VALORANT Champions 2025 kicked off with major surprises in Group D, as back-to-back-to-back VCT Americas champions G2 Esports fell to EMEA underdogs Team Heretics in a 2-0 upset.
The tournament debut for G2 Esports didn’t go as planned. Team Heretics, EMEA’s fourth seed, stunned the Americas powerhouse by winning both Corrode and Lotus to secure the series 2-0.
Team Heretics Dominate G2 with Creative Strategies
Heretics began the series with a bold map veto, selecting Corrode — a map neither team had shown comfort on. Despite G2’s trademark Odin-heavy strategies, Heretics responded in kind and outclassed them with clever utility setups and disciplined defence.
Enes ‘RieNs’ Ecirli stole the spotlight with a devastating 4K Odin spray, crushing G2’s momentum. After a scrappy first half, Heretics closed out Corrode 13-10 with only two defensive rounds lost.
On Lotus, G2 started strong with six straight rounds but faltered once Mert ‘Wo0t’ Alkan secured an Operator for Chamber. His dominance, paired with Heretics’ smart defensive adjustments, shut G2 out in the second half, ending 13-10.
The loss marked a rare early stumble for G2, who now face elimination pressure.
T1 Edge Out Dragon Ranger Gaming in Overtime Thriller
Earlier in the day, Korea’s T1 clashed with VCT China runner-up Dragon Ranger Gaming (DRG). Despite DRG fielding last-minute stand-in Maximilian ‘Demon1’ Mazanov, the Chinese squad nearly stole the series, forcing both maps into overtime.
Lotus was scrappy, with DRG’s aggression punished and T1’s rookie Kang ‘DH’ Dong-ho pulling off clutch plays to secure a 15-13 win. On Sunset, both teams traded momentum amid repeated technical pauses, but T1’s Kim ‘Meteor’ Tae-oh delivered crucial multi-frags to edge out a 16-14 victory.
Group D Takes Shape
With these results, Team Heretics and T1 advance to the upper bracket of Group D, set to play on September 18th. G2 and DRG, meanwhile, drop to the lower bracket and will face each other on September 20th — a match that guarantees either Demon1 or jawgemo will exit Champions 2025 early.
What’s Next at Champions 2025?
Group B action kicks off tomorrow at 2 PM BST. Fans can look forward to:
- Bilibili Gaming (China) vs MIBR (Americas)
- Fnatic (EMEA) vs Rex Regum Qeon – RRQ (Pacific)
As always, matches will be streamed live on VCT’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.
Really interesting breakdown — what stood out to me was how Heretics leaned into the risk of picking Corrode, a map neither side had much history on. That gamble paid off big time, especially with RieNs’ Odin play completely flipping momentum. Makes you wonder if other teams will start embracing ‘uncomfortable’ maps to catch favorites like G2 off guard.