VALORANT Champions 2025 Playoffs preview: Track by track toward the trophy?

After a highly competitive Group Stage packed with close comebacks and unexpected underdog victories, VALORANT Champions 2025 is heading into the Playoffs.

Between September 25th and October 5th, eight teams (3 EMEA, 3 Americas, 2 Pacific) will fight through a double-elimination bracket to lift the Champions trophy. While the likes of Fnatic and Paper Rex aim to add another international trophy to their collection, underdogs such as GIANTX and NRG seek to continue their miracle runs.

Before the playoffs kick off, Esports Insider takes a deep dive into the VALORANT Champions 2025 Playoffs bracket to examine which roster might win it all.

The VALORANT Champions 2025 Playoffs will kick off September 25th at 2 PM BST with a highly anticipated series between VCT Pacific’s Paper Rex (PRX) and VCT Americas team G2 Esports.

Both rosters have won Stage 2 events in their respective region. G2, in particular, has been a dominant force in its VCT league, securing every single regional title throughout this year.

Still, G2 has never won a global trophy. PRX, on the other hand, has already proven itself on the international stage with its recent victory at Masters Toronto.

PRX has had a convincing Group Stage debut at Champs, defeating Group A opponents XLG Esports (2-0) and GIANTX (2-1). Group D’s G2 suffered a surprising upset at the hands of Team Heretics (0-2) and had to persevere against Dragon Ranger Gaming (2-0) and T1 (2-0) to qualify. 

The only possible advantage G2 could have heading into the match-up versus PRX is that the Pacific team has not yet been tested on Corrode and Abyss throughout the Group Stage.

Still, PRX should be slightly favoured in this series since its individual players have showcased better consistency and versatility so far.

The second Playoffs match tomorrow will be between VCT EMEA legend Fnatic and Pacific underdog DRX. 

This is an interesting match-up, as just looking at the names, some might view Fnatic as the clear favourite. After all, this team is among the few that already have two international titles under its belt while maintaining its regional dominance for several years. 

However, following its second-place finishes at the Esports World Cup and Masters Toronto, Fnatic had a significant downfall in EMEA’s Stage 2 Playoffs. At Champions Paris, the roster won its Group B matches versus Rex Regum Qeon (2-0) and MIBR (2-1), albeit not without struggles. Its new double-sentinel team composition, featuring Vyse and Sage, might not be as effective going into the Playoffs.

DRX has also had its fair share of challenges throughout the 2025 season, but now looks revitalised on the stage in Paris. The theory behind its double-duelist team composition and the synergy between Song ”HYUNMIN‘ Hyun-min’s Waylay and Cho ‘Flashback‘ Min-hyuk’s Yoru are more difficult to navigate than Fnatic’s set strategies.

Unless Fnatic comes highly prepped with improved strategic depth, DRX should have the upper hand in this match-up.

VCT EMEA’s Team Heretics versus the Americas’ team MIBR will take place on September 26th as part of the second side of the Playoffs bracket. Without giants, such as G2 Esports and Paper Rex, within this group, teams are arguably more likely to make deep tournament runs if the organisations can get off to a good start. Ultimately, Team Herectics could be one of the lucky winners of the Playoffs draw.

Like Fnatic, Heretics’ performance tanked during EMEA’s Stage 2 Playoffs, resulting in debates about the roster’s consistency and ability to compete under pressure. On top of that, the Spanish organisation was part of the most stacked group during the Champions Group Stage. This makes its undefeated Group D run even more impressive, as Heretics first defeated G2 (2-0) and then Masters Bangkok champion T1 (2-0), all without looking significantly challenged. 

MIBR’s rise to the Playoffs occurred in a similar fashion, as the Brazilian team didn’t even qualify for the Stage 2 Playoffs in its region. However, at Champions, MIBR defied expectations by upsetting China’s Stage 2 champion Bilibili Gaming (2-0) and later dominating in the decider match against Rex Regum Qeon (2-0).

Nonetheless, MIBR’s solo Waylay has limited entry power and at times relies on somewhat predictable set plays.

Unless Heretics makes another massive fumble like in Stage 2, MIBR will have a tough time in its first Playoffs series.

September 26th will continue with a series between two dark horses that qualified for Champions 2025 solely through a second-place finish in their respective regional Stage 2 tournaments.

VCT Americas’ NRG versus EMEA’s GIANTX is a match-up of underdogs, but also of rookie players. While NRG is spearheaded by 2023 Champions winner Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold, three of its members made their international debut under the NRG banner this year. The same applies to GIANTX, whose rookies are led by 2023 Champions attendee, Kirill ‘Cloud’ Nekhozhin.

Noteworthy is also that both Ethan and Cloud are fairly inexperienced in-game leaders (IGLs) and have received guidance in their new roles from their stellar coaching staff, including Malkolm ‘bonkar’ Rench (NRG) and Daniil ‘pipsoN’ Meshcheryakov, as well as Jan ‘wayLander’ Rahkonen (GIANTX). NRG’s and GIANTX’s coaches have had a significant impact on the calling style of their IGLs and on mid-game adjustments following timeouts.

What might set NRG apart is that Ethan and his team have displayed consistent improvement throughout Stage 2 and Champs, particularly regarding the roster’s attack-side macro gameplay. Meanwhile, the quality of Cloud’s calling has been inconsistent at times, leaving GIANTX to rely more heavily on individual performances.

The result of this series might come down to a coin flip, but this coin seems slightly biased in favour of NRG.

The recent Playoffs draw has blessed VALORANT fans with incredibly close match-ups, allowing some of the less-experienced teams on the second side of the Playoffs to reach high placements at Champions 2025.

In addition, the lower bracket is guaranteed to feature some of the biggest names in the current VALORANT esports scene. For viewers, this means entertaining matches throughout upper- and lower-bracket runs. 

At the same time, such close match-ups are also challenging to predict, as demonstrated by the countless incorrect Group Stage Pick’Ems. Considering the recent Group Stage performances, PRX and G2 remain the two favourites of the tournament. However, the gap between these two and rising stars, such as NRG and GIANTX, is closing. 

Statistically, Team Heretics — and especially Mert ‘Wo0t’ Alkan — typically performs worse during Playoffs compared to the roster’s Group Stage showings. Therefore, Team Heretics may struggle to persevere through such a stacked bracket.

Meanwhile, teams like Fnatic, DRX and MIBR likely lack the strategic depth and versatility to survive against well-prepared opponents.

In the end, this writer believes it is between NRG and GIANTX when it comes to challenging the big two at the top. Although the teams’ Lower Bracket Final victory against a well-oiled G2 is unlikely, their rookie rosters have already surprised viewers with their firepower and adaptability on VALORANT’s biggest stage.

Finally, it should be noted that G2 has been the event favourite for every single international competition of 2025 so far and has yet to live up to these expectations. As a result, by putting faith in G2’s previous international results, the logical conclusion is to say that Paper Rex, track-by-track, will reach the very top of the Champions podium.

To find out which team will end up lifting the VALORANT Champions 2025 trophy, fans can tune into the games via VCT’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.