Riot dispels new Valorant map rumor to announce Strike Arabia Tournament

Valorant has just announced the 2021 Strike Arabia Tournament that completely dispelled the new map rumor that was doing the rounds in the community.

A short clip was teased by Valorant’s Arabian Twitter handle right after patch 2.06 dropped two days ago. The cinematic teaser came with a voice-over in Arabic that translated to "in times of war/battle, do not be afraid of bombs" and "get ready".

Well, the teaser was for a new tournament called Strike Arabia.Fun Fact: This Tournament's Developer site was running for two months. Before it mentioned watching the tournament for Drops, as drops get better the more you watch. (Don't know if this is still a thing) | #VALORANT https://t.co/xguYXzCfY4

— Valorant Leaks (@ValorLeaks) March 18, 2021

The Valorant community was pretty sure that the Valorant devs may have just teased the arrival of a new map, which could've been based on a desert theme. Also, with Icebox taking inspiration from the frozen Arctic, the possibility of the next map being desert-themed was very intriguing to the fans.

It is your time to dominate the battlefield and ace your way to the first Arab championship title... and perhaps the global one too!Gather a team of skilled shooters and register now: https://t.co/2SVsEiQrTI

— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) March 18, 2021

Recently, however, with a tweet from their official handle, Riot dispelled all the fan-speculation, by announcing the teaser to be the one for the upcoming 2021 Valorant Strike Arabia Tournament.

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Riot officially announced Valorant's Strike Arabia Tournament, 2021

Image via Riot Games - Valorant

2021 Valorant Strike Arabia is Riot Games’ second Valorant esports event, and it is basically the Middle East and North Africa qualifiers. It is a year-long event that will crown regional champions across the world and pave the way for players to participate in the Valorant Champions Tour.

Participating regions and countries

Image via Riot Games - Valorant

The 2021 Valorant Strike Arabia Tournament is open to 14 countries, divided into their respective sub-regional tournaments. The tournament format is as follows:

1) Strike Arabia Championship

• GCC & Iraq - KSA, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq.
• Levant & Egypt - Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt.
• North Africa - Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya.

Riot will hold two seasons of the Strike Arabia Championship in March and April, and June and July, across three sub-regions (GCC & Iraq, Levant & Egypt, and North Africa). One team will qualify from each sub-region per season, for a total of six teams that will join the Strike Arabia Grand Finals.

2) Strike Arabia League

• GCC & Iraq - KSA, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq.
• Levant & North Africa - Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya.

Strike Arabia League will be held three times across two sub-regions (GCC & Iraq, and Levant & North Africa). Strike Arabia's Grand Finals, where they will join their adversaries from the Strike Arabia Championship, will introduce a points system that will qualify two teams at the end of the third season.

3) Strike Arabia Grand Finals

The Strike Arabia Grand Finals will be an offline LAN event held between 22nd and 25th September. It will bring together the eight teams that have qualified from the Strike Arabia Championship and the Strike Arabia League. These eight teams will battle it out to advance to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Last Chance Qualifiers.

4) EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ)

As scheduled by Riot, the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers will showcase the best talents from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Between 14th and 17th October, teams will have to overcome the final hurdle and prove their worth, to then join the final stage of the journey at the Valorant Champions Tour.

Scratch that 😅Riot has announced Strike Arabia! A pathway into #VCT Champions! More info: https://t.co/PR31sG4zqA https://t.co/UeCUcStc7I

— Valorant News (@ValorantUpdates) March 18, 2021