Valorant‘s launch in June 2020 was both incredibly successful, as demand for new game releases peaked, and a frustrating challenge, because the ongoing pandemic prevented the game’s ripe esports opportunities from flourishing. It has taken some time to rethink Valorant‘s esports plans as a result, but things are now moving forward. The first round of official Riot-run tournaments for Valorant have now ended, with 100 Thieves coming out as the First Strike event’s North American champions.
The Valorant First Strike tournament began with open qualifiers in late October. The qualifier process cut the pool of teams down to 8 teams to participate in Riot’s First Strike Regional Finals. The eight teams in North America included Team Envy, 100 Thieves, Sentinels, Renegades, TSM, FaZe Clan, T1, and Immortals. The Regional Finals played out over the past several days, between December 3 and 6.
Both 100 Thieves and TSM were largely dominant through the Regional Finals brackets. On their way to the finals, TSM 2-0’d both the Renegades and Team Envy. 100 Thieves first 2-0’d T1 and then had a closer 2-1 match against Sentinels. But in the Grand Final, 100 Thieves flourished. The team ultimately went 3-1 against the favored TSM. The 100 Thieves effort buoyed by an impressive performance by star player Spencer ‘”Hiko” Martin.
For winning the First Strike tournament in North America, 100 Thieves earned a price of $40,000. In second place, TSM will earn a healthy $20,000. Third and fourth place, Envy and Sentinels, will each earn $10,000. The remaining four teams in the finals will each earn $5,000 to round out the tournament’s $100,000 prize pool. It’s not the biggest prize pool, but for a regional tournament intended to help kick off Valorant‘s Riot-led esports plans it’s more meaningful than just the prize.
There are currently no announced plans for Riot’s next hosted Valorant tournament, but more is absolutely on the way. When the First Strike regional tournaments were initially announced, future plans were confirmed to be in the works. There will be many more Valorant tournaments in the future, but those plans are secret for the time being. Given the continued threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, rolling from tournament to tournament isn’t a simple matter.
While Riot itself doesn’t have another tournament planned, third-party partners continue to host their own Valorant tournaments each and every month. For example, the JBL Quantum Cup tournament in North America will have a $50,000 prize pool and starts on December 11. Valorant esports has its best days ahead of it, but for a beginning the 100 Thieves proved that tournaments are worth watching right now.
Valorant is available now on PC.
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