Philippine teams face tougher road to Masters, Champions in VCT 2027
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines' path to Valorant’s biggest international tournaments is set to become more challenging under Riot Games' VCT 2027 overhaul.
Riot Games has previously announced that beginning 2027, the esports ecosystem of Valorant will be a tournament-driven structure designed to create more opportunities for teams to qualify for the international stage through competitive results rather than long-term partnership status.
VCT Pacific will now have six regional competitions: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and a Wild Card region consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia. South Asia and Oceania will also qualify through the Pacific Wild Card pathway.
The distinction is notable because Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam will each receive dedicated regional competitions, while Filipino teams see the end of a direct qualification path that has existed in various forms since the game's launch as they will need to compete through the broader Wild Card route before reaching the wider VCT ecosystem.
In the early years of the Valorant Champions Tour, Filipino teams progressed through local qualifiers, the Challengers Leagues — Philippines, before advancing to Southeast Asian and APAC competitions. More recently, the Philippines maintained a direct presence in Tier 1 competition through Team Secret's participation in the VCT Pacific League, while other teams like Global Esports and Paper Rex have included top Filipino players in their rosters. The Challengers League Philippines also had a direct invite to the Ascensions tournaments, having a chance to move up to Tier 1 during the partnership era.
Still, the new system offers a more open path for aspiring organizations. Riot Games said partner teams that fail to perform will no longer be guaranteed continued participation at the highest levels and can be pushed back into Open Playoffs or Open Qualifiers, creating a promotion-and-relegation style structure throughout the season.
"VCT 2027 is built around a simple belief: the best teams should earn their place every step of the way and every match matters. By creating more paths into top-level competition and providing meaningful financial support for teams that qualify, we're building a more open, engaging, and competitive future for Valorant Esports,” said Leo Faria, Riot Games' global head of Valorant Esports.
While slot allocations and qualification formats have yet to be detailed, the announcement signals a significant change for Philippine Valorant. Rather than competing through a dedicated regional pathway, Filipino organizations will now have to emerge from the Pacific Wild Card field to continue their journey toward Cups, Masters and Champions.
Despite upcoming changes, Filipinos continue to perform well on the global stage.
Masters London saw three Filipino players compete with Paper Rex's Adrian Jiggs “invy” Reyes and Global Esports' Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza and Xavier “xavi8k” Juan.
Though Global Esports were eliminated during the Swiss Rounds, Reyes is still in the running to win his first Masters trophy as Paper Rex have secured at least a top-three finish at the tournament.
The last Pacific team hopes to reach the grand finals with a win against China's top seed, EDward Gaming, in the Upper Bracket match-up scheduled Friday night, June 19 at 9 p.m. (Manila time).
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