By Lea Maas
VCT Americas team NRG has won VALORANT Champions 2025 by defeating EMEA opponent Fnatic 3-2 in today’s Grand Final.
With this result, NRG’s Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold has also become the first player to lift two VALORANT Champions trophies.
NRG Remains Undefeated on Corrode
NRG kicked off its Champions-winning series with a dominant Corrode game. Through 16 rounds played in total, only three ended in Fnatic’s favour. After securing its attack pistol round, the EMEA team swiftly fell victim to Brock ‘brawk’ Somerhalder, wielding his beloved Odin. The Sova player scored a kill-death ratio (KDA) of 24/7/2 and an average combat score (ACS) of 375 throughout the first map.
But it wasn’t brawk alone who impressed viewers on Corrode. Fellow rookie, Logan ‘skuba’ Jenkins, demonstrated incredible composure as he found himself in ratty corners and difficult post-plant situations. The rest of NRG also showed great patience, particularly on the defence, where the roster knew precisely when to fight for a site or play for retake. This discipline carried over into the second half, resulting in a near-flawless 13-3 record.
Fnatic Cannot Gain Momentum on Lotus
Despite having confident Lotus performances in the past, Fnatic couldn’t find its footing on the map this time around. A pistol round win in the first half allowed brawk to purchase an Odin even earlier than in the previous game. Although Fnatic tried to retaliate with an Odin of its own, NRG won the Odin spam face-off and converted its bonus.
On its attack side, NRG consistently identified and scaled into the weakest site of the map. Moreover, Sam ‘s0m’ Oh had an outstanding first half on Omen. He repeatedly punished Fnatic’s attempts at re-clearing space on C and used his ultimate to dodge an otherwise deadly Showstopper.
After a 3-9 half, Fnatic tried to recover off the back of its own pistol and bonus round conversion. However, the squad lost its round-three force and struggled with its site hits and post-plants afterwards. In the end, it was a flank from Adam ‘mada’ Pampuch that delivered the final blow (6-13). Using his Raze ultimate, mada destroyed the enemy Lockdown and stalled Fnatic to deny a spike plant.
Fnatic Makes an Impossible Comeback
Abyss is where today’s Grand Final turned from a one-sided stomp into a tug of war for momentum. At first, it looked like NRG would close out the series in a clean 3-0 fashion. Although Abyss is typically considered a heavily attack-sided map, Fnatic could only win a single round during its attack half.
Several times, NRG managed to disrupt Fnatic’s cautious site takes with its sneaky backstabs. For instance, former NRG player, Austin ‘crashies’ Roberts, was assassinated twice in the midst of using his Sova ultimate. Meanwhile, NRG rookie Logan ‘skuba’ Jenkins had a 16/4/2 defence half.
In the second half, however, the roles were flipped. Now, it was Fnatic’s turn to convert its bonus round and go on a winning streak. Every member of its roster stepped up when necessary and fearlessly stood their ground. Most noteworthy, perhaps, is Fnatic’s rookie Kajetan ‘kaajak’ Haremski, who rose as his team’s hero in desperate times.
The Waylay player confidently secured opening kills and early-round information to take Fnatic into overtime. His aggressive mid-control during overtime’s attack rounds also contributed to the final 15-13 scoreline.
NRG Struggles on Ascent’s Defence
Ascent saw Fnatic steal NRG’s early-game momentum thanks to its superior team fighting. The team coordinated its swings well, leaving only a few deaths untraded. In addition, Emir ‘Alfajer’ Beder had a field day on the battle Sage, ending the map at 23/14/4 with an ACS of 299. Mada, on the other hand, was never given easy Operator picks and had to often go save his pricy possession.
Following an 8-4 attack half and a pistol round win on the defence, Fnatic’s Ascent victory appeared inevitable. Interestingly, though, NRG survived a few rounds by diligently disarming Fnatic’s Vyse wall to take mid control. The Americas team ultimately fell 13-8.
NRG Reclaims Control on Sunset
The final showdown took place on Sunset, a map where Fnatic has had little success in the past. Today’s Sunset match was no different, even though the EMEA team debuted a new team composition. Whilst Alfajer lacked confidence on Neon, NRG returned to its calm and methodical playstyle. Despite another pistol round, Fnatic concluded its defence half at 3-9.
NRG’s in-game leader (IGL) and 2023 Champions winner, Ethan, took the spotlight in his final game towards the second Champions trophy. On attack, the Breach player scored several clutch frags to deny Fnatic’s retake attempts.
In the second half, his double kill eliminated any momentum Fnatic could have leveraged to pull off a comeback and ensured a clean 13-5 victory. Ethan achieved a KDA of 23/12/9 and a 355 combat score on Sunset to become the first double-Champions trophy holder in VALORANT history.