The year 2025 is all about surprises within VALORANT esports. Each VALORANT Champions Tour Kickoff tournament produced some shocking results. During this time, VCT EMEA hosted one of the most thrilling grand finals in VALORANT esports history. Team Vitality completed a reverse sweep to be crowned the VCT EMEA Kickoff Champions. If you’re curious to know how they did it, let’s find out!
Team Vitality Win VCT EMEA Kickoff 2025 Against Team Liquid
Image Credit: Riot Games
VCT EMEA Kickoff was a double bracket tournament with 12 teams. Based on their rankings last year, specific teams received a bye in the early phases of the event. Going into this tournament, the team to watch out was Team Vitality. Their new roster consists of Derke and Less within the team.
During the upper bracket final. Team Vitality swept away Team Heretics with a scoreline of 2-0. This win secured their post in the VCT EMEA Kickoff grand final and VCT Masters Bangkok.
On the other hand, Team Liquid didn’t have the best start to the tournament. After losing to FUT Esports, they reached the first round of the lower bracket. Then, they went on an incredible run of games, concluding by defeating Team Heretics 3-0 in the lower finals. The stage was set for two of the most recognized esports organizations in Europe to face off against each other.
What Went Down During VCT EMEA Kickoff Grand Finals
The first game started with a close affair, with Team Liquid winning on Split with a scoreline of 13-10. They continued this momentum into the second game on Haven. During this match, Kamyk from Team Liquid picked Tejo, decimated the lobby, and ended the game as the MVP with a KDA of 18/10/10. Until the second game, Team Liquid got an early lead during the match and kept it to secure their win. This all changed during the third map.
On Lotus, Team Vitality decimated Team Liquid with a scoreline of 13-6. This was due to their team composition consisting of Vyse and Fade. Game 4 began with Team Liquid taking the lead during the early phases of the game, but in the end, Team Vitality got back the lead and won their second map with a score of 13-7. If there were one player who had to be credited for their composure during these matches, it would be Sayf from Team Vitality.
The decider game of the Best of 5 series was played on Fracture, with both teams opting to use the default team composition of Breach, Brimstone, Tejo, and Raze. Team Vitality dominated this game, completing the reverse sweep and winning the VCT EMEA Kickoff with a score of 3-2. Sayf on Tejo ended the game with a scoreline of 22/12/4.
Team Vitality secured the VCT EMEA Kickoff trophy and three championship points with this win. As Team Liquid finished second, they won 2 championship points. Following this match, the draw for VCT Masters Bangkok was announced. Team Liquid will face EDward Gaming and Team Vitality will face T1 during the first round of the VCT Masters Bangkok Swiss stage.