Home Ground by Red Bull, a new pro Valorant competition launching in partnership with AOC, will showcase some of the UK and Europe’s best talent.
And not just UK playing talent either – the event will be hosted by esteemed UK broadcasters including host Frankie Ward, and analysts Lauren ‘Pansy’ Scott and Mike ‘hypoc’ Robins.
Then on casting duties, there’s the UK’s James Banks (who is also Alliance general manager) and Ireland’s Mitch ‘MitchMan’ Mcbride.
Eight teams will battle in a unique format for a £24,000 prize pool from January 28th to 31st from 11.30am GMT on twitch.tv/redbull.
Directly invited teams include G2, Team Liquid, Guild Esports, SUMN FC, Futbolist, Ninjas in Pyjamas and a special guest team.
Of course, Team Liquid and SUMN FC have UK-heavy Valorant rosters, while Guild Esports are based in the UK and have an all-Swedish Valorant roster.
Open qualifiers will take place from January 23rd to 24th, and sign ups are live now at smash.gg/redbullhomeground to source the final squad to complete the eight-team line-up.
G2 are one of the stand-out European teams of 2020, having emerged victorious at every single Ignition Series event.
G2 said: “We have learned from our mistakes during First Strike and will return stronger than before at Home Ground by Red Bull to sweep our competition the way we did during all Ignition Series tournaments.”
Red Bull also hosts a series of League of Legends events, including Red Bull Solo Q, the official global 1v1 League of Legends competition. Red Bull M.E.O., now in its third season, is a global mobile tournament, featuring Riot Games’ round-based strategy game Teamfight Tactics.
New Valorant signings at UK orgs Guild and Rix.gg
In other Valorant news, UK orgs Guild Esports and Rix.gg announced some new additions to their squads.
First up, Guild Esports announced the signing of Swedish-born pro gamer Saif ‘Sayf’ Jibraeel, and Swedish coach André ‘BARBARR’ Möller.
Grant Rousseau, Guild’s director of esports, commented: “As Valorant grows in popularity within the esports world, so does the competition. We’re thrilled to build upon our already highly talented team, and welcome the expertise of both Sayf and André who will no doubt be indispensable as we move forward to even greater heights.”
Sayf added: “I can’t wait to unite with my old team mates and remind everyone of how well we mesh together in a match, and the opportunity to work within Guild makes it even more special. Watch the league tables, because together we’re going to be making waves!”
BARBARR said: “Guild’s Valorant team are a highly flexible and intensely professional group, the kind that is every coach’s dream to train. With our combined efforts, you can be sure that it’s going to be a very good time to be a Guild fan.”
Elsewhere, Rix.gg have announced that a number of newcomers have joined the UK org this week.
UK player Tom ‘otom’ Hart has joined, as have Swedish player Oliwer ‘LATEKS’ Fahlander and Finnish player Richard ‘rCk’ Kanerva, with more expected to be announced.
Tom “otom” Hart has previously played for MJAOMODE in VALORANT, prior to that he has played in other titles including CSGO, Fortnite, and H1Z1. He has shown tremendous growth and skill in VALORANT since joining the scene in November and competing against other EU teams in First Strike.
Tom ‘otom’ Hart said: “I’m excited to have this opportunity to play for Rix.GG and am looking forward to the future under Rix.GG. With the organisation and the team behind me I believe we can achieve great things this year.”
Richard ‘rCk’ Kanerva commented: “I’m thrilled to say that I’ve found myself a team and I feel really good about it. I’m excited to represent Rix.GG in Valorant with this strong new roster and can’t wait to show you guys what we’ve been cooking in the kitchen. 2021, bring it on, we are ready.”
Oliwer ‘LATEKS’ Fahlander said: “I’m honored to have been given this opportunity by Rix.GG and beyond excited to take this next step in my career with them. With the team and organization behind me I’m confident I can lead this team to new heights as both the in-game leader and team captain of Rix.GG’s new Valorant roster.”
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
