VALORANT Champions 2025 Power Rankings: The Best VALORANT Teams Analyzed

With the 2025 season winding into VALORANT Champions, the tournament picture is clearer than it was at Kickoff: regional winners, Masters champions and Stage victors have separated themselves from the pack. Using event and team data as the baseline, five sides stand out as the world’s best VALORANT teams today. Here’s a look at Hotspawn’s Champions Paris Power Rankings.

1) Paper Rex: Masters Toronto champions and VALORANT Champions favourites

Paper Rex closed the summer as arguably the best team on the planet after winning Masters Toronto and reclaiming Pacific dominance with a Stage 2 trophy. Their Masters Toronto victory — a 3–1 grand final over Fnatic — capped a tournament in which PRX repeatedly outgunned international opponents and took elite opposition to the cleaners on their best maps.

PRX’s combination of regional supremacy and an S-tier international title is the chief reason PRX heads this list. What makes Paper Rex special is their frontline aggression, multi-role flexibility and a duelist/flex core that can out-duel anyone in the world when the offense is clicking. Their map control, tempo reads and ability to convert opening kills into round wins have been visible in their event-by-event stats, with players like something and Jinggg continuously topping scoreboards and first kill charts.

2) G2 Esports: Americas Stage 2 winners and one of the best VALORANT teams across 2025

G2’s 2025 run has been defined by consistently high finishes internationally (2nd at Masters Bangkok and 4th at Masters Toronto) and regional stages, capped by a commanding three VCT Americas trophies across the year (Kickoff, Stage 1, and Stage 2), making them the only team internationally to pull off the three-peat this year. It’s more impressive considering their Stage 2 had them playing with a sub for the majority.

Their Stage 2 playoff run and match-by-match performances show a team that blends aggressive dueling with sharp tactical calling. G2’s win in the Americas playoffs and top placements at majors throughout the year keep them in conversation as one of the most dangerous rosters that’s capable of incredible consistency and calm gameplay.

3) Team Liquid: EMEA Stage 2 champions

Team Liquid closed EMEA Stage 2 with a spotless playoff run and took the Stage 2 crown in Europe, They also qualified for both Bangkok and Toronto, being one of the more consistent EMEA teams.

EMEA Stage 2 stats show that Liquid, while cruising through the bracket and recording decisive map wins, dominated on their map picks and put up positive round differentials in most games. Team Liquid’s strengths are a rock-solid map pool, flexible and adaptable players, and a reliable clutch/late-round engine in their IGL Nats.

4) FNATIC: EMEA’s most consistent team internationally

FNATIC are probably the best VCT team of all time, but their 2025 has been a mixed bag. While they may have missed Masters Bangkok, they did finish second at Masters Toronto and the Esports World Cup, and won themselves a regional trophy during VCT EMEA Stage 1. The team had its ups and downs this year with two new players coming in, but they found their form mid year.

Both kaajak and Alfajer are two of the heaviest hitters in VCT this year, while Chronicle, Boaster, and crashies are always ready to step up in a clutch or provide game-changing util. The FNATIC wall, when in form, looks unbeatable, as evidenced by the numerous trophies the core has won over the years.

5) T1: Masters Bangkok winners and Korean powerhouse

T1’s 2025 highlight was their Masters Bangkok title, where they edged out G2 in a tight final, and they have shown that same steel across Pacific stages. While they failed to win anything else over the rest of the year, they made playoffs both stages and placed high enough to qualify cleanly off the back of circuit points as the region’s third seed.

T1 are dangerous because they combine disciplined defaults and reads with the ability to explode offensively when openings appear, thanks to players like Meteor and BuZz. Their Masters Bangkok result is the signature achievement that earns them a top spot.

Teams that could make a deep VALORANT Champions run

While they might not be our top picks, here are our next five top contenders at Champions Paris:

Sentinels

Despite having no domestic trophies, they’ve performed consistently this year, making every international event. Despite their third-place finish in Stage 2, SEN sitill has multiple players up in the Americas leaderboards, zekken being the standout and one of the top performers heading into Champs.

EDward Gaming

Despite this being the first year EDG have not won a majority of VCT China’s events, they still placed well and were last year’s Champions. They also have incredible individual talents like ZmjjKK on the team.

Bilibili Gaming

The dominant winners of Stage 2, BLG might be able to surprise us on the big stage as they enter as China’s first seed.

RRQ

They won VCT Pacific Stage 1 and pulled off an incredible lower bracket run at Stage 2 to qualify for Champions, however their Masters Toronto run was poor. They now look to be in good form heading into Champions despite their Stage 2 grand finals loss.

Team Heretics

While they might not have won a VCT trophy yet, they did win EWC, and have looked consistent throughout the year despite missing out on Masters Bangkok. How well they’ll do at Champions remains to be seen.

The Champs outsiders

While there are six teams left, these sides have been fairly inconsistent through the year. DRX and XLG are the most successful of this group, with the former winning Pacific Kickoff and the latter winning China Stage 1. However, they have looked relatively weak at the international events they’ve qualified for and in Stage 2 compared to how they looked in prior stages.

Unlike these two teams, however, DRG, NRG, and GIANTX, while failing to win any trophies, did make remarkable Stage 2 runs to qualify for Champions and made to the grand finals.

Finally, while MIBR does have aspas, their performance en route to Champions has left much to be desired. If North America followed the qualification rules of every other region, C9 would have their slot instead.