On Thursday, September 18, the sixth day of VALORANT Champions 2025 in Paris brought two critical qualification matches. The opening series saw VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) EMEA representatives Team Heretics take on T1 from the Pacific league, followed by another clash between EMEA powerhouse Fnatic and Americas contender Made In Brazil (MIBR).

With playoff spots on the line, both EMEA squads delivered. Team Heretics advanced first with a 2-0 sweep over T1, while Fnatic edged past MIBR in a tense three-map battle. With these results, both European teams secured their places in the Champions playoffs, set to begin on September 25.

Team Heretics outlast T1 in two nail-biting maps

The clash between last year’s Worlds finalists (Heretics) and Masters Bangkok champions (T1) kicked off on Lotus, TH’s pick. T1 took the pistol but dropped the following round, allowing Heretics to secure a Thrifty round and to snowball momentum. Behind a red-hot Mert "Wo0t" Alkan on Chamber, who dropped a 4K in Round 5, and Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius, who answered with a 4K of his own the round after, TH surged to a 6-1 lead. The end of the half took place on C with several push from T1 but TH secured strong retakes. As often this year, T1 struck back thanks to Kang "DH" Dong-ho who scored a 4K. Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul also scored a triple kill to win another round, bringing the first half to an end with a score of 8-4 in favor of Team EMEA.

The second half mirrored the first as it will be as spectacular as the first. This time, Heretics grabbed the two first rounds. The two teams traded rounds to reach 11-5 before Wo0t struck again with a 3K to trigger Heretics' attack, which resulted in a flawless round to make it 12-5. T1 refused to go quietly, however, with BuZz powering a comeback to 12-10. In the end, Enes "RieNs" Ecirli clutched a 1v2 to close out Lotus 13-10.

On T1’s pick, Sunset, the Koreans started strong at 3-0, but Heretics answered back with six consecutive rounds thanks to sharp holds on A site and key plays from RieNs and MiniBoo. The half closed tied at 6-6 after BuZz’s Neon ult swung momentum back.

The second half was defined by individual brilliance. T1’s Ham "iZu" Woo-Joo and BuZz secured early rounds with a 3K and a 4K respectively, while Heretics fought back through clutch plays, including a nail-biting round where Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius denied Kim "stax" Gu-taek a defuse by milliseconds. TH pushed ahead 11-8, but T1 rallied to 11-11. With the score at 12-11, DH produced a stunning 4K to nearly force overtime—yet Heretics had bought just enough time, holding the spike for a 13-11 victory and 2-0 series sweep.

Fnatic survive MIBR scare in three maps

The second match opened on Bind, Fnatic’s pick, but it was MIBR who seized control. Fnatic took the pistol and anti-eco, but the Brazilian squad secured a strong eco round, finding three kills and a spike plant. That momentum carried into six straight rounds, highlighted by a 3K from Erick "aspas" Santos, another 3K from Gabriel "cortezia" Cortez, and a 4K from Andrew "Verno" Maust on Round 7. Fnatic stopped the bleeding with a clever A push into a B flank, then found more life as Jake "Boaster" Howlett finally got on the board after starting 0/9, helping secure a flawless round. By halftime, though, MIBR led 7-5. MIBR came out firing in the second half, with Arthur "artzin" Araujo and Eduardo "xenom" Soeiro putting up 3Ks in the first two rounds. The Brazilians never looked back and closed out Bind with a perfect defensive half, cruising to a dominant 13-5 win.

On Abyss, MIBR’s pick, Fnatic again stumbled early, losing the first four rounds thanks in part to a red-hot Cortezia. Still, FNC clawed back to 4-2 off disciplined retakes. A lightning-fast blitz push to haven with a clean 3K from artzin will secure another round for MIBR. The next round, Verno will do a time-wasting “troll” play through Astra’s wall, allowing Cortezia to finish the round to make it 6-2. FNC scored a few late rounds to close the half 7-5 in favor of MIBR.

The second half belonged entirely to Fnatic. Kajetan "kaajak" Haremski opened with a pistol 3K on A, followed by a flawless anti-eco and bonus conversion. From there, Fnatic chained eight straight rounds. Despite desperate heroics from aspas, Emir "Alfajer" Beder closed Abyss with a 4K, giving Fnatic a 13-7 win to even the series.

The decider, Haven, began with Fnatic striking first—Kaajak and Austin "crashies" Roberts opened with back-to-back 3Ks to secure the pistol and anti-eco. Despite MIBR taking the bonus, Fnatic dominated the next three to lead 5-1. During Round 7 MIBR pulled off a 2v4 with a 3K from artzin, who followed it up with another 3K the very next round. Fnatic responded with a thrifty. MIBR scored another round thanks to an excellent xenom, but FNC then won the last two rounds of the first half to finish with a score of 8-4.

Fnatic extended the gap to 10-4 after the pistol and anti-eco, again through Kaajak’s consistency. MIBR answered with two rounds, then rallied on defense, stringing together four more to close within 11-10, capped by xenom’s 4K on A in Round 21. Fnatic reached match point at 12-10 after another Kaajak 3K on an A execution. In the final round, Fnatic planted on C but were nearly wiped out, leaving Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov in a 1v3 on Viper. Chronicle played it perfectly, scoring a 3K to defend the spike to seal a 13-10 map win and 2-1 series victory for Fnatic.