The first North American Ignition Series event brought together Valorant’s biggest stars in a huge three-day tournament. Hosted by T1 and Nerd Street Gamers, $50,000 USD was up for grabs and we’ve got you covered with a full recap of how it unfolded.
Valorant’s Ignition Series are starting to kick off all over the world and the first major North American tournament just took place. Following on from the European G2 Esports event, the biggest names in NA finally got a chance to showcase their skills in the most competitive bracket thus far.
16 teams battled it out in the online showdown as the likes of FaZe Clan, 100 Thieves, Sentinels, and plenty more all looked to make their mark. In case you missed any of the action, get caught up to speed with all of the results and a full recap below.
T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Valorant Showdown recap – Groups
The enormous event gave every team multiple opportunities to shine. Not only did the first NA Ignition Series event feature a group stage, but teams that made it through were then dropped into a double-elimination playoff bracket. Even if rosters struggled to find their footing early, they had plenty of chances to turn things around.
Starting at the beginning of the event, teams were divided into four groups. Right out of the gate, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins and his squad were dropped out of Group C after losing three straight maps. Also of note, Cloud9 fell in Group A after losing to relative newcomers ‘Together We Are Terrific’ and ‘Prospects.’
The other groups played out as expected with the big-name organizations making it through to the playoff bracket. Team SoloMid, Sentinels, and T1 were the only teams to cruise through groups without dropping a single map, however.
T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Valorant Showdown recap – Playoffs
Moving into the playoffs, TSM continued their impressive run by winning three consecutive matches in the upper bracket. Taking out Together We Are Terrific, FaZe Clan, and T1 along the way, they found themselves in the Grand Finals on day three of the competition.
Despite coming out hot and winning the first T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Invitational in May, Gen G’s roster couldn’t quite live up to the likes of TSM. The lineup lost 0-2 against T1 and was swiftly eliminated by the Sentinels in the lower bracket.
The brand new 100 Thieves squad, captained by CS veteran Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin, found themselves in one of only three overtime rounds in the playoffs. While they found the early picks, they were soon left devastated by a ridiculous turnaround from the Immortals squad.
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Ultimately, it was TSM vs T1 in the Grand Finals and things came to a close rather quickly. With a lead already secured thanks to their upper bracket run, TSM kept on the gas and rolled through T1 without dropping a map.
Sniper Matt ‘Wardell’ Yu was the star of the show, dropping a 30-bomb on the final map to secure the victory for TSM. While T1’s leader Braxton ‘brax’ Pierce put up a valiant effort, it wasn’t enough to topple TSM’s clean, coordinated play.
Valorant Showdown final placements
| PLACE | TEAM | PRIZE MONEY (USD) |
| 1st | Team SoloMid | $25,000 |
| 2nd | T1 | $15,000 |
| 3rd | Immortals | $5,000 |
| 4th | FaZe Clan | $5,000 |
| Top 6 | 100 Thieves | – |
| Top 6 | Sentinels | – |
| Top 8 | Together We Are Terrific | – |
| Top 8 | Gen. G Esports | – |
| Top 12 | Cloud 9 | – |
| Top 12 | Spot Up | – |
| Top 12 | Code 7 | – |
| Top 12 | Mixup | – |
| Top 16 | Prospects | – |
| Top 16 | Charlotte Phoenix | – |
| Top 16 | Team Ninja | – |
| Top 16 | Echo 8 | – |
When was the Valorant Showdown tournament?
North America’s first Ignition Series event kicked off on June 26 and ran through to June 28. The opening day of action started at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET / 10 PM BST/ 11 PM CEST and ran for just over seven hours as the group stages were played in-full.
T1 hosted the main hub stream that kept on top of everything throughout the event. While players often streamed their own perspectives throughout earlier events, that wasn’t the case this time around. With the biggest prize pool yet, and bragging rights at stake in the first major tournament, individual streams were not switched on at all. This is due to the fear of opposing squads learning strategies and player tendencies.
Players and teams
Being the first major event to hit the North American scene, marquee players and organizations all took part. From FaZe Clan to 100 Thieves and even T1 themselves, here’s a list of every team that competed.
| TEAM | FULL ROSTER |
| FaZe Clan | Corey, dephh, ZachaREEE, Marved, psalm |
| 100 Thieves | Hiko, Valiate, Venerated, YaBoiDre, Pride |
| Cloud 9 | TenZ, Poach, shinobi, mitch, Relyks |
| Team SoloMid | reltuC, hazed, Wardell, Subroza, drone |
| Immortals | Bjor, jcStani, KOLER, Genghsta, Asuna |
| Sentinels | ShahZaM, SicK, sinatraa, zombs, dapr |
| T1 | brax, Skadoodle, crashies, food, AZK |
| Gen.G Esports | effys, gMd, huynh, MKaeL, PLAYER1 |
| Team Ninja | Ninja, Sonii, Morgausse, Grego, LeX |
| Code7 | Tork, Nicolas, rob-wiz, payen, pho |
| Mixup | stellar, aproto, Fiziq, Hoppin, thi9f |
| Echo 8 | AYRIN,Brando, Reformed, Req, supamen |
| Prospects | JoshRT, vice, diceyzx, Skelly, BabyJ |
| Charlotte Phoenix | anger, Ksiaze, ChurmZz, Sh0ts, Spirit |
| Spot Up | tem, Bunny, Tucker, figment, Khai |
| Together We Are Terrific | mummAy, aKis, FNS, c4Lypso, kaboose |
Format and rules
Teams first battled it out through the group stages. The top two teams in each pool advanced through to the playoffs over the following days.
Playoffs featured a double-elimination bracket but the upper and lower brackets came with one key difference. Matches in the upper bracket were all Bo3, whereas lower bracket games were Bo1. Ultimately, the tournament came to an end with a Bo5 Grand Finals. This final round of competition gave the upper bracket qualifier a single map advantage.