G2 Esports eliminated from VALORANT Champions 2025 by DRX

The first playoffs elimination match at VALORANT Champions 2025 left G2 Esports fans in shock as its favourite team was eliminated from the event by DRX.

In the second series of yesterday’s match-ups, VCT EMEA Stage 2 runner-up GIANTX was sent home by none other than fellow EMEA representative, Team Heretics.

As the back-to-back-to-back VCT Americas champion, G2 Esports was one of the event favourites at VALORANT Champions 2025. 

Yet, a questionable map veto arguably led to another unsuccessful international run for the team. Pacific’s DRX heavily punished G2 for not banning its two best maps, Abyss and Bind, making an impressive 2-1 comeback.

For the first map of the series, G2 was wise to pick Lotus, DRX’s worst map apart from its permanently banned, Sunset. Despite several short-term improvements following its previous disaster on Lotus, including better-timed Omen flashes and more efficient ultimate usage, DRX could only win seven Lotus rounds versus G2.

The Americas team, on the other hand, lost both pistol rounds and still came out on top (13-7). On the attack (8-4), G2 read many of DRX’s defence plays, while the Korean squad displayed inconsistent utility usage. In the second half, G2 had convincing Odin spams and site retakes.

Abyss saw the rise of DRX spearheaded by its in-game leader (IGL) Kim ‘MaKo’ Myeong-kwan. The Omen player helped his team make a strong start by dodging G2’s Tejo ultimate with a well-timed teleport. Meanwhile, G2 struggled against DRX’s overwhelming site executes but managed to secure four crucial rounds in the first half.

On its attack half, G2 won its first pistol round of the series. Moreover, DRX gifted G2 a Sova ultimate in the next round instead of jumping off the map. This allowed the Americas team to convert its bonus and snowball several well-defaulted attack rounds. However, DRX eventually stopped G2’s comeback attempt by quadrupling its aggression on the defence (13-10).

The saga concluded on Bind. This time playing Brimstone, MaKo seemingly locked down the B site all by himself with reinforcements from Cho ‘Flashback’ Min-hyuk on the Operator. The IGL and his team arrived well-prepared for G2’s macro gameplay on the attack side. 

Thanks to G2’s past Bind game versus NRG, DRX could effortlessly see through the enemy’s early-round pressure on B-long leading into a late A-hit. MaKo also won a 1v2 clutch in the final round of the half to secure a massive 2-10 lead. Off the back of another pistol win, G2 survived a couple of rounds in the second half. But it was only a matter of time until DRX claimed the final map 13-7.

The day continued with an EMEA derby between GIANTX and Team Heretics. Unlike DRX, GIANTX could not fully recover from its slow start and suffered a 1-2 loss instead.

After an initial pistol round win for GIANTX on Ascent, Heretics scored a second-round thrifty to flip the momentum in its favour. The Spanish team found great value in its defensive Cypher utility, either by gathering information or by slowing down the enemy duelist. Overall, Heretics showcased excellent coordination and finished the half at 8-4.

This success carried over into the second half, where Heretics won its first pistol and the bonus round thereafter. On its attack, the squad patiently took space across the map without giving GIANTX the gun duels it wanted. This diligence allowed Heretics to steal its opponent’s map pick, 13-4.

Throughout both sides of Ascent, Heretics’ Enes ‘RieNs’ Ecirli performed at his best. The Sova player secured a 23/8/4 kill-death ratio (KDA) and an average combat score (ACS) of 350 on the first map alone.

GIANTX responded to Heretics’ stomp with an even more dominant stomp on Lotus. The squad recovered from another second-round thrifty thanks to smart adaptations on its attack. In addition, GIANTX confidently navigated around the opponent’s Chamber and his Operator. 

While RieNs had a quiet second map, GIANTX’s duelist player, Eduard-George ‘ara’ Hanceriuc, stepped up to claim crucial opening kills on Raze. The result was a 9-3 half for GIANTX. With the team winning the second pistol and bonus round, Heretics had to concede its map pick 13-3.

On the final map, Bind, Heretics took a slice out of DRX’s strat book by playing the team’s signature Waylay/Yoru team composition. This curvenball nearly missed the mark as GIANTX looked convincing on its 7-5 defence half. With deep smokes and proactive crunches, the rival repeatedly forced Heretics to spend utility early, which could have otherwise facilitated site executes.

In the second half, Heretics claimed its second pistol round of the series to initiate a comeback. Throughout many close and scrappy rounds, the team’s in-game leader (IGL) Ričardas ‘Boo’ Lukaševičius rose to the occasion. 

First, he stuck two spike defuses through enemy molotovs and Astra stars. Then, he scored a double-kill with his Brimstone ultimate. Next came a 1v1 clutch, followed by the opening kill in the round after. Finally, Boo deployed another Orbital Strike to deny GIANTX’s post-plant stalling and conclude the map 13-9.

Following the elimination of G2 Esports and GIANTX today, DRX and Team Heretics may continue their lower-bracket runs. On September 29th, the two survivors will play against the losers from the upcoming Upper Bracket Semifinals.

All playoff matches at VALORANT Champions 2025 are broadcast on VCT’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.