VALORANT - Champions 2025: MIBR upset Bilibili Gaming, Fnatic deliver against Rex Regum Qeon

Day 4 of the VALORANT Champions in Paris, MIBR's sweep of Chinese seed 1 Bilibili Gaming 2–0 was highlighted by rookie Andrew “Verno” Maust’s breakout performance and an Erick "aspas" Santos ace. Fnatic also made a strong debut, powered by Timofey “Chronicle” Khromov’s Guardian ace and Jake “Boaster” Howlett’s reads, with a clean 2–0 victory over Rex Regum Qeon. This sets up a MIBR–FNC winners clash to qualify for playoffs, and a BLG–RRQ elimination match.

The first best-of-three series kicks off on Haven, BLG's pick, with MIBR blowing them out of the water in the pistol round and anti-eco round, and quickly wrapping up the first side 10-2 thanks to clean execution and winning timing all over the map. Rookie Verno delivered an XXL performance on Sova with a KDA of 18-3-3 and 274 ACS, while aspas accelerated on Neon and Gabriel “cortezia” Cortez locked down the post-plants. In the second half, MIBR racked up more pistol rounds and bonus rounds, finishing the game 13-2 without conceding a single round to the Chinese team. Notably, MIBR won both pistol rounds on Haven.

For the second map, Corrode picked by MIBR, BLG finally reacted and led 7-5 at the break, but the Brazilian team came back strong after the side change. Another pistol round won, BLG's eco broken, and the momentum shifted definitively in a legendary round 15 where aspas scored the only ace of the series with Waylay. After that, MIBR managed the exchange of rounds and closed out the match 13-9. aspas finished the map with 22/11/3 and 277 ACS, while Verno remained ultra-impactful with 17-13-7 on Sova, well supported by Arthur “artziN” Araujo on KAY/O and cortezia on Viper. MIBR pulled off a 2-0 upset and advanced to the Winner's bracket in Group B, while BLG slipped into the elimination match against the loser of FNATIC vs RRQ.

The second series kicks off on Ascend with FNC picking first. The Black and Orange gets off to a clean start with Emir “Alfajer” Beder's boost wall on the B-Main box to open with two kills, then Chronicle closes out the pistol round with his double kill to launch a 2-0 lead that sets the tone for a slow, tight side. RRQ responds to the first buy, but Boaster's macro keeps up the tempo and FNC takes the lead 7-5. On the return, the IGL reads the pistol round perfectly, and Chronicle steals the show, with Vyse spearing the B site with the Guardian for an ace that breaks the economy. Behind him, Austin “crashies” Roberts secured key mid-rounds and FNC closed out the game 13-10, carried by Chronicle's top frag count of 25/11/10 and 296 ACS.

Second map was Abyss, RRQ's pick. The compositions are geared towards control and retakes, and the start is a real tug-of-war. But Fnatic wins most of the rounds again, going through the pistol round, the bonus round, and the duels that count on entries, allowing them to roll out both defensively and offensively without ever letting RRQ set up their game. Boaster's calls guide the rotation, Chronicle continues to be surgical, and FNC concludes the series without going through Corrode 2-0. Fnatic advances to the Group B Winners match against MIBR, while RRQ falls to elimination against BLG.