Acend win Valorant Champions 2021 – final placements, scores, recap & more

byAndrew Amos
acend team liquid valorant championsJianhua Chen / Riot Games

Valorant Champions was the first world championship for Riot Game’s FPS hit. Sixteen teams from across the globe duked it out for the coveted prize and the title of first Valorant world champion.

  • Gambit fall just short, Acend become first-ever Valorant world champs
  • The CIS giants could not repeat their VCT Stage 3 Masters success

Valorant Champions was the crown jewel of VCT 2021. Every event ⁠— from Challengers to Masters Iceland and Masters Berlin ⁠— led to the million-dollar finale.

Here’s what you need to know about Valorant Champions 2021, the end-of-the-year tournament with 16 of the best teams in the world.

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Valorant Champions 2021: Recap

Champions 2021 started on December 1, with action happening up until the Grand Finals on December 12. Eventual champions Acend cruised through the Group Stage, before facing off against Team Secret in the Quarterfinals.

They would take down Secret and Liquid 2-0 each, but the Grand Final would be one that will go down in Valorant history. Acend looked dominant after Map 1, but Gambit would charge right back and take the next two maps without much of a fight.

Down 2-1 and their backs against the wall, Acend would come back with a vengeance. After barely surviving Icebox, they would finish things off with a convincing win on Split to take home the Valorant Champions 2021 crown, and the $350,000 grand prize.

Valorant Champions 2021 details: dates, format, location

Valorant Champions started on December 1 and finished on December 12. Champions was originally rumored to take place in Los Angeles, but Riot decided to host the event in Berlin, the same city that staged the VCT Stage 3 Masters, conflicting with their plan to host each of their international events in a different region.

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Riot’s reasoning for hosting Champions in Berlin is due to the current European travel policies being friendlier and making it easier for all teams to attend. Sixteen teams converged to fight for the title of Valorant’s first true world champion.

Acend
Acend took down Gambit to become 2021 Valorant World Champions.

Valorant Champions kicked off with a double-elimination group stage, with eight teams advancing to the single-elimination knockout stage.

Valorant Champions 2021: final standings

Placement Team Prize Money (USD)
1 Acend $350,000
2 Gambit $150,000
3-4 KRU Esports $90,000
Team Liquid
5-8 Fnatic $40,000
X10 CRIT
Cloud9 Blue
Team Secret
9-12 Team Envy $20,000
Team Vikings
Vision Strikers
Sentinels
13-16 FURIA Esports $20,000
Crazy Raccoon
FULL SENSE
Vivo Keyd

Valorant Champions 2021: schedule & results

Knockout Stage

Day 1: December 8

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Quarterfinals Acend 2-0 Team Secret 9AM 12PM 5PM
Liquid 2-0 Cloud9 Blue 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 2: December 9

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Quarterfinals Gambit 2-1 X10 CRIT 9AM 12PM 5PM
Fnatic 1-2 KRU Esports 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 3: December 11

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Semifinals Acend 2-0 Team Liquid 9AM 12PM 5PM
Gambit 2-1 KRU Esports 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 4: December 12

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Grand Final Acend 3-2 Gambit 9AM 12PM 5PM

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Group Stage

Day 1: December 1

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group D Opening Match Vision Strikers 2–0 FULL SENSE 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group C Opening Match Team Vikings 2–0 Crazy Raccoon 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Opening Match Fnatic 2–1 Cloud9 Blue 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 2: December 2

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group C Opening Match Gambit 2-1 Team Secret 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group B Opening Match Sentinels 2-1 FURIA 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B Opening Match KRU Esports 0-2 Liquid 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 3: December 3

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group A Opening Match Acend 2-1 Vivo Keyd 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A Opening Match Vision Strikers 1-2 Fnatic 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Winners Match Envy 2-0 X10 CRIT 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 4: December 4

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group B Winners Match Team Vikings 1-2 Gambit 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A Winners Match (postponed) Acend 2-0Envy 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B Winners Match Liquid 2-1 Sentinels 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 5: December 5

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group C Losers Match Crazy Raccoon 0-2 Team Secret 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group B Losers Match FURIA 1-2 KRU Esports 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Losers Match Cloud9 Blue 2-1 FULL SENSE 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 6: December 6

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group A Winners Match Acend 2-0Envy 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A Losers Match Vivo Keyd 0-2 X10 CRIT 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B Elimination Match Sentinels 1-2 KRU Esports 12PM 3PM 8PM

Day 7: December 7

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Group D Elimination Match Vision Strikers 1-2 Cloud9 Blue 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group C Elimination Match Team Vikings 0–2 Team Secret 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group A Elimination Match Envy 1-2 X10 CRIT
 12PM 3PM 8PM

Group A

Placement Team Record
1 Acend 2-0
2 X10 CRIT 2-1
3 Team Envy 1-2
4 Vivo Keyd 0-2

Group B

Placement Team Record
1 Team Liquid 2-0
2 KRÜ Esports 2-1
3 Sentinels 1-2
4 FURIA Esports 0-2

Group C

Placement Team Record
1 Gambit Esports 2-0
2 Team Secret 2-1
3 Team Vikings 1-2
4 Crazy Raccoon 0-2

Group D

Placement Team Record
1 Fnatic 2-0
2 Cloud9 Blue 2-1
3 Vision Strikers 1-2
4 FULL SENSE 0-2

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Participating teams at Valorant Champions 2021

Team Qualified From Players
Gambit Esports Masters Berlin nAts, Redgar, Sheydos, d3ffo, Chronicle
Sentinels NA Circuit Points ShahZaM, dapr, TenZ, zombs, SicK
Team Envy NA Circuit Points FNS, yay, Victor, crashies, Marved
Acend EMEA Circuit Points cNed, BONECOLD, Kiles, starxo,zeek
Fnatic EMEA Circuit Points Boaster, Mistic, Derke, Magnum, Doma
KRÜ Esports LATAM Circuit Points keznit, Klaus, Mazino, NagZ, delz1k
Team Vikings BR Circuit Points Sacy, frz, sutecas, gtnziN, Saadhak
Keyd Stars BR Circuit Points v1xen, mwzera, murizzz, heat, jhoW
Vision Strikers KR Circuit Points k1Ng, BuZz, MaKo, stax, Rb
Crazy Raccoon JP Circuit Points Bazzi, ade, Fisker, neth, Munchkin
X10 CRIT SEA Circuit Points Crws, foxz, Patiphan, sScary, sushiboys
Team Secret SEA Circuit Points witz, BORKUM, JessieVash, DubsteP, Dispenser
Cloud9 Blue NA LCQ mitch, vanity, leaf, xeta, Xeppaa
Team Liquid EMEA LCQ ScreaM, Jamppi, Nivera, L1NK, ScreaM
FURIA SA LCQ xand, mazin, qck, Nozwerr, Khalil
FULL SENSE APAC LCQ ChAlalala, LAMMYSNAX, PTC, SuperBusS, JohnOlsen
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