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While official Valorant tournament speculations have been going on since the beta was released, Riot Games have now finally decided to sanction an official tournament. The community has been waiting for this for a long time. Although there were several tournaments that occurred in between, none were of this magnitude.
Riot Games has officially named the tournament "First Strike", as a reminder of where it all began. The main point of attraction behind this Tournament is it's global outreach. Yes, regional champions will be crowned all across the globe. This vastly increases the level of competition in each region.
Riot Games sponsored official Valorant First Strike Tournament
Tyler Erzberger and Arda Ocal explained what this means for players and organizations all across the globe. Their press release said, "Each region will host a merit based qualifier resulting in multiple Riot produced top 8 First Strike Finals. Running from December 3rd to 6th. The winners will earn the right to call themselves the first official regional champions. Both professional teams and aspiring amateur squads will have opportunity to qualify for the First Strike Finals."
It is quite interesting that Riot has finally decided to get involved with Valorant tournaments. League Of Legend competitions are massive, but hosting a similar one for Valorant during the current world situation is going to be nearly impossible. Thus, instead of traveling tournaments, Riot Games has come up with a brilliant idea to unify the community.
The idea to have 8 regional champions is perhaps a foresight that would culminate after 2020. This might be the seed planted in time for future expansion and eventually, the first International Valorant tournament.
The eight regions include North America, Europe, CIS, Turkey, Asia, Oceania, Brazil and the Middle-East.
It is quite an achievement, especially during this time, but if this idea turns out to be successful, then the International Tournament surely won't be far away.
Is this Valorant's official ticket to the International eSports scene?
Since it is the official tournament, this will give teams bragging rights over others. Up until now, the community has seen several regional winners, including TSM, G2, Sentinels and more. However, this is the most significant opportunity for Valorant professionals to announce themselves as the best.
Riot has announced several exciting elements, especially with regard to it's qualifying system. Despite this, there was no mention of the prize pool across all the different regions. The question that remains is what the rules and structure will look like.
The First Strike tournament is going to test for a lot of teams who have been gradually building their rosters. Riot made a massive announcement by booking the first week of December, and for the eventual champions, Christmas is likely to come early.
