WePlay! Esports $50,000 Valorant Invitational tournament for EU teams

Top Valorant teams will be competing for their share of a $50,000 prize pool in a tournament hosted by WePlay! on July 13. 

The open qualifiers for the WePlay! Valorant Invitational tournament will feature 128 teams. These teams will compete in best-of-one matches until the final series in each bracket, which will be contested in a best-of-three format. The teams who come out on top of both brackets will move to the main event, which begins July 15. They will join six teams who received a direct invite to the event.  

The six invitees to the event are: 

• fish123
• forZe
• G2 Esports
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Prodigy
• PartyParrots

Some have also expressed frustration over the invites on Twitter, griping that smaller organizations with good players and potential were overlooked in favor of big names. Despite those complaints, the favorites to win right now are top organizations G2 Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas, alongside the former British Counter-Strike squad fish123 which has racked up strong placements in Valorant's recent tournaments.

The grand finals will take place on July 19. The winning team will take home $25,000, half the prize pool. 

This is WePlay! Esports' first Valorant tournament ever. The event organizer which has operated numerous top leagues in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 expressed its excitement for the opportunity to partner with Riot to be a part of the Ignition Series, Riot's global tournament series. Whoever wins this tournament will be the first-ever Ignition Series champions. 

"We have been following Valorant since its announcement, and now welcome the opportunity to apply ourselves in the new title. As usual, we will try to make the event dramatic, unusual, and unforgettable. We’re hoping that Valorant will enjoy WePlay! Esports’ style and our regular viewers will have fun with the new game," WePlay! lead esports manager Eugene "Hitras" Shepelev said.