VALORANT: BBL, Fnatic, Paper Rex and NRG qualify for playoffs on opening day of EWC 2025

On Tuesday, the first day of the VALORANT tournament at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, four teams won their two matches and are already qualified for the playoffs: BBL Esports, Fnatic, Paper Rex, and NRG. Meanwhile, eight teams dropped into the lower bracket, where just one loss separated them from elimination. Across all four groups, the remaining teams are entering do-or-die matches. Every team that lost on Day 1 still has a chance of reaching the playoffs, but they only have one more opportunity to do so. All remaining group stage matches will be played in BO3 format.

Paper Rex opened Group A with a 16–14 win over Bilibili Gaming, then dominated Karmine Corp 2–0 in the Winners Match with scores of 13–8 on Lotus and 13–7 on Bind in Group A. Karmine Corp will now await the winner of the decider match between Bilibili Gaming and G2 Esports. Both G2 and BLG were narrowly defeated and will now compete in an elimination match, with the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.

In Group B, BBL Esports shocked Sentinels 14–12 in the opening match before comfortably sweeping DRX 2–0, winning 13–6 on Split and 13–12 on Ascent. DRX still have a second chance. They will play against the winner of the match between Sentinels and XLG Esports, with the winner progressing to the playoffs. Both teams currently have a record of 0–1, and the loser of the elimination match will be eliminated on Day 2.

NRG delivered the most dominant performance of the day in Group C. After a crushing 13–4 victory over Team Heretics, they swept Rex Regum Qeon in the winners' match, winning 13–6 on Sunset and 13–9 on Split in Group C. RRQ drop into the decider and will face the winner of Team Heretics vs Titan Esports Club. TEC lost to RRQ 6–13 in the opening match, leaving them in a precarious position.

Finally, in Group D, Fnatic secured a 13–11 victory over 100 Thieves, followed by a 2–0 sweep of Gen.G Esports with scores of 13–10 on both Bind and Split with a masterclass from Emir Ali “Alfajer” Beder. Gen.G now await the winner of the match between 100 Thieves and EDward Gaming. Both teams were defeated in their opening series and now face direct elimination.

After the conclusion of the Group Stage, the playoff bracket begins on 11 July in a double-elimination format and will feature eight teams, of which four have already qualified and four are yet to be decided.