G2 clinch Valorant Red Bull Home Ground victory: Final placements & recap
Red Bull’s Valorant Home Ground invitational brought a new format to Future Earth. Europe’s best teams went head-to-head for the first time in 2021, with G2 Esports coming out on top.
Valorant’s esports scene was quiet for too long, so when Red Bull: Home Ground was announced with some of Europe’s best teams, the excitement soon snowballed.
Revolutionizing how matches unfold, Red Bull introduced the concept of ‘home ground’ advantage to Valorant. Teams selected their own preferred map before the event kicked off, which acted act as their permanent pick for the event.
Red Bull Home Ground: Final placements
G2 Esports picked up £10,000 of the £24,000 prize pool, with second-placed Liquid fetching £5,000.
Red Bull Home Ground: Results & format
The main event unfolded betweenJanuary 28-31.Each match was a best-of-five, unless a team won on both their map choice and their opponents’ (dubbed their ‘home ground’) — therefore ending the series at 2-0.
Day 1 – Thursday, January 28
An insane series sees NiP take down Futbolist on Icebox. Thanks to some insane plays by newcomer Kevin ‘Ex6TenZ’ Droolans, as well as innovative team comps that had no Duelists, NiP emerged on top after dropping only one map.
Meanwhile, G2 Esports and new insert Aleksander ‘zeek’ Zygmunt looked great coming out in the Home Ground. Qualifier team, FrenzyNoKill, were able to match G2’s firepower to an extent, but heroics from Patryk ‘paTiTek’ Fabrowski and the latest recruit were enough to close out the series.
Day 2 – Friday, January 29
Team Liquid came into this tournament looking for some redemption after First Strike and they’ve got it. Insane plays from soulcas and ScreaM eventually were the demise of Guild Esports, who simply couldn’t match the two fraggers. The event concluded 2-0 on Icebox.
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A similar 2-0 sweep was the result of SUMN FC taking on Monkey Business. Despite being a team a lot of people still underestimate, SUMN reminded fans everywhere of why they are a force to be reckoned with.
Day 3 – Saturday, January 30
The penultimate day of the competition determined which two teams will be the last ones standing once the Grand Final rolls around on January 31.
The action started with a relatively routine win for G2 Esports of NiP; after trading wins on Icebox and Split, G2 assumed control of the series with a dominant 13-5 victory on Ascent before closing things out on Bind, 13-11.
The second match turned out to be quite a thriller as SUMN held series leads after the first and third maps before back-to-back statement wins for Liquid – on Split (13-8) and Ascent (13-6) – wrapped up the match and sent TL to the championship round.
Day 4 – Sunday, January 31
In an incredibly tight finals, G2 Esports came back from behind twice to take down a persistent Team Liquid side. Both teams won on their respective Home Grounds, before Liquid pulled ahead on Haven. But G2 stood firm, taking Bind and Ascent to claim the title.
This series will be best remembered for some of the best Jett play we have seen so far in Valorant. Liquid’s ScreaM was the star of game one, with his insane Jett ace taking the game to match point, while G2 Mixwell played out of his mind on the Duelist, picking up 99 kills across all five games.
Red Bull Home Ground: Teams
Champions G2 Esports debuted with their new fifth member, Aleksander ‘zeek’ Zygmunt, who shone as he picked up the third-most kills in the final.
The Open Qualifier ran fromJanuary 23 – 24, with FrenzyGoKill emerging victorious. This booked them a slot in the main event.
