After four qualifiers, the dust has settled and the last four teams advancing to the North American VALORANT First Strike main event have been decided.
TSM, FaZe Clan, T1, and Immortals will join Team Envy, 100 Thieves, Sentinels, and Renegades at the final First Strike event in December. The eight teams will compete for a $100,000 prize pool and plenty of bragging rights, with this tournament determining who the best squad in NA is.
While the bottom four teams have plenty to celebrate, the UMG Closed Qualifier continues with the squads competing for seeding tomorrow. FaZe will face off against T1 and Immortals will take on TSM in the semifinals. The winners of both matches will go head-to-head to determine who will be the top seed in the bottom four.
T1’s promising roster didn’t lose a series during the group stage, besting Dignitas, Immortals, and a strong Cloud9 Blue squad in succession. FaZe’s path was a bit more difficult, especially since they were unfortunately placed in the group of death along with TSM, Andbox, and NRG Esports. Though they lost to TSM, FaZe climbed through the loser’s bracket and beat Gen.G in the quarterfinals to qualify for the main event.
Immortals had plenty of ups and downs during the qualifier, with Andrew “ShoT_UP” Orlowski sidelined mid-way through with a health emergency. But Ryan “Shanks” Ngo, who previously trialed with Dignitas, stepped in and proved fatal for opposing teams. Immortals, with the help of their new sub, move on to the final eight.
TSM are arguably the strongest team out of the bottom four. The star-studded squad switched up their strat for the UMG Closed Qualifier, running three duelists and no sentinels. This isn’t the most outlandish tactic, especially after Patch 1.11 nerfed Cypher and Killjoy’s traps. And while there were some growing pains against NRG, TSM’s aggressive strat clearly worked in their favor.
As the top four teams in the NSG Closed Qualifier, Envy, Sentinels, 100 Thieves, and Renegades already qualified and will have the top seeds.
The First Strike main event kicks off Dec. 3, marking the biggest VALORANT tournament in the game’s short tenure.
