UK Valorant talent continued to show the world what they’re capable of in a thrilling finals at the Red Bull Home Ground this weekend.
UK sides SUMN FC and Team Liquid fought one another in the semi-final, with Liquid edging through to the final 3-2.
But it was European team G2 Esports that won the tournament overall and took the lion’s share of the £24,000 prize pool. They beat Team Liquid in the final, in what was again another 3-2 series.
Home Ground by Red Bull kicked off on January 28th with a bunch of top UK casting talent, and saw Europe’s fiercest teams go head-to-head across four days.
Champions G2, as well as runners up Team Liquid, and SUMN FC, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Futbolist, Guild Esports, FrenzyGoKill and newly revealed squad Monkey Business, battled in a unique format where strategic map picks were prioritised.
The two-day quarter finals saw Futbolist, Guild Esports, Monkey Business, and qualified team Frenzy Go Kill eliminated from the competition.
The final saw titans G2 and Team Liquid secure wins on both of their home ground map picks and go on to battle across five series in an extraordinarily close set of matches.
The final culminated on Ascent, where G2 managed to outclass their opponent, and secure a 3-2 victory, 13-10 in the final map, and the title of Home Ground by Red Bull Champions.
Following the win, G2 player Aleksander ‘zeek’ Zygmunt said: “It’s even bigger for me than the rest of the teammates because it’s my first big tournament win so I’m super hyped, you can see it on my face, I’m smiling all the time. I joined the best team, but I know I’m one of the best players in the game right now.”
UK-based event provider epic.LAN provided league operations, observers, Twitch moderation and general esports advice throughout the qualifiers and live finals, while fellow UK business Hotdrop built a broadcast package and produced video content around the tournament.
Home Ground by Red Bull is the brand’s first pro Valorant event, following the recent reveal of Red Bull Campus Clutch, a global Valorant competition which will see university teams from more than 50 countries compete.
Reaction: ‘We needed more experience playing officials’
Team Liquid’s UK coach Sliggy said:
G2’s UK coach Neilzinho commented:
Also need to give a shoutout to @soulcas_ who was a rock. Extremely proud of the determination to close that last map out without winning a pistol round, our pistols need fixed for VCT. Final shoutout to @Mixwell who showed why he’s one of the best in the world, if not the best.
— G2 neilzinho (@G2neilzinho) January 31, 2021
G2 player ardiis added:
And SUMN FC UK team captain Boaster said in this post semi-final interview that he was glad it went to five games and there’s a lot of VoD reviews ahead:
Late last year, SUMN FC came close to winning the First Strike Europe finals. You can read more about when SUMN FC and Team Liquid’s UK Valorant teams were started here.
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.
