Gentle Mates has been relegated from VCT EMEA without the chance to defend its VCT slot at the 2025 Ascension tournament following yesterday’s 1-2 loss against GIANTX.
It is also unclear whether the French esports organisation will return to VALORANT’s tier-two circuit, Challengers EMEA, next year.
Gentle Mates CEO, Lucas ‘Squeezie’ Hauchard, has reportedly stated that “There’s a very strong, massive chance we won’t be competing in VALORANT next year.”
Gentle Mates earned its temporary VCT slot by defeating Apeks in the 2023 Ascension Grand Final. Since then, the organisation has struggled to gain a foothold within EMEA’s tier-one league. Throughout its first year in VCT EMEA, Gentle Mates placed among the bottom three teams in every regional stage.
For the 2025 season, VALORANT publisher Riot Games made significant changes to VCT relegation. This meant that Gentle Mates had to either qualify for Champions to directly extend its VCT contract or reach the Stage 2 Playoffs and earn the right to defend its tier-one slot at this year’s Ascension event.
With yesterday’s defeat, however, the team has lost every opportunity to save itself from relegation. On the other hand, Gentle Mates’ final opponent, GIANTX, has now advanced to the Playoffs for the first time since 2023 and is still in contention for VALORANT Champions qualification.
Gentle Mates’ Struggles in 2025
After disappointing results during VCT EMEA Kickoff and Stage 1, Gentle Mates had signed Turkish rookie and duellist prodigy Berkcan ‘ComeBack’ Şentürk for its final stance in the league.
Despite promising performances, especially from the roster’s high-fragging in-game leader (IGL) Patrik ‘Minny’ Hušek, the team lost against FUT Esports (1-2), Team Heretics (1-2), BBL Esports (0-2) and finally GIANTX (1-2).
“It’s the end of our VCT adventure,” shared Marceau ‘Placido’ Lambert, Head of VALORANT at Gentle Mates.
“We gave everything to save the season and keep our slot, but it wasn’t enough. From the offseason, our status weighed heavily: many players didn’t even consider us. So we made a bold bet by building a roster mainly of rookies.
“I know many of you share our disappointment tonight. I take responsibility for it. […] Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who supported us, in good times and bad.”
Gentle Mates has become the second EMEA Ascension team to be relegated. Last year’s Ascension winner, Apeks, had already suffered the same fate on August 6th, when it lost its fourth consecutive Group Stage match in Stage 2 against Movistar KOI.
