If you’re a Valorant esports fan who got busy with end-of-year holidays or work deadlines at the end of last year, you’re probably one of thousands searching who won valorant champions 2025. The 2025 tournament was held in Seoul, South Korea, and it’s widely considered the most competitive, unpredictable Valorant international event to date. I watched every single match live with a group of friends, and I still can’t believe some of the plays I saw, especially in the grand final that went all five maps to overtime.
Who Won Valorant Champions 2025, and How Did They Secure the Title?
After a grueling three week tournament with 16 of the best Valorant teams from across the globe, DRX took the 2025 Valorant Champions trophy with a 3-2 win over North American underdogs Cloud9 in the grand final. The series was back and forth from the first map, with Cloud9 taking a surprise 2-1 lead after winning Fracture 13-11, and most viewers thought they were going to take the trophy home. But DRX pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks in Champions history, winning Ascent 13-8 and Lotus 15-13 in overtime to lock in the win.
DRX’s success came down to near-perfect team coordination, creative agent comps that caught opponents off guard, and individual plays that had fans screaming at their screens. Three key moments directly led to their grand final win:
Seoldam was named the tournament MVP, finishing the final series with a 1.28 K/D and 18 first bloods, more than any other player on either team. He told reporters after the win that the team had been practicing Lotus retakes for 12 hours a day in the week leading up to the final, specifically to counter Cloud9’s aggressive site push style.
Key Upsets That Defined the 2025 Champions Tournament
The 2025 Champions bracket was full of surprises right from the group stage, with multiple top-ranked teams getting knocked out earlier than anyone predicted. No one expected Cloud9 to make the grand final after they finished 4th in the Americas LCQ, barely qualifying for the tournament at all. They beat three top 5 ranked teams on their way to the final, including EDG, LOUD, and Team Vitality, all in lower bracket elimination matches.
The biggest upset of the tournament came in the quarterfinals, when reigning 2024 Champions FNATIC lost 2-1 to LOUD in a match that no analyst saw coming. FNATIC had gone undefeated in the EMEA VCT circuit all year, and 78% of fans polled before the tournament had picked them to win the whole thing. I had FNATIC winning in my office bracket pool, so I lost $30 to my coworker when they got eliminated, and I still haven’t lived it down.
Another surprise was the early exit of 2025 Masters Tokyo winners EDG, who lost to Cloud9 in the semifinals after a 3-1 series. EDG was heavily favored to win that match, but Cloud9’s unorthodox agent comps on Bind and Fracture caught them completely off guard, and they couldn’t adjust fast enough to keep up.
What This Win Means for the 2026 Valorant Competitive Circuit
DRX’s 2025 Champions win makes them the first team in Valorant history to win two separate Champions titles, adding to their 2022 win in Istanbul. That legacy cements their status as one of the greatest Valorant teams of all time, and many analysts are predicting DRX will dominate the 2026 VCT season unless other top teams make major roster changes in the off-season.
As the 2025 Champions winner, DRX also gets an automatic spot in all three 2026 international Masters events, plus a direct invite to 2026 Champions, so they don’t have to fight through regional LCQs to qualify for international events for the rest of the year. That gives them a huge advantage, because they can spend more time practicing new comps and less time playing qualifying matches against regional teams.
Riot also announced last month that the 2026 VCT season will have a $15 million total prize pool across all events, up 40% from the 2025 season, with 2026 Champions having a $5 million grand prize for the winning team. You can check out Riot’s official 2026 VCT season announcement for full details on new format changes, including the addition of a fourth international Masters event being held in Brazil next October.
We’re also seeing a lot of roster changes already in the first few months of 2026, with FNATIC dropping two of their players after their early 2025 Champions exit, and Cloud9 signing a new controller player to build on their surprise grand final run. It’s clear that teams are already adjusting to try to take down DRX in the coming season.
Standout Players From the 2025 Champions Tournament
While Seoldam took home the MVP award, there were dozens of players who had incredible performances throughout the 2025 Champions tournament that deserve recognition. Cloud9’s IGL Anthony "vanity" Malaspina was the mastermind behind their underdog run, calling plays that consistently caught much more experienced teams off guard, and finishing the tournament with the highest assist count of any player in the bracket.
LOUD’s duelist Gabriel "qck" Lima had one of the best individual performances of the whole tournament in their upset win over FNATIC, finishing the series with a 1.47 K/D and 32 kills, including a 1v4 clutch on Bind that sealed the win for his team. He’s already been linked to several big roster moves in the 2026 off-season, with reports saying both FNATIC and Team Liquid are interested in signing him to a multi-year contract.
Another standout was DRX’s controller Kim "MaKo" Myeong-kwan, who consistently won critical retakes for his team throughout the tournament, including the iconic 1v3 clutch in the grand final. He finished the tournament with the lowest death count of any starting controller, and his ability to use utility to set up his team for kills was a huge part of DRX’s success. Seoldam’s contract with DRX runs through the end of 2026, so fans won’t have to worry about the team’s core roster breaking up anytime soon, which is bad news for every other team in the circuit.
If you were searching for who won valorant champions 2025, you now know it was DRX, after one of the most exciting grand finals in Valorant esports history. The 2025 tournament set a new bar for competitive Valorant play, and it’s clear that the 2026 season is going to be even more competitive, as teams around the world adjust their rosters and strategies to try to take down the reigning champions. If you want to keep up with all the latest 2026 VCT news, patch notes, and team breakdowns, make sure to check back on our site every week for new updates.
