Arena of Valor (AoV) - Esports Update: Valor Series Launch + AWC Wild Cards Named

Esports updates regarding the qualifying process for the Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC), including the new Valor Series for Europe and North America, and the naming of two out of three wild cards.

Inaugural Valor Series to Open in Europe and North America

Tencent has determined the path for European and North American teams to the Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC): the Valor Series, announced on Reddit and the official Arena of Valor site earlier today:

We are excited to announce the launch of our inaugural competitive season! The Valor Series will begin in North America and Europe on April 11. The Valor Series will consist of 6 consecutive weekly tournaments that will see the regions’ strongest teams compete against one another to qualify for a regional Playoff and prize pool.

The prize pool is $50,000 per region, split across weekly tournaments and the Playoffs. The winning team from each Playoff will advance to the Arena of Valor World Cup and have a chance to compete for the $500,000 prize pool that is up for grabs in July in Los Angeles.

The Valor Series weekly tournaments will be preceded by an open online qualifier on April 7 & April 8 to determine the participating teams. The weekly tournaments will be broadcast on YouTube Gaming, Facebook Live, and Twitch. Each week, the two lowest-placed teams in the tournament will be relegated and two new teams will have the opportunity to compete for a spot in the Playoffs.

The top 16 teams accumulate points each week – meaning eight teams in the open qualifiers will receive points in addition to the eight teams in the weekly tournaments – with the top 4 point earners advancing to the Playoffs.

The structure of the tournament heavily rewards teams that immediately qualify in the April 7th and 8th qualifiers, giving them an easier path to accumulate points through simply not being relegated rather than having to climb out of an open field of teams.

Those wishing to sign up can do so here for North America and here for Europe.

AWC Wild Cards and Qualification Procedures for Asian Teams

Garena gave us a few more details on the qualification procedures for Asian teams. Previously, Garena mentioned that 9 of the 12 qualifying teams would come from the Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines, Indonesia, Korea, North America, South America and Europe regions, with three remaining wild cards. In this latest update, they have announced their selections for two of the three wild cards: 2017 AIC Champion region Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau and the 2017 Throne of Glory (TOG) Champion Thailand. The final wild card will be determined by Tencent Games.

Garena outlined the selection process for three regions – including the two known wild cards – as follows:

– Thailand, Indonesia national team: Champion team of pro-league, or selected by the coach of champion team
– Thailand Wild Card: Winner of AWC qualifiers, but there cannot be more than 2 members from the same pro-league team
– Vietnam Representative Team: Champion team of pro-league, the team can choose 1 sixth man from the other pro-league teams
– Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau Representative Team: Champion team of 2018 GCS Spring Season
– Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau Wild Card: Chosen through online poll by local AOV players

As for the MSP (Malaysia/Singapore/Philippines) representative, the first Valor Cup season is wrapping up soon, with the second season reportedly starting in May. Meanwhile, the Indonesian qualifier will be decided via the ongoing Arena of Valor Star League (ASL).

Tencent has yet to finalize plans for the South American region, while the Korea region qualifying procedures are unknown to Samurai Gamers at the moment.

Arena of Valor (AoV) Recommended Article List

Leave a Reply



Be the first to comment