With the Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 5 kicking off later today, here's everything you need to know about this international off-season tournament:
Location
The Red Bull Home Ground 5 will take place in Berlin, Germany, in the Treptow Arena. Tickets to watch the Finals are still available to purchase.
Format
The Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 5 will be divided into two stages, including the Swiss Stage and the Playoffs.
All of the matches in the Swiss Stage will be BO1 except for elimination matches, which will be BO3.
The Playoffs will be a single-elimination bracket. While the semifinals will be BO3, the grand final will be a BO5 game.
The first set of Swiss Stage matches will include the following clashes:
- Team Heretics vs. FOKUS
- Fnatic vs. Cloud9
- G2 Esports vs. Karmine Corp
- FUT Esports vs. T1
Teams
Eight teams will compete in this weekend's Valorant Red Bull Home Ground, including:
Team Heretics
The Valorant Champions 2024 grand finalists are back in action in what will be the team's first appearance after their 2-3 defeat against EDward Gaming.
Fnatic
The Red Bull Home Ground 5 will be Fnatic's first tournament without Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev since the Finn joined the orange roster in April 2021. It will be the fans' first chance to see Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu and Kajetan "kajaak" Haremski in action for the VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo champions.
Karmine Corp
Karmine Corp's super team for the 2025 season is making its official debut in the Red Bull Home Ground. The roster is now led by the Valorant Champions 2022 champion Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro.
The Argentinian was not the only signing as Karmine Crop also added Hazem "avez" Khaled, Efe "Elite" Teber, and Dmitrii "SUYGETSU" Iliushin to the squad. Martin "marteen" Pátek is the only remaining player from last year's roster.
FOKUS
The German organization was the only Tier 2 roster invited to the tournament. The squad includes two former top-flight players in James "Mistic" Orfila and Aaro "hoody" Peltokangas, who played for Giants and Fnatic, respectively.
Cloud9
Cloud9 qualified for the Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 5 after winning the North American qualifier, including victories against Moist x Shopify and Sentinels.
The North American squad has made two roster changes during the transfer window as they added the former T1 player Daniel "Robby" Abedrabbo and Victor "v1c" Truong.
T1
Following T1's most recent signings, the South Korean organization has become one of the strongest squads in the Pacific region. The team's current lineup includes the VCT 2024 Masters Shanghai champion Kim "Meteor" Tae-o, the former DRX player Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul, and Ko "Sylvan" Young-sub.
The South Korean lineup qualified for Berlin following victories against Rex Regum Qeon and ZETA DIVISION.
FUT Esports
The Turkish roster qualified for the Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 5 after winning the International Play-In, including victories against Zen eSports, Permitta Unicorns, and G2 Esports.
G2 Esports
Meanwhile, G2 Esports qualified for the Valorant Red Bull Home Ground 5 after taking the International Play-In second seed. The North American lineup will technically play on home soil, with G2 Esports' headquarters being 6.5 kilometers away from the Treptow Arena.
It's also worth mentioning that this will be G2 Esports' first international appearance with the Valorant Champions 2023 champion Alexander "jawgemo" Mor, who was signed to replace Jacob "icy" Lange.