VCT China Ascension is set to start on December 23rd and wrap up on December 30th. The tournament, which consists of eight teams, is for a two-year spot in the VCT China League.
Qualified Teams and Format
The eight teams that qualified for the tournament through circuit points are:
- Rare Atom (1095 CP)
- Attacking Soul Esports (525 CP)
- Dragon Ranger Gaming (300 CP)
- 17 Gaming (155 CP)
- Ninjas in Pajamas (145 CP)
- Night Wings Gaming (135 CP)
- Four Angry Men (120 CP)
- KeepBest Gaming (85 CP)
The Group Stage will take place from December 23rd to 25th. It will feature a GSL format with two groups and best of three matchups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs.
The Playoffs will be from December 27th to 30th. All matches besides the Lower Final and Grand Final will continue to be best of three, with the final matchups being best of five.
Groups
The groups are as follows:
Group A
- Rare Atom
- Ninjas in Pajamas
- Night Wings Gaming
- KeepBest Gaming
Group B
- Attacking Soul Esports
- Dragon Ranger Gaming
- 17 Gaming
- Four Angry Men
Preview
GROUP A
Rare Atom
Currently ranked as one of the highest teams in China, Rare Atom comes into this tournament hungry. The team, which consists of YiHao, Viva, MarT1n, Spitfires, stew, and yoman, has placed in the top three in all of the Valorant China Evolution Series tournaments this year. Behind EDward Gaming, who were announced as one of the 10 original VCT China partner teams, Rare Atom has the most circuit points with 1095. Additionally, they only lost to three teams, with them being EDG, FPX, and ASE, during the VCT CN EVO tournaments. EDG and FPX await in the VCT China League while Attacking Soul Esports is in Group B. With the core of the roster in YiHao, Viva, and MarT1N being together since March and the addition of former Shadow Corporation players stew and yoman, this is a strong team who could very well win the whole thing.
Ninjas in Pajamas
One of the newest formed teams in the tournament, Ninjas in Pajamas qualified for VCT China Ascension with 145 circuit points. Their roster, which consists of Spring, YRSelect, Eren, SiuFatBB, and JayH, competed in each of the three Evolution Series tournaments this year. Although NIP accumulated enough points from the open qualifiers and play ins of each VCT CN EVO Stage to qualify for Ascension, they never advanced far enough to the Main Event. The most notable international player on this roster is former BLEED player JayH. The Singaporean joined the team in August and brings a lot of experience, having previously competed in the Malaysia & Singapore Challengers League. With NIP’s first matchup being against Night Wings Gaming, it’ll be interesting to see who wins.
Night Wings Gaming
Qualifying for this event with 135 circuit points, Night Wings Gaming look to be a underdog who can keep up with the top teams. Their roster consists of cxyy, XiaoFei, happywei, VLAD, Kr1stal, and Lanerinno. The most notable player on the team is Kr1stal, who previously competed with SCARZ in VCT Pacific Ascension this past July. Although the team ended up placing second, Kr1stal had a really good performance in the tournament. In fact, he will be the first player ever to compete in two Ascension-level tournaments in the same year. It’ll be exciting to see how NWG does in this tournament. Their first matchup will be against Ninjas in Pajamas.
KeepBest Gaming
Barely squeezing into this tournament with only 85 circuit points, KeepBest Gaming will look to prove haters wrong. Their roster consists of UCc, snail, shark, GREEN, XJian, and 0n1y. Although this team ranks dead last in circuit points, anything can happen. However, their first matchup is against favorites Rare Atom, so they may need a miracle to win.
GROUP B
Attacking Soul Esports
Considered a favorite in the tournament alongside fellow team Rare Atom, Attacking Soul Esports look to make their mark. Their roster, which consists of Yuicaw, YHchen, Zero1, Life, and hfmi0dzjc9z7, accumulated 525 circuit points in the VCT CN EVO tournaments since September. Additionally, they are the only team in VCT China Ascension to have made an international tournament appearance, qualifying for Masters Tokyo. Although they finished in seventh place and missed out on playoffs, they took a map off FUT Esports and took home $15,000 because of their placement. ASE will look to keep up that performance here in this tournament, where they are set to play against Four Angry Men in the first matchup.
Dragon Ranger Gaming
Qualifying to this tournament with 300 circuit points, Dragon Ranger Gaming look to be a dark horse behind favorites Rare Atom and Attacking Soul Esports. The team, which consists of vo0kashu, YuChEn, Nicc, TvirusLuke, Zeno, and Dingwei, has slowly gotten better throughout the year. Perhaps the most notable player on their roster is vo0kashu, who is known for putting up insane performances on the Sentinel role. The Russian player previously competed in EMEA for Rebels Gaming. If DRG can keep up their performances from previous tournaments, they look to be a really hard team to beat here. Their first matchup will be against 17 Gaming.
17 Gaming
17 Gaming is perhaps one of the most interesting teams in the tournament, having earned over 120 circuit points in the last VCT CN EVO tournament. The recent additions of former Enigma Gaming and Action PH player theDoctorr as well as former Alter Ego player deLb have seemed to strongly boost the team’s performance. The rest of the team includes PPDBJ, LuXlis, and Yoyo. The latter two players have been with the team since the start of VCT CN EVO, while PPDBJ is a brand new player and hails from Regans Gaming. 17 Gaming’s first matchup in VCT China Ascension will come against Dragon Ranger Gaming, which will be a good test for them to see if they can step up to the challenge.
Four Angry Men
Slated as second to last place coming into this tournament with only 120 circuit points, Four Angry Men look to step up their performance in this crucial event. Their roster consists of Ace, suyjing, XuAN, WsLeo, and former Shadow Corporation players UdoTan and Banger. They have had a very up and down year, with wins over Weibo Gaming and TOP Esports and losses to LGD Gaming and DRG. With former Global Esports Head Coach Eraser coaching them, perhaps they can pull off a miracle run here in VCT China Ascension. Their first matchup comes against Attacking Soul Esports, who are one of the top teams in the event.
