Americas outclassed EMEA
On the second day of the VALORANT Champions Paris Playoffs, the tournament offered as much chaos as quality. MIBR crushed Team Heretics 2–0, and NRG swept GIANTX. The day was characterized by unwavering resilience, flawless mid-game discipline, and ruthless economic control.
A game within the game
The match started on Corrode. MIBR began with an attack, achieving a clean B-hit pistol and converting the anti-eco. They surged to 5–1 as Team Heretics repeatedly failed to retake. A tactical timeout steadied TH, but MIBR still led 8–4 at half-time. MIBR were stunned on defense when TH stacked B and snatched the pistol, anti-eco and bonus rounds to make it 8–8, then 9–9. However, a pivotal B post-plant from MIBR halted the comeback. It was then neck-and-neck to 12–12 before Erick "aspas" Santos and Andrew "Verno" Maust secured the final kills in overtime, bringing the score to 14–12.

The second game took place on Sunset. It was a different map, but there was a fast start with a pistol, an anti-eco and a bonus, all of which went to MIBR. This put TH's economy in the bin. Even after Heretics thrifty play, MIBR dominated the space and raced to a 9–3 lead at half-time, thanks to aspas entry pressure and Vernos mid-round conversions. TH won the second-half pistol round, but MIBR’s first rifle round reset the momentum, and they won the series 13–6.
A one-sided match
This match started on Haven, a GX demolition, with NRG reading the defaults from round one and never letting up. The scoring disparity told the story, Brock "Brawk" Somerhalder dominated with an 18/1/8 scoreline as NRG snowballed every economy breakpoint to achieve a 13–1 victory.

After this one-sided Haven map, NRG will play on their pick, Lotus. GX got off to a flying start with a pistol and a scrappy anti-eco following a B-site shotgun burst. However, once the rifles came out, NRG strung together three clean rounds and seized control. The pace then quickened, with entries from Adam "Mada" Pampuch and airtight site closes keeping GX on the back foot, even when Miłosz "Westside" Duda’s heroics briefly halted the run. NRG dominated the bonus-to-rifle cycle after the halfway point and won 13–6, making it 2–0.
Header Credit Photo: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
- Mehdi "Ztitsh" Boukneter -
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