Team Liquid has become VCT EMEA Stage 2 champion with a dominant 3-0 victory over GIANTX in yesterday’s Grand Final.
The team has secured the lion’s share of the event’s $250,000 (~£185,000) prize pool as well as the region’s first seed for the VALORANT Champions 2025 Group Stage.
VCT EMEA Stage 2 was the third and final regional competition in the 2025 VALORANT esports calendar. From July 16th until August 31st, 12 teams battled through a single round-robin Group Stage and a double-elimination Playoffs bracket.
Throughout the year, Team Liquid has been among the top-performing teams of its region. The squad qualified for Masters Bangkok and Masters Toronto by securing second place at VCT EMEA Kickoff and third during EMEA Stage 1, respectively.
However, Team Liquid could not advance out of the Group Stage at either of the Masters tournaments.
Team Liquid Completes Dominant VCT EMEA Stage Run
Ahead of Stage 2, the roster replaced Maikls ‘SerialKiller’ Ždanovs with former Team Vitality player Nikita ‘trexx’ Cherednichenko.
This move proved successful, as Team Liquid completed the Stage 2 Group Stage as the first seed of Group Omega, losing only one of its five Group Stage matches to Karmine Corp. Moreover, the squad qualified for VALORANT Champions early, thanks to its regional VCT Points standing.
Team Liquid’s dominance continued during the playoffs. The team sent both GIANTX (2-1) and BBL Esports (2-1) to the lower bracket before re-encountering GIANTX in yesterday’s Grand Final.
Having earned a double map ban veto advantage, Liquid made sure to conclude this year’s VCT EMEA season with an impressive 3-0 sweep. Despite GIANTX fighting back valiantly, Bind (13-10), Lotus (13-9), and finally Sunset (13-10) ended in Team Liquid’s favour.
The roster’s in-game leader (IGL), Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin, was crowned Grand Finals MVP, delivering 60 kills throughout the series and a 251 average combat score (ACS).
With the Stage 2 trophy claimed, Team Liquid is next looking to make an impact at VALORANT Champions in Paris.
The season-ending international VALORANT tournament will take place from September 9th until October 5th and offers a whopping $2.25m (~£1.66m) prize pool.
Team Liquid’s first opponent in the Champions Group Stage will be the VCT Pacific fourth seed, DRX.
