Red Bull Home Ground is making its return in 2022 for the third iteration of the VALORANT invitational tournament, according an announcement Thursday. The event will be a LAN held in Manchester, England, at the Victoria Warehouse — a live music venue with a capacity of roughly 3,500 — from Dec. 9-11.
The Red Bull Home Ground event is one of the biggest tournaments outside of the VALORANT Champions Tour. As an invitational, the tournament will bring in eight of the top international teams. For the first time, North American teams will be included in Home Ground. Two more slots will be open to any team who can make it through qualifiers.
Any EMEA team looking to enter the Red Bull Home Ground 2022 open qualifiers can do so through Start.gg. A separate Turkish closed qualifier will also be held ahead of the tournament.
This year’s Home Ground will also make some adjustments to the format by adding in a new home-and-away structure. During the best of five matches, both teams can select a home map to play on for the opening two maps. If a team wins both opening “home” and “away” matches, they automatically win the tie. A stalemate will default the tie to the traditional best-of format.
G2 Esports became the first Home Ground winners in early 2021, right as the competitive VALORANT scene was spinning up. Home Ground 2 in late 2021 was expanded and included many of the top teams in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Team Liquid won the event.
“Being on Red Bull Home Ground was fun for our team,” Acend’s Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek, the MVP of the previous event, said in a statement. “Last year, I gave it my all to earn the title of tournament MVP, and this year, my team and I are prepared to top that effort.”
Red Bull Campus Clutch will also be returning alongside Home Ground in 2022. The Campus Clutch is an open global VALORANT tournament for students. Last year’s LAN brought together students from across the globe in a unique opportunity to compete on the world stage. More information about the 2022 Campus Clutch is still forthcoming.
