Riot postpones NA Last Chance Qualifier indefinitely to move event online

Riot Games announced on Thursday that they will be postponing the NA Last Chance Qualifier indefinitely after multiple players at the event tested positive for COVID-19. They are canceling the in-person part of this event entirely and will transition the remaining matches online.

"Given the events of the past few days, out of an abundance of caution and with the health and safety of all involved being top of mind, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the event until further notice," Riot said in an official statement. "Player and staff safety remains our top concern as we navigate the current situation. We shared the community's disappointment and we are working diligently to transition the LCQ to an online event, similar to VCT matches earlier this year, and resume play as soon as possible to send our final team to VALORANT champions."

The move follows the suspension of Thursday's matches as Riot considered how to handle multiple rapid test positive results from Babybay, Corey, and other players at the event. While the players all claimed to have tested negative following their initial positive results, a doctor I consulted on the issue said that once a single positive test shows, you don't test again when using rapid tests because rapid tests are less rigorous in comparison to full lab tests.

Even before the COVID-19 concerns, the LCQ was proving to be a disaster. The entire first day was riddled with technical errors and latency issues, despite the event being in-person. Then when the COVID-19 tests for several players came back positive and it became clear that those results would affect the integrity of the tournament, Riot was forced to pull the ripcord on the tournament and move the event entirely online.

We will continue to report on this story as we learn more information about when we can expect the online LCQ matches to begin.