Valorant: First Strike North American qualifiers explained

Riot Games had announced the Valorant First Strike tournament in September, featuring a prize pool of $1,00,000 in the North American region. With an open qualifier in place and free entry, hundreds of teams will be eyeing a spot in this prestigious tournament.

How the Valorant First Strike's qualifiers are set

Image Credits: twitter.com/jslips_

For those unaware of the Valorant First Strike qualification bracket, u/Slipscore- and @jslips_ have taken it upon themselves to help the community visualize the structure of this tournament.

Stage 1: Nerd street gamers open qualifiers

You know what to do 💪From October 26th to October 30th, compete in our 128 team open tournament for your chance to qualify for @playVALORANT's first @riotgames-produced tournament: First Strike 🏆https://t.co/pzHB0OTd3Y

— Nerd Street Gamers (@nerdstgamers) October 19, 2020

• Dates: 26th to 30th October.
• 128 teams to compete on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Facing off in a single-elimination bracket in best of three matches.
• Top 16 teams enter Qualifier 1.

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Stage 2: Qualifier 1

• Dates: 4th to 8th November.
• 16 qualified teams to duke it out till eight remain.
• The top four squads go on to face off in the main event.
• The remaining four squads get a second chance to qualify in the second qualifier stage.

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Stage 3: UMG Open Bracket 2

Image Credits: UMG Media

• Dates: 11th to 15th November.
• 128 teams compete in another large bracket similar to the first open qualifier.
• Teams square off in single-elimination best of three bouts.
• The top 12 squads move on to stand a chance for qualification in the second qualifier stage.

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Stage 4: Qualifier 2

• Dates: 18th to 22nd November.
• The bottom four teams from Qualifier 1 will take on the top 12 from the UMG Open Bracket 2.
• These 16 teams will now compete for the final four spots in the main event.
• This stage concludes all the attempts to qualify and all eliminations are final.

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Stage 5: Valorant First Strike North America Main Event

• Dates: 3th to 8th December.
• Four teams from Qualifier 1 and four teams from Qualifier 2 lay it all on the line in the final stage.
• With $100k up for grabs.

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Riot and its associates have worked to create a fairly comprehensive system that seems to allow competitors a fair chance to qualify for one of the biggest Valorant tournaments yet.