Are you ready for a new Valorant legend to be born? This winter, Manchester's Victoria Warehouse will play host to the next stage in the evolution of Valorant esports – Red Bull Home Ground. This unique invitational tournament will see some of the biggest teams from Europe and North America battle it out to be recognised as the best in the world.
Across the participating regions, qualifiers have already begun and potential champions have begun to emerge, so without further ado, let's take a look at the biggest rivalries in Valorant that might just reignite this winter.
01
G2 Esports vs Team Liquid
The very first Red Bull Home Ground came down to a final clash between two of the biggest organisations in esports – G2 Esports and Team Liquid. The two European giants met in the grand final and pushed each other to the limits in an intense series. After three and a half hours of intense play across five games, G2 came out on top and claimed the title with a 3-2 finish.
Will these two high-profile teams meet again at this year's Red Bull Home Ground? G2 captain Óscar 'mixwell' Colocho will surely want to pick up the fight again, while Liquid's Dom 'soulcas' Sulcas and captain Adil 'ScreaM' Benrlitom will be looking to settle the score.
02
Team Liquid vs Acend
Red Bull Home Ground 2021 concluded with a clash of two titans of Europe, Team Liquid and Acend. Liquid threw down the gauntlet in the first round, taking the win on Split before staging a massive comeback on Bind for the second match. Acend went into overdrive in round three however, obliterating Liquid in an attempt to take the final all the way to five matches. In the end, though, it was Team Liquid who would claim the prize, defeating Acend 13-11 in the final round.
With both teams now holding titles, it will be fascinating to see these two juggernauts go head-to-head again at Home Ground. You can bet that Mehmet 'cNed' İpek and captain Patryk 'starxo' Kopczyński will be keen to get revenge on Team Liquid following that fateful defeat, and see if cNed can raise another MVP medal.
03
G2 Esports vs Sentinels
It wouldn't be an esports tournament without some good, old-fashioned trash talk. Last year some fiery social media back-and-forths led to an intense rivalry developing between G2 and LA-based squad Sentinels. The initial spark was set off by the Americans, who tweeted a video including G2 with the caption 'NA > EU'. And just like that, the old regional rivalry was heating up.
Members of both organisations traded barbs over Twitter, before G2 hilariously escalated the beef by hiring a plane to fly a banner displaying some colourful language for Sentinels before their first game at VCT Stage 3 Masters - Berlin. But despite this psychological warfare, Sentinels still managed to come out on top in the pair's first meeting. Later, G2 would even the score by beating Sentinels 2-0 in the Group Stage.
Both emerged from the Group Stage, but would not meet again in the knockouts. With such a spicy history between them, it's sure to go off should they meet again at Red Bull Home Ground this year.
If you would like to take part in Red Bull Home Ground, register here to nab your spot in the remaining open qualifiers. If you want to watch the action go down in person, get your ticket here.