VALORANT - Champions 2025: DRX and GIANTX Advance to Playoffs, Team Liquid and XLG Eliminated

On Day 9 of VALORANT Champions Paris 2025, DRX repeated its success against Team Liquid with a 2–0 victory, reproducing the scenario from the group stage opening match. GIANTX defeated Xi Lai Gaming after a hard-fought Bind in overtime before finishing the job on Ascent, eliminating the last Chinese team still in contention.

The first match began with TL picking Corrode. Liquid surprised everyone with a double-Duelist composition: Sentinel Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin played his first game as a Dueslit on Waylay, and Kamil “kamo” Frąckowiak picked Neon. They started strong with a convincing A-split, winning both the pistol and anti-eco rounds.

However, DRX quickly locked down the defense with patient mid-rounds, clean retakes, and a converted bonus round that swung the economy in their favor at 9–6. Despite a surge from Nikita “trexx” Cherednichenko on the B site, TL failed to shift the momentum. DRX controlled the information, broke their aggression timings, and closed out the map 13–8.

Back on Abyss, history repeated itself. DRX took both pistol and anti-eco rounds; Liquid responded on the first buy, but the Koreans won the following key round to seize the lead. TL’s adaptations, based on kamo’s lurks and tactical variations, earned them a few points, but DRX then delivered an almost flawless attacking side—methodical space-taking, disciplined post-plants, and minimal mistakes. The map ended 13–7, sealing a 2–0 victory for DRX and a ticket to the playoffs, while eliminating TL from the tournament.

In the second match of the day, XLG picked Bind and started strong with pistol, anti-eco, and bonus rounds, led by Arthur “Rarga” Churyumov’s early openings to build an 8–4 lead. After halftime, however, the Europeans caught up and forced a trade-off. Ran “Viva” Lifan and Colin “coconut” Chung kept XLG ahead for a time, but after a crucial timeout, GIANTX attacked A-Main in overtime, locked down the retake, and Eduard-George “ara” Hanceriuc delivered a decisive 3K to close the map before moving on to Ascent, their pick.

Ascent began with mirror compositions and a clear game plan focused on split B. GIANTX won pistol and anti-eco rounds, but XLG struck back on the first buy thanks to James “NoMan” Man and Viva, taking a 7–4 lead. ara’s 4K narrowed the gap to 7–5 before halftime, and GIANTX equalized right after the side switch at 7–7. The map came down to crucial buy rounds: Miłosz “westside” Duda created space on lurks, ara delivered another key 3K, and after XLG was forced onto an eco, GIANTX converted their third match point to win 13–10, qualifying for the playoffs and eliminating the last Chinese team from the competition.