Valorant Champions 2025 preview: Format, schedule, teams, predictions

Luke Warr Published September 10, 2025

Updates

Oct. 3, 2025 – NRG beats Paper Rex to qualify to grand final

Sept. 26, 2025 – Paper Rex – FNATIC secure their Champions showdown

Sept. 23, 2025 – Playoffs preview: matches, schedule and best picks

Sept. 20, 2025 – EDward Gaming and Sentinels eliminated

Sept. 15, 2025 – Group stage elimination matches previews

All of the Riot Games-managed Valorant tournaments of the year have led up to the coveted 2025 Valorant Champions event. With professional teams worldwide facing off for a chance to win it all, it’s shaping up to be one of the most competitive tournaments in Valorant history, and our preview will help you understand exactly what to expect.

Unlike the previous Masters tournaments, the 2025 VCT Champions event works a bit differently by starting with a group stage. While 16 teams have worked hard to qualify for the tournament, the number will be split in half by the time the playoffs come around.

All 2025 Valorant Champions teams

16 teams will compete in the 2025 Valorant Champions tournament from across the game’s four regions of competition. Those teams are:

Americas

• G2 Esports
• NRG
• Sentinels
• MIBR

China

• Bilibili Gaming
• Dragon Ranger Gaming
• EDward Gaming
• XLG Esports

EMEA

• Team Liquid
• GIANTX
• Fnatic
• Team Heretics

Pacific

• Paper Rex
• Rex Regum Qeon
• T1
• DRX

Out of these 16 teams, Team Liquid, G2 Esports, and Paper Rex are the significant favorites to win. All three teams have showcased excellent play in their respective domestic competitions, while also making waves throughout the year when playing abroad to raise the confidence fans have in them today.

• Refresher: All previous winners of Valorant Champions

DRX, MIBR, and GIANTX are among the biggest underdogs going into the tournament. These three teams failed to make lasting impressions, and while they each qualified for Champions, it wasn’t easy for any of the three.

• While DRX qualified for the tournament, the team was knocked out of the 2025 VCT Pacific Stage 2 tournament in the lower bracket quarterfinals, not even reaching the semis.
• Then there’s MIBR, a team that was knocked out in the group stage of the recent 2025 VCT Americas League Stage 2 competition.
• Finally, GIANTX is going into the match after losing its last series by a score of 0-3 against Team Liquid, and after that poor showing, it’s hard to have much confidence in what the team could pull out here.

Team Heretics (X/Twitter)

The tournament has multiple potential dark horses, but Fnatic and T1 may have the most potential in this regard. Both teams have been inconsistent in 2025, thus their not ranking among the event favorites. But both have impressed with their play more recently.

• Fnatic finishing in second place in the 2025 Esports World Cup and at Masters Toronto, showing the team knows how to step up when the stakes are highest.
• T1 pulled off an upset win in this year’s Masters Bangkok event, a feat the squad will hope to repeat here.
• Read more insights about the Valorant Champions 2025 qualified teams.

2025 VCT Champions tournament format

The 2025 VCT Champions tournament is divided into two main parts. The first is the group stage, while the main event is the playoffs. The two stages have different formats.

• The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams for the group stage, which consists of best-of-three matches
• Winning teams from the opening matches will battle against each other to qualify for the playoffs
• The losers of the opening matches will fight the other losing teams in their groups in elimination matches
• The final match of every group will see the loser of the winner’s match face the winner of the elimination match, and the winner of this match will move on while the loser will be eliminated

With the group stage out of the way, the playoffs are fairly straightforward.

• The playoffs are in a double-elimination format
• Every match will be a best-of-three, except the lower bracket final and grand final, both of which will be best-of-five matches

Dates and schedule

The 2025 Valorant Champions will kick off with the group stage on September 12, 2025, at 9 am EST / 3 pm CET.

The group stage will determine which teams advance to the playoffs and will run until the 22nd. The playoffs will then start after three days on September 25, with the grand finals  beginning on October 5, 2025, at 7 am EST / 1 pm CET. Find out how to watch Valorant Champs here.

Fnatic (X/Twitter)

Group A matches (September 12)

• Paper Rex vs XLG
• GIANTX vs Sentinels

Group B matches (September 13)

• NRG vs EDward Gaming
• Team Liquid vs DRX

Group C matches (September 14)

• DRG vs T1
• G2 Esports vs Team Heretics

Group D matches (September 15)

• Bilibili Gaming vs MIBR
• RRQ vs Fnatic

Winners matches (September 17-18)

• DRX vs NRG
• PRX vs GX
• Team Heretics (1.46) vs T1 (2.61)
• MIBR (2.89) vs Fnatic (1.38)

Elimination matches (September 19-20)

• Team Liquid vs EDG
• XLG vs Sentinels
• Bilibili Gaming vs RRQ
• G2 Esports vs DRG

Valorant odds as of 6:37 am ET September 18, 2025.

Decider matches (September 21-22)

• Giantx vs XLG
• MIBR vs RRQ
• DRX vs Team Liquid
• T1 vs G2 Esports

Playoffs upper bracket quarterfinals (September 25-September 26)

• Paper Rex (1.63) vs G2 Esports (2.19)
• Fnatic (1.5) vs DRX (2.48)
• Team Heretics (1.47) vs MIBR (2.56)
• NRG (1.46) vs GIANTX (2.59)

2025 Valorant Champions prize pool

Every one of the 16 teams in the 2025 VCT Champions will receive a piece of the $2,250,000 Valorant Champions prize pool based on their final ranking.

While this tournament ensures that no team returns empty-handed regardless of their placement, every team will be aiming for the top spot in the final standings.

Valorant Champions betting tips and predictions

Despite the odds seemingly being stacked against it, it may be a good idea to ride T1 as the dark horse for those interested in Valorant betting.

T1 proved that it’s more than a match for any team internationally, despite how often it stumbled in the recent VCT split. Those looking to significantly increase their potential returns may want to bet on T1 with its longer odds to at least reaching the grand final.

As for the ultimate victor, Paper Rex and G2 Esports are both looking particularly strong. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that a repeat of Masters Bangkok could be seen, where G2 comfortably demolishes the opposition on its way to a grand final appearance. Fans will just have to hope that the final match goes better for G2 than it did last time, should that come to pass. Read more about who will win Valorant Champions 2025.