Pop Flash has been scheduled as the next installment of Riot Games’ Valorant Ignition Series tournament in North America. The event is being hosted by Flashpoint and will officially be the fourth Ignition Series tournament for the region. It includes a US$50,000 prize pool.

Pop Flash will only feature eight invited teams, the lowest team count for any NA Ignition Series tournament. In comparison to previous events, the PAX Arena Invitational had 20 participating teams, while the T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown and FaZe Clan Invitational had 16 teams compete.

The eight teams that are set to compete in the Pop Flash tournament are Team SoloMid, Sentinels, Gen.G Esports, Team Envy, T1, Immortals, and the newly signed Dignitas squad, who were formerly known as Homeless. 

The major underlying story of the tournament is the rivalry between TSM and Sentinels. TSM dominated the first-ever NA Ignition Series tournament by sweeping T1 in the grand final. TSM’s win propelled them to being called the best team in North America, up until Sentinels knocked them out in the PAX Arena Invitational.

With both teams taking shots at each other after securing tournament wins, the stage was set for the FaZe Clan Valorant Invitational. TSM and Sentinels took their rivalry to the next level during the tournament, and pulled in the largest viewership numbers Valorant has seen since it launched.

TSM will be competing in Group A against Gen.G, Cloud9, and Dignitas. 

Meanwhile, Sentinels will have to outperform Team Envy, Immortals, and T1, if they want to advance to the playoffs and get another shot at defeating TSM.

Pop Flash’s first day of competition is on August 27 at 12:00 a.m. GMT+8. Fans can catch the action via Flashpoint’s official Twitch channel.

The first match of the day will feature TSM going up against Dignitas in the organization’s first ever Valorant competition. It will be followed by a contest between two equality matched teams in Gen.G and Cloud. 

The tournament will then shift its attention to two Group B matches, with Sentinels going up against Team Envy, and Immortals taking on a T1 squad that will not include Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham.

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