Your VALORANT Masters Bangkok Winner is T1

Your Masters Bangkok Winner is T1! After a long fought journey to get to this point and a best of 5 series that really went the distance, when the dust settled, the boys from Korea were the final team standing in Thailand.

Underdogs in Grand Finals

There were so many storylines coming into this first Masters of VCT2025. G2, the team that came up from Ascension and had to fight their way back into Champions. And T1, the team that weren’t able to make it across the line vs DRX, came in as the APAC second seed.

Neither of these teams had a flawless journey here. G2 were humbled by EDG in the qualifying match of Swiss Stage, and T1 were put into elimination contention from the get go after the first games of Swiss. Both would qualify for playoffs, but once again T1 would fall to a number 1 seed of the whole event and Chinese region.

G2, however, would not falter in their second showing against Edward Gaming, showing massive adaptation since their first faceoff. A clean 2-0 and a round of handshakes sent EDG to go and face the other finalist team. T1 would add another notch in their belt as they claimed another region’s super team. 3-1 over the defending Champions, the only 2nd seed to make it this far, and one of only 2 teams remaining. the team was on a warpath going into Grand Finals but map one would clip the wings of their momentum.

It all comes down to this.

Two different stories led @G2VALORANT and @T1 to the Grand Finals of #VALORANTMasters Bangkok, but only one can raise the trophy.

Tune in at https://t.co/io2c23tsMd. pic.twitter.com/JQ5GZd8qz4

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 2, 2025

Winner’s Side Advantage

G2 came into Grand Finals from the Upper Bracket side and were given double map pick advantage in the map selection. They picked up the first map pick of Lotus pretty handily. 5-13 was certainly not what T1 were looking for when came into the map, but once things shifted over to their pick of Haven looked a lot better.

Going into the half time, with T1 defending first, the scores were level. T1 were routinely good in the pistol rounds, but G2 all season long have done a fantastic job of making these anti-eco rounds costly if they can’t take the pistols. And that same form was on display in both the opening maps.

Without forcing up in the second half they weren’t able to flip the round in their favour but their ability to limit the number of rifles going into the third round is a big part of what got them this far. That said, despite some mistakes from T1, their ability to spin back like a yoyo showed some fantastic resiliance. And heroics out of iZu and Sylvan kept them afloat in some scrappy rounds.  13-9. All tied up.

Mounting Pressure

While they got off to that hot start on Map 1, and they finally beat that big stage choking curse by lifting that Kick Off trophy, G2 looked uncomfortable going into map 3.

Double duelist, chaos and space created forced out both timeouts from G2 after just 5 rounds after G2 failed to get anything on the board to start off their next map pick of Abyss. Especially with Split coming up after, the pressure to not let T1 take it 3 on the trot racked up. Leaf started to come online with that defensive Op in the later rounds of the first half but T1 on the whole did a great job of trading rounds with their lead to prevent consecutive G2 rounds.

4-8 at the half honestly wasn’t bad considering the 0-5 start. Throw1 unfortunately would creep back into the server at the cusp of victory and let it slip through their fingers 13-11 on Abyss, allowing G2 to just barely scrape away their map pick.

And now the pressure was back on T1, and it showed. They stopped a curtain call with a phenomenal defensive showing after the half, but by the time we reached round 22, momentum was fully back with G2, leading 11-10 and looking to close it out 3-1. Sylvan once again dug deep when his team needed him. Individually, members of T1 stepped up to make magic happen when their backs were against the wall. Stress visible as the matches dragged on, hot streaks and huge mistakes taking rounds.

First to 12 – T1

Once again it was the Meteor and Sylvan show to keep T1’s hope’s alive, buzz quiet as a mouse and a huge play from Valyn gave them the numbers advantage that would compound with Meteor dropping early too. Stax would be next to fall and quickly overtime would be upon us. 3 from Jawg and Tournament point in their grasp, singing “you are my sunshine” like there’s no pressure in the world.

But iZu would set that sun for the hopes of a one and done overtime. Valyn would get it close but Meteor always has been and will be the rock for T1.

5 Maps to decide it all

28 Rounds and Buzz only just getting to 10 kills, but Bangkok would be decided on Pearl.

And despite what his head in his hands going into overtime might have had you thinking, Buzz was on that yo-yo mentality. Last map was last map, we focus on the now. From as early as the 2nd round his Neon was playing insane confidence. Denied the ACE in Round 6, Buzz was back to the player we know and love. Finishing the half 8-4 and switching onto arguably the better side for their comp, T1’s double duelist comp was looking to take home gold. They’d find nothing but air for the first 2 rounds, with G2 opening strong on a Flawless into only losing leaf in Round 14.

The backstabs from G2 showed why they left this map open for the final map. The game plan and understanding of what T1 wanted to do in the post plant helped them catch up, winning all but the anti-bonus to tie up 9-9. The double sentinel was the other side of the double duelist coin, sure the spike goes down, but it was getting dealt with every time.

Best in Korea? No, Best in the World

T1 may have come in as the second seed of their region, they may have come in from the lower bracket to get here, but T1 only had 1 thing on their mind. To prove that they’re not just the best of Korea, of the Asian Pacific region, but the entire world today.

This is a story built off the back of some heroics, their backs always against the wall vs a massively prepared G2. They looked down and out, read like a book, downloaded, defeated. But when the going got tough, the tough got going, with every member of T1 coming alive in their own ways. What looked like certain defeat rallied to a push in overtime. Buzz tore them apart in the opening round but Jawg kept them alive one more time. 1v4 to clutch, was a tall task even for the Champions trophy lifter.

Overtime was by a razor’s edge with every single round coming down to individuals digging deep. Getting so close, and faltering in the clutch. After trading back and forth, finally to break the deadlock, it’d be Buzz and Stax to break the team free. A huge fake from Sylvan to sell the B hit, a whiff and a chase down with the Neon to swing the numbers. Dawgemo against the world, but the stage was too big even for him.

A room full of believers vs NA’s biggest dreamers. Today was not G2’s day, but they’ve more than proved that they are here to stay in VCT.