VALORANT First Strike: North America Qualifiers Kick Off Oct. 26

October 19, 2020

by Olivia Schaller--Updated

Riot Games Partners with Nerd Street Gamers and Engine Media to Broaden Competition & Offer $100K Total Prize Pool

A few weeks ago, Riot Games announced the first official Riot Games-produced VALORANT tournament, First Strike. What started as two NA qualifiers, is now the top 8 teams battling for their share of the $100K prize pool, and the title as first First Strike champion.

The competition will begin on October 26 with the first open, 128-team tournament, produced by Nerd Street Gamers. The tournament will whittle down the pool to 16 teams, who will compete in the first qualifier. From there, the top four teams will advance straight to the main event, and the next four teams will advance into the second open tournament for another chance to fight for their spot in First Strike.

For any teams who don’t make the first cut, you’re in luck — there will be a second open qualifier where teams can re-enter and get another shot.

The second open tournament, produced by partner Engine Media (UMG), will start November 11. The top twelve teams will move into the second qualifier, joining the four teams from the first qualifier. From there, four more teams will make it into the First Strike event — making a total of eight teams competing for a slice of the $100K pie.

Players and teams interested in competing in the qualifiers can register at nerdstgamers.com/valorant (for the NSG open qualifier) and umggaming.com (for the UMG open qualifier).

The full schedule includes:

Oct. 26 – 30 — NSG Open Qualifier
- 16 teams advance to the first qualifying tournament
- Watch on Twitch (nerdstgamers or VALORANT_NA) or YouTube (VALORANT_NA): twitch.tv/nerdstgamers or twitch.tv/VALORANT_NA / youtube.com/VALORANT_NA
Nov. 4 – 8 — NSG Tournament
- Top 4 teams advance to VALORANT First Strike Event
- Next 4 teams advance to UMG Tournament 2 (below)
- Watch on Twitch (nerdstgamers or VALORANT_NA) or YouTube (VALORANT_NA)
Nov. 11 – 15 — UMG Open Qualifier
- 12 teams from UMG advance to the second qualifying tournament
- Watch on Twitch (UMGGaming or VALORANT_NA) or YouTube (VALORANT_NA)
Nov. 18 – 22 — UMG Tournament
- Note: Pool includes 4 teams from NSG Tournament
- Top 4 teams advance to VALORANT First Strike Event
- Watch on Twitch (UMGGaming or VALORANT_NA) or YouTube (VALORANT_NA)
Dec. 3 – 6 — VALORANT First Strike Event
- 8 teams compete for $100K prize pool
- Watch on Twitch (VALORANT_NA) or YouTube (VALORANT_NA)

First Strike is the first major chapter in VALORANT esports, with the support of two stellar partners to bring it to life — Nerd Street Gamers, which has already partnered with FaZe Clan and T1 to power their Ignition Series tournaments, and Engine Media/UMG, one of the most storied names in both elite and amateur competitive organizing.

Keep an eye on this space (PlayVALORANT.com) for more details on First Strike and tune in to all three events: