On Jun 18, esports organization T1's CEO Joe "JoeMar" Marsh called out fellow esports org G2 Esports for having a smaller prize pool than T1 for the org's VALORANT Ignition Series. The tweet itself,  while meant in good fun and consistent of nothing but harmless banter, highlighted how rivalries between esports organizations could benefit the developing esports infrastructure of VALORANT, which was officially released on June 2, 2020.

Earlier this week,  Riot Games announced the VALORANT Ignition Series, which partnered the VALORANT developer with over 20 esports organizations to create unique competitive events around the world. 

T1, who signed the first professional VALORANT player in Braxton "brax" Pierce, was selected to host an event from June 26-28 as part of the ignition series in partnership with Nerd Street Gamers. The only event that will take place in the VALORANT Ignition Series before T1's event is the European G2 Esports Invitational, which may have been the cause of JoeMar's friendly banter towards G2. 

T1 and G2 Esports' banter is all in good fun, but does highlight a potential opportunity to jumpstart the esports scene for VALORANT. Both organizations are prestigious in the entirety of the esports space, but have specifically monumental legacies in the esports scene for VALORANT developer Riot Games' flagship title League of Legends.

G2 Esports solidified itself as the greatest western LoL esports team with its unparalleled success in 2019, and T1's ownership of the greatest League of Legends player of all time in Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok has led the organization to becoming the most successful dynasty in the competitive history of League of Legends. 

If prestigious organizations like TSM, Cloud9, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Immortals — all of whom have signed competitive VALORANT talent — can get in on the trash-talk of the early competitive VALORANT scene, it could be a massive boon to the burgeoning esports ecosystem of Riot Games' most recent title. 

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