Team Liquid Eliminate Defending Champions EDward Gaming from VALORANT Champions 2025

19 Sep

Ganesh Jadhav

VALORANT Champions 2024 winners and defending champions, EDward Gaming, are the first team to be eliminated from Paris 2025.

After an intense Bo3, Team Liquid knocked out the Zmjjkk-led Chinese squad, completing a comeback on map three.

A Disappointing Run

After failing to qualify for VALORANT Champions Paris through VCT CN 2025: Stage 2, EDward Gaming secured their spot as the region’s 3rd seed thanks to their year-long performance. Despite their poor form, many expected them to perform well enough to qualify over NRG and DRX. Their opening match against NRG, particularly the first half, reignited hope for VCT CN fans. Unfortunately, they squandered a 2-11 lead in the second half and ultimately lost the series 0-2.

With Team Liquid also losing their opener against DRX in similar fashion, the Group C elimination game became a showdown between two legendary VALORANT organizations.

Unceremonious Exit

The elimination series began with EDward Gaming dominating Team Liquid, only to be swept on the next map. The decider on Bind was tightly contested, with both sides trading defense rounds. In the end, Liquid secured their attacking round, and a strong play from nAts at B long sealed the victory.

With this win, Team Liquid live to fight another day and will face DRX on September 22 for a qualification spot. EDward Gaming, meanwhile, became the first team to exit Champions Paris.

Currently, Sentinels are facing China’s #1 seed, Xi Lai Gaming. If XLG fall, they will become the second Chinese team eliminated from the tournament.

The VALORANT Champions 2025 action continues...

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Featured Image Credit: Adela Sznajder/Riot Games

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