T1 start strong in Valorant Showdown

The third- and fourth-place sides will each pocket $5,000. Team SoloMid grabbed first place in Group B at 3-0, with Immortals finishing second at 2-1. Sentinels topped Group D with a 3-0 mark, ahead of second-place Gen.G Esports (2-1). The tightest group was Group A, where FaZe Clan (2-1) came in first place by a tiebreaker over together we are terrific (2-1).

Tournament host T1 swept through group play on Friday to reach the playoffs of the T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Valorant Showdown. T1 finished 3-0 in Group C, sweeping second-place 100 Thieves (2-1) in a two-game match to end the night. Earlier, T1 posted a 2-0 rout of Team Ninja (0-3) and rallied for a 2-1 victory over Code7 (1-2).

With T1 and 100 Thieves both 2-0 and already assured of reaching the playoffs, T1 took the teams' showdown 13-5, 13-4. Sixteen teams -- 11 invitees and five qualifiers are competing in the $50,000 event. The squads were split into four groups for pool play on Friday, with all matches best-of-three. The top two teams in each group qualified for the playoffs.

The eight-team, double-elimination playoffs start Saturday, with winners-bracket matches best-of-three and losers-bracket matches best-of-one. The final on Sunday will be a best-of-five, but the team emerging from the winner's bracket will start with a one-map advantage. The championship team will receive $25,000, and the runner-up will get $15,000. The third- and fourth-place sides will each pocket $5,000.

Team SoloMid grabbed first place in Group B at 3-0, with Immortals finishing second at 2-1. Sentinels topped Group D with a 3-0 mark, ahead of second-place Gen.G Esports (2-1).

The tightest group was Group A, where FaZe Clan (2-1) came in the first place by a tiebreaker over together we are terrific (2-1). The first-round playoff matchups on Saturday:

--Team SoloMid vs. together we are terrific --FaZe Clan vs. 100 Thieves

--Sentinels vs. Immortals --T1 vs. Gen.G Esports

T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Valorant Showdown final group standings Group A

1. FaZe Clan, 2-1 2. together we are terrific, 2-1

3. Cloud9, 1-2 4. Prospects, 1-2

Group B 1. Team SoloMid, 3-0

2. Immortals, 2-1 3. Spot Up, 1-3

4. Charlotte Phoenix, 0-3 Group C

1. T1, 3-0 2. 100 Thieves, 2-1

3. Code7, 1-2 4. Team Ninja, 0-3

Group D 1. Sentinels, 3-0

2. Gen.G Esports, 2-1 3. Mixup, 1-2

4. Echo 8, 0-3