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Red Bull Home Ground NA Qualifier Primer
Looking forward to the upcoming Red Bull Home Ground and want a chance to watch or compete against some of the top teams in North America? Here’s all the info you need!
Red Bull Home Ground is making its return for the 5th edition of the tournament in Berlin, Germany! The tournament, which is a part of Riot Games’ VCT OFF//SEASON, will see teams from EMEA, APAC, and NA, compete in what is typically one of the first showcases of their new rosters for the upcoming season. This year, the team representing North America will be decided by a qualifier set to take place at the Fremont Studios in Seattle, Washington.
Register for the Red Bull Home Ground NA Open Online Qualifier
Here’s what you need to know about these qualifiers.
Dates and Format
The NA qualifiers were broken up into two sections. First there was an open online qualifier from August 30 - September 1 where the top team would qualify for the LAN on September 29.
The online qualifier saw 111 teams (that's 555 players + coaches), facing off in a single elimination bracket with every match being a Best-of-3 series. The three-day event was split up as follows:
- August 30- After a team captain meeting at 11:30AM PST, teams played their RO256, RO128, and RO64 matches starting from 12:00PM PST
- August 31- At 12:00PM PST, teams played out their RO32, RO16, and RO8 matches
- September 1- Starting again 12:00PM PST, the remaining teams played out the rest of the bracket.
The LAN event itself will follow a similar format as teams will play in a single elimination bracket in BO3 series until the Grand Finals where the winner goes on to represent NA in the main event on November 20 in Berlin Germany. For fans looking to watch the event, it will be live streamed on Twitch and YouTube on September 29.
How to register
Teams registered for the tournament on Battlefy, under the following rules:
- Teams can have a total of 7 players registered: 5 main roster players, one of which must be designated as the team captain, and 2 substitute players.
- The players on the roster must all be citizens of the United States or Canada.
- Additionally, teams are allowed to register up to 2 coaches, with one of them being registered as the Main Coach, who may use the in-game coach slot.
- The deadline for teams to register and make changes to the roster is on August 26th at 11:59PM PST and as mentioned previously, there’s a cap of 256 teams. So if you want to compete, register fast!
Invited teams
The online qualifier winners will be joined by 3 invited teams in Seattle. All in all, the teams you can expect to see compete are:
Cloud9
Despite decent performances throughout the regular season, Cloud9 has struggled to make it over the hump and qualify for an international event, ending both Stage 1 and 2 in 5th-6th place. The team continues to show flashes of brilliance and Home Ground will hopefully be the tournament where they're able to put it together and qualify for an international event.
Sentinels
One of the top teams in the Americas, Sentinels come in to the LAN as one of the heavy favorites. After a stellar season with a Masters Madrid and Americas Kickoff title along with a great performance at VALORANT Champions, the team will be looking to enter the next season with even more titles under their belt.
Moist x Shopify Rebellion
After falling just short of qualifying for the Ascension tournament after a close series against TSM, Moist x Shopify Rebellion will be looking to start a new season off on the right foot with a great performance at Red Bull Home Ground. Overall, the team has proven that they’re one of the top teams in North American Challengers and this will be a great test for the team against some of the best the VCT has to offer.
Open Online Qualifier Team - YFP Gaming
After making it through an online gauntlet, YFP Gaming will be the 4th team coming to compete at Red Bull Home Ground NA! With a clean 2-0 over Blinn in the finals, this VALORANT Challengers team has earned their slot at Red Bull Home Ground convincingly.
With a great mix of VCT and Challengers talent, the qualifiers is set to be an amazing tournament.
Where to watch
While tickets are already sold out for the LAN event, you can watch the entire event online in the comfort of your own home. So follow Red Bull on Twitch and Red Bull Gaming on YouTube to get ready for the event, or follow our official co-streamers Ludwig, Tarik, and Sean Gares for their unique perspectives on the event.
That’s everything you need to know ahead of the Home Ground NA Qualifiers! If you want to look for any more information, check out the official event page!
