NRG crowned VALORANT Champions after defeating Fnatic

NRG has defeated Fnatic to be crowned the 2025 VALORANT Champions in a dominant display over the last month. 

The Los Angeles-based esports outfit swept the series in an undefeated display, which began way back in the Pools and culminated in Sunday’s grand final against a traditional powerhouse Fnatic. 

Remarkably NRG was priced at +1200 with esports betting sites to win the VALORANT Champions event, with their eventual grand final opponent Fnatic a +600 shot.

Paper Rex was the pre-tournament favorite at +175 , but were knocked out in the lower bracket semi finals 2-0 at the hands of DRX, who were ultimately beaten by Fnatic in the lower bracket final.

NRG did not have it all their own way in the grand final, eventually winning 3-2, in front of a packed crowd at Accor Arena  in Paris, France. 

Giving NRG’s victory more merit is the fact they fielded three rookies in Paris, and Brock “brawk” Somerhalder and Logan “skuba” Jenkins lead the way with some impressive play for an inexperienced pair. 

NRG got the Champions grand final series off to an outstanding start, defeating Fnatic on Corrode, with this a dominating in many respects. In 16 rounds only three ended with Fnatic winnings. 

NRG then continued to dominate on Lotus with Sam “s0m” the shining light and Adam “mada” Pumpuch making the final play of the map to win 13-6. 

It was at Abyss in the VALORANT Champions grand final that the momentum swung, and it came in an unusual fashion, after Fnatic struggled during its attack half, winning just one round. It wasn’t any specific player that lifted, rather the entire team seemed to click, however Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski must be given some credit in the 15-13 victory. 

Fnatic’s strong form continued on Ascent as NRG struggled to combat their team fighting, with the London-based outfit being lead superbly on this map by Emir ‘Alfajer’ Beder who finished with 23/14/4 with an ACS of 299. 

With the teams locked at 2-2, it all came down the final map, which was to be played on Sunset. 

Fnatic has traditionally struggled on Sunset and  on Sunday they could not buck this trend, despite the changes to the outfit, and NRG jumped quickly out to a 9-3 lead.

NRG leader Ethan was instrumental in helping his team arrest the momentum and in doing so, became the first player to win two VALORANT Champions titles, after winning with Evil Geniuses in 2023. 

Ethan must now have claims to being one of the greatest VALORANT players of all time, with his two Champions crowns a testament to his skill.

The eyes of the VALORANT esports world will now turn to the Ascension series, which will see the best teams that have qualified attempt to qualify for the VCT 2026.

VCT 2025: Ascension China begins on October 11; Pacific Ascensions begins on October 13 and Americas Ascension begins on October 16.