VALORANT has become a sensation in the esports world, drawing records on Twitch as players desperately tried to get into the closed beta. With developer Riot Games announcing an esports vision for the game, it's clear that players across esports are going to be looking to go pro.
But which games could provide the smoothest transition for esports pros into VALORANT? That's what we're trying to answer in next week's ESPN Esports VALORANT Invitational. We've assembled eight teams of notable pros, former pros and streamers from across the esports spectrum -- CS:GO, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Apex Legends, Fortnite, PUBG, League of Legends and some of the VALORANT developers themselves -- to see which of them will reign supreme when it's all said and done.
Who's going to be playing? How can you tune in? We've got the details:
How to watch:
The ESPN Esports VALORANT Invitational will start Monday with a 3:30 p.m. ET preshow and continue on Tuesday and Wednesday on the ESPN Esports Twitch channel. Teams will be split into two groups, A and B, and will play each group member once in a round-robin format. Four teams will make it to the semifinals, and the winners of those will advance to a best-of-three finals.
Schedule and results
Monday, April 20 (Group A round-robin)
Match 1: Team Mirage 13, Team Six 6
Match 2: Team Heroes 13, Team Rift 1
Match 3: Team Mirage 13, Team Heroes 2
Match 4: Team Mirage 13, Team Rift 0
Match 5: Team Rift forefeits
Match 6: Team Heroes 13, Team Six 9
Team Mirage and Team Heroes advance
Tuesday, April 21 results (Group B round-robin)
Match 1 -- Team Canyon 13, Team Dev 4
Match 2 -- Team Llama 13, Team Battlegrounds 8
Match 3 -- Team Dev 13, Team Llama 5
Match 4 -- Team Dev 13, Team Battlegrounds 1
Match 5 -- Team Canyon 13, Team Battlegrounds 10
Match 6 -- Team Llama 9, Team Canyon 6 -- Team Canyon advances on round differential.
Team Dev and Team Canyon advance.
Wednesday, April 22 (semifinals and finals)
Semifinal 1 -- Team Canyon 13, Team Heroes 11
Semifinal 1 -- Team Mirage 13, Team Dev 11
Final 1 -- Team Mirage 13, Team Canyon 8
Final 2 -- Team Canyon 13, Team Mirage 10
Final 3 -- Team Canyon 13, Team Mirage 10
TEAM CANYON WINS!
The teams
Group A
Team Mirage, made up of Counter-Strike players
Team Heroes, made up of Overwatch players
Team Six, made up of Rainbow Six Siege players
Team Rift, made up of League of Legends players
Group B
Team Canyon, made up of Apex Legends players
Team Llama, made up of Fortnite players
Team Battlegrounds, made up of PUBG players
Team Dev, made up of the game's developers
Ntt
Penguin
Nick "Nickwu" Wu
Bobby "excal" Prochnow
Sal "Volcano" Garozzo