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100 Thieves prove their dominance at Red Bull Home Ground 2022
Eight teams descended on the UK city of Manchester for Red Bull Home Ground 2022 – get up to speed with everything that happened at the final VALORANT event of the year here.
Eight teams entered and one team stands triumphant. There have been some outstanding games and incredible upsets from teams around the world at Red Bull Home Ground 2022, the final major event of the VALORANT season for the year.
For the first time, North American teams were invited to join squads from Europe at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, UK, to prove their might against teams on their home ground. And prove their might they did, tearing through the European competitors and dominating every stage of the tournament.
With the dust settled and a victor decided, we're looking back on Red Bull Home Ground 2022 and the incredible action that took place across the weekend.
The North American invasion
Day 1 kicked off with the Group Stage, with each team facing three best-of-three matches to decide who would go straight to the semi-finals, who would have to fight again in the quarter-finals and who would be heading home early.
In Group A, Cloud9 got off on the wrong foot with a 2-1 loss to FOKUS, but bounced back and won their next two matches against KRÜ Esports and Team Vitality to secure a semi-finals place. FOKUS went home early, while KRÜ and Vitality progressed to the quarter-finals.
Group B contained the only team to not lose a match, with 100 Thieves proving resilient in the face of some tough competition and taking the semi-final spot. Team Liquid and Team Heretics held on for a quarter-final place, but FUT Esports exited early after not winning a single match.
The Red Bull Home Ground trophy
© Mark Roe/Red Bull Content Pool
A quarter-final upset
With the teams now mixed up from their Groups, the quarter-finals kicked off on Day 2 with Vitality facing off against Heretics in a best-of-three that wouldn't make it to the third game. While Game 1 on Haven was fairly even throughout the first half, as soon as Vitality got onto the Defence side, there was no stopping them. They dominated the pistol rounds, and despite Heretics managing to claw one round back, Vitality shut down any hopes of a comeback and took Game 1 with relative ease.
Heretics came out swinging on Pearl for Game 2, but despite a solid start on Defence, Vitality's attack was unstoppable, and the first half of the game finished 8-4 in Vitality's favour. Heretics showed promise again in the pistol rounds of the second half, but with such a huge lead, Vitality walked away with the game, wrapping up in round 21 with a 13-8 win.
With Vitality's semi-final place secured, it was time for defending champions Team Liquid to face off against underdogs KRÜ. The crowd in Manchester was clearly on the side of Liquid, perhaps because of the last remaining UK player – Dom 'soulcas' Sulcas – being on the squad. But as we were all about to find out, having the crowd on your side doesn't mean you're guaranteed a win.
KRÜ got off to a solid start in Game 1 on Bind, though Liquid soon found their footing and started to take control of the game. Heading into the second half with the score at 7-5 in Liquid's favour, it seemed unlikely for KRÜ to be able to pull back. But after another set of strong opening rounds, KRÜ somehow managed to pull through and get back on top, clinching a 13-11 win in the very last round of the game.
With this win, KRÜ appeared to have broken Liquid's spirit, and Game 2 on Ascent started with a five-round win streak for KRÜ. Liquid picked up a couple of rounds where they could, but after finishing the first half 8-4 in KRÜ's favour, things weren't looking hopeful. Even a spirited return in the second half, which saw Liquid pick up a magnificent clutch in round 15 thanks to some quick moves from Saif 'Sayf' Jibraeel, wasn't enough to save them. KRÜ played smart and secured the final five wins they needed to punch their ticket to the semis in a massive upset.
Stunning semi-finals
Team Vitality fought hard for their quarter-final place
© Mark Roe/Red Bull Content Pool
But Day 2 wasn't over yet. Now it was time for Vitality to return to the stage to face off against 100 Thieves, who had the advantage of rest on their side, having not had to play a quarter-final match earlier in the day. But Vitality were clearly fixing for a fight, and neither side looked ready to back down.
Game 1 on Pearl was close throughout. Both sides were giving it their all, keeping the score tied at 6-6 in the first half. The action didn't let up, and despite 100T picking up a convincing lead in the second half, Vitality came back fighting, picking up an incredible and vital clutch in the very last round to push the game to overtime.
Sadly, their comeback was for naught. 100T won two rounds back to back – the first of which saw stellar pick up a clutch win without even seeing his enemy – closing out the game with a 14-12 win.
With everything on the line, 100T didn't show any signs of slowing down for Game 2 on Fracture. Vitality did what they could, holding firm for an evenly matched first half, though 100T still came out the side of it 7-5 up. As the sides switched, 100T went all out, and won six rounds on the trot on the attacking side, defeating every player on the opposing squad in every single round. Vitality suitably crushed, 100T now had one obstacle in their way – the Grand Final.
All that was left was to decide 100T's final opponent. Game 3 arrived, and the second semi-final saw Cloud9 return to the stage after a day off from competing, ready to take on the surprise stars of Red Bull Home Ground 2022, KRÜ Esports.
KRÜ Esports were the underdogs
© Joe Brady/Red Bull Content Pool
KRÜ pulled out all the stops to beat Liquid, but it wasn't enough in their games against Cloud9. The NA team dismantled the underdogs of KRÜ, who proved their worth in the pistol rounds but failed to make a dent once C9 got their preferred purchases. Game 1 on Bind saw KRÜ's best performance for the first half of the match, where they picked up four wins. From then on, it seemed miraculous that they secured any.
Instead, Cloud9 played a solid game, winning almost every engagement and proving dominant with a fast, aggressive playstyle that KRÜ couldn't keep up with. Game 1 ended 13-5 – Game 2 on Haven ended even faster at 13-3. The final two teams were decided – and at the first Red Bull Home Ground to include North American teams, it turned into an all-North-American Grand Final.
The final match
100 Thieves and Cloud9 are no strangers in the VALORANT arena. The teams have faced off plenty of times before, trading wins over the years – though 100 Thieves were the last to win, having knocked C9 out of the VCT 2022: North America Last Chance Qualifier and ending their chance of a spot at VALORANT Champions 2022. C9 weren't about to let that go – but 100 Thieves were ready to keep their winning streak.
Game 1 on C9's pick of Bind started off well for 100T, who took the first two rounds. C9 fought back and the teams traded rounds back and forth, ending the first half 7-5 in 100T's favour. C9 came back fighting in the second half, picking up the pistol rounds and preventing 100T from finding too much a foothold, but it wasn't long before 100T broke away and secured the win, closing out the game 13-10 after some nail-biting battles.
Cloud9 had some clutch moments but couldn’t capitalise
© Mark Roe/Red Bull Content Pool
Cloud9 clearly didn't want a repeat in Game 2 on Fracture and took the first pistol round of the game with a convincing display. But somehow 100 Thieves managed to win the second round, nullifying any lead Cloud9 developed and went on a four-round win streak before Cloud9 could respond. That round win broke the streak and 100T's momentum overall, and the first half ended in a dead heat 6-6. Cloud9's pistol prowess shone through in the opening rounds of the second half of the match, but something had clicked for 100 Thieves, and the team came rushing back into the game with renewed vigour, eventually closing it out with a 13-9 win.
From there on, it was 100 Thieves' game to win. Cloud9 seemed exhausted from the long day, having already played a semi-final and lost two games in a row, and they fell apart under the might of 100 Thieves. A series of beautiful rounds from 100T led to a 9-3 lead at half-time, and 100T didn't drop a single round after that, ending the game 13-3.
With that incredible end, 100 Thieves became the winners of Red Bull Home Ground 2022. They didn't lose a single match throughout the tournament and took apart everyone they came up against. It was an extraordinary display – we'll see if they can repeat it next year.
If you’re after more VALORANT action to see out 2022, Red Bull Campus Clutch will have its World Finals taking place on December 15-16 – find out more information here.
