Bren Esports, the #1 seed in Southeast Asia for the VCT Masters Berlin, will no longer be competing in the tournament.

The sad news came in today as the VCT Twitter page and Bren Esports' own Twitter page simultaneously broke the news on social media. Apparently, the team was not able to secure the necessary documents that will allow them to travel to Berlin in time for the group stages, forcing Bren Esports to withdraw from the competition.

VCT's Twitter page's statement reads:

“Ahead of Masters Berlin, Riot Games worked to secure the required travel permissions for every qualified team. Unfortunately, with the tightening travel restrictions around the world due to the changing COVID-19 developments, we were unable to secure the necessary travel visas for Bren Esports,”

Bren Esports' statement reads:

“Our Valorant Team's historical win in the VCT Challengers – SEA has once again proved that the Philippines has what it takes to compete in the global stage of Esports. We have exhausted all possible options that would enable our team to travel to Berlin on time and safely to compete.

Unfortunately, given the unfavorable circumstances, tight deadlines, and travel restrictions that are out of our control, our team will be unable to travel to Berlin to compete.”

The unfortunate incident has lead to an outpour of community support, even hours before the announcements, as rumors ran rampant about the team's status. #BringBRENToBerlin trended on Twitter, with many fans hoping for a miracle that Bren Esports would be able to travel in spite of all odds. But alas, the decision is final, and SEA will be left with just one representative in VCT Masters Berlin – Paper Rex. On their side, Paper Rex also released a statement, showing solidarity with Bren Esports:

“A really sad outcome, our hearts go out to @BrenEsports – their players, staff, fans and all the supporters who came out to cheer both of us at #VCT SEA. We will do our best and fight for all of SEA #BrenLangMalakas”

As consequence, the VCT Masters Berlin tournament will pivot to a fifteen-team format. No other team will be fielded to replace Bren Esports. The group that the team was supposed to fight in will also be changed. Instead of a double-elimination bracket, it will instead feature a double-round-robin, with the top two teams heading to the Elimination Stage. Group D consists of  Sentinels, G2 Esports, and F4Q. Even though they cannot compete in the tournament, Riot Games still awarded Bren Esports with 175 VCT points.

The VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Stage 3 Masters – Berlin will be held in the Verti Music Hall from September 10 to September 19, 2021.