Host)
  • Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez (Host)
  • James "Dash" Patterson (Host)
  • Seth "Achilios" King (Analyst)
  • Mimi "aEvilcat" Wermcrantz (Analyst)
  • Lauren "Pansy" Scott (Commentator)
  • Michael "hypoc" Robins (Commentator)
  • Mitch "MitchMan" McBride (Commentator)
  • Tom "Tombizz" Bissmire (Commentator)
  • Brennon "Bren" Hook (Commentator)
  • Josh "Sideshow" Wilkinson (Commentator)
  • Doug "EsportsDoug" Cortez (Commentator)
  • Arten "Ballatw" Esa (Commentator)
  • David "prius" Kuntz (Observer)
  • Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo (Observer)
  • Felix "Synga" Regitz (Observer)
  • Nicholas "Yehty" Tesolin (Observer)

Streams

Coverage

VLR.gg is covering all of LOCK//IN in our event hub, which includes our live match ticker and stats to comb over. The event also features pick'ems, which are open until the games start.