Top 8 NA teams, including Sentinels, TSM, and 100 Thieves, locked in for VALORANT First Strike qualifiers

After two days of back-and-forth action in the North American leg of First Strike, 128 VALORANT teams have been knocked down to just eight. 

Sentinels, Gen.G, T1, TSM, 100 Thieves, Cloud9 Blue, Team Envy, and underdogs Slimy Boogermen have made it to the top eight of the Nerd Street Gamers qualifiers leading up to the First Strike regional finals on Dec. 3. 

The top four teams of the qualifiers will head straight to the main event, with the next four teams on the list advancing into the second open qualifiers for another shot in First Strike.

Sentinels, widely considered the best team in North America, will match up with Canadian squad Gen.G later this evening. Team Envy will face off against T1, TSM will take on 100 Thieves, and Cloud9 Blue will play Slimy Boogermen. 

Today’s matches will be played out in a standard best-of-three format with the four winning teams advancing to the next stage of the tournament.

FaZe Clan, Dignitas, Cloud9 White, Renegades, and Immortals—teams that didn’t make it to the quarterfinals—will have the opportunity to qualify on Nov. 18 in the second First Strike qualifiers.

The First Strike main event, scheduled to take place from Dec. 3 to 6, will see eight teams compete for a share of the $100,000 prize pool.