Valorant Champions 2025 begins in a day, and one player from each team spoke to the press, answering questions from the public ahead of their first matches of the event. With Champs bookending the year, a lot of questions were thrown at the players, and here are some of the highlights of the conference.

f0rsakeN, Viva, Flickless, and Zellsis speak for Group A

While their regional performance was overshadowed by their regional counterparts in G2 Esports G2 Esports North America Rank #1 jawgemo Alexander Mor trent Trent Cairns valyn Jacob Batio JonahP Jonah Pulice leaf Nathan Orf , Sentinels Sentinels North America Rank #5 N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid are still the most recent Americas champs with their victory at Masters Madrid in early 2024. They know what the focus is for Paris, to the extent that Zellsis might not be as dedicated to his salesmanship of the Sentinels bundle, putting more focus into starting a deep run.

Some of the Sentinels roster in Paris before Champions 2025.

“I didn't bring a flag this time, though I'll have some tweets and jokes lined up,” Zellsis said to the press. “The end of Stage 2 isn't what we wanted at all, but we had a team talk about mentally resetting. For a new tournament, a team just has to be in form for that tournament, and that's been true for every Valorant major. We should be ready to compete here.”

GIANTX GIANTX Europe Rank #9 Cloud Kirill Nehozhin grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko westside Miłosz Duda Flickless Karel Maeckelbergh ara Hanceriuc Eduard-George on the other hand return to the international stage with an underdog mindset and no pressure. There was some worry heading into Champs for GX, as ara faced some medical issues. Thankfully, according to his teammate and fellow debutant, he will be fine to play.

“Feels insane to be here, but we got a bit unlucky with how things are going with ara,” Flickless said. “For now, we are focusing on individual shape, playing with a coach to fill in for ara in team scrims, but we'll see how it goes. I have no doubt that ara will play.”

Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #3 Viva Lifan Ran (冉立凡) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) coconut Colin Patrick Chung (钟弘祖) is in a unique position, as not only are they competing for an international title, but also their VCT 2026 spot against Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #4 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Akeman Zhang Haoran (张浩然) Demon1 Max Mazanov Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) . Whichever team finishes higher in the tournament will stay, and that adds a layer of importance to an Ascension team that has been one of the more consistent teams in VCT China 2025.

“Before the end of Stage 2, we didn't expect this result,” Viva said about their VCT 2026 situation. “We didn't expect to be fighting for our VCT spot at Champions, but that only means we have to be more locked into every game we play.”

Then, the recent champs spoke up, as f0rsakeN commented on how Paper Rex feels coming into Champions Paris as the recent Masters winners, as well as how he fits into the roster as the IGL of the most successful chaotic team in Valorant history.

“I don't think we have much pressure just because we've been in plenty of international tournaments; we just need to keep our routine the same, so there won't be any pressure at all,” f0rsakeN said. “I know I need to do the best as an IGL, to keep the vibes positive by joking around with the team or singing a song.”

All players in Group A also brought up that a true wild card in this tournament is Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #4 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Akeman Zhang Haoran (张浩然) Demon1 Max Mazanov Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) , mainly due to Demon1 joining them and filling in for vo0kashu.

aspas, whzy, Boaster, and crazyguy speak for Group B

Coming into another international tournament, Boaster was quick to talk about his performance across 2025, struggling with the idea of allowing his talented teammates on FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder to get hot and keep their performance high while improving his shooting.

“I wanted to be able to frag a bit more, but I recently played a scrim with 1 kill, 19 deaths, and we still won,” Boaster said. “I want my teammates to shine, especially with the teammates I have. I want to keep their snowball going and help them to be the players I want them to be.”

aspas , another veteran, arrived early in Europe alongside MIBR MIBR Brazil Rank #3 artzin Arthur Araujo xenom Eduardo Soeiro cortezia Gabriel Cortez Verno Andrew Maust aspas Erick Santos to boot camp. Starting in Germany, they were one of the first teams to arrive in Paris.

“We did a boot camp in Germany early,” aspas said, “so the objective was to get good practice ahead of Paris and do our best in the tournament.”

Another team trying to get ahead of others and improve on their performance at Toronto was Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #4 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh , with crazyguy speaking on what the team learned since.

“In Toronto, we lost to FNATIC, and that was our first international,” crazyguy said. “We have a better mental heading into Champs, so we will be able to fight them stronger this time.”

Then, arguably, the overall MVP of VCT China 2025 spoke up. Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #1 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) ended VCT China 2025 on a high, winning Stage 2, and whzy was the Duelist that led the way. He spoke on BLG's improvements this year, but how he keeps his focus coming into Paris.

“We have improved from the last time, though, as the first seed from China,” whzy said. “I don't have that much pressure on my shoulders, because no matter the seed, you need to represent VCT CN well.”

Ethan, nAts, HYUNMIN, and ZmjjKK speak for Group C

Out of all the teams that qualified for Champions, one of the new faces is NRG NRG North America Rank #2 s0m Sam Oh brawk Brock Somerhalder mada Adam Pampuch skuba Logan Jenkins Ethan Ethan Arnold , but their representative was a recent Champions victor. Ethan , formerly of the 2023 champs, is now the IGL of an underdog team trying to surprise.

“Being somewhat of an underdog helps your mental, especially around stacked teams,” Ethan said. “I don't think it adds any pressure. We completed our goal to qualify for Champs, and now we're just playing match by match.”

Ethan wasn't the only experienced player speaking for the teams in Group C, as nAts of Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #6 paTiTek Patryk Fabrowski nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin trexx Nikita Cherednichenko Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak also spoke of his time playing at the international level.

“I think the difference between the last Champs appearances and this one for me is the fact that I am IGLing,” nAts said. “Aside from that, the map changes and the adaptation are the biggest differences, as some people won't be able to adapt.”

Thankfully, nAts did not face the same visa issues for Paris, and Team Liquid will begin Paris with their full roster.

DRX DRX Korea Rank #2 Flicker Kim Tae-hee (김태희) Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) Estrella Park Gun (박건) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) qualified for Champions by watching TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #5 Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha lose to the end of the Stage 2 playoffs, meaning that they could return to an international stage and prove themselves once again. HYUNMIN was quick to speak on that qualification, just happy to make it to Paris.

“It feels surreal that I was able to qualify for Champs in my first year, HYUNMIN said. “I am going to have as much fun as possible.”

ZmjjKK and EDG lifting the Champions 2024 trophy.

Lastly, ZmjjKK spoke up on EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #2 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) 's updated mindset for Paris, talking about how they don't see themselves as returning champs after finishing third in China, instead focusing on doing the best they can with pickup Jieni7 , alongside having fun in Paris.

“I think all is pretty well, we're all getting prepared for the matches and going out to eat Chinese here in Paris,” ZmjjKK said. “We are going to adjust based on Jieni7, but we will try and hype him up on stage since it is his first international.”

Valyn, benjyfishy, BuZz, and Nicc speak for Group D

The final group of the conference hosted plenty of experience, starting with G2 Esports IGL valyn speaking about the grind of playing through 2025 with the worry of falling out of VCT as an Ascension team, and how it pushed them to success.

“Being an Ascension team, we have to make Champs or be better than the other [regional Ascension team] to keep our spot,” valyn said. “You always have to chase something, which removes complacency. It was a big goal to avoid that happening, with no other option, so it kept us motivated. Now, the next goal is to win Champs.”

He also spoke about genuinely not expecting leaf to return so soon, as the team had prepared to play Champions with BABYBAY in the roster. Now, with leaf back, G2 looks like a frontrunner to make the finals once again. Yet, looking across the table, their first opponents in Paris not only have a recent trophy under their belt, but a chip on their shoulder after a disappointing end to Stage 2.

“It's been a long year for us with the trip to EWC, with plenty of opportunity for a fall off,” benjyfishy said. “We took a break when needed and used it to help prepare for Champs.”

Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius won the EWC, but have yet to stand out in VCT 2025 aside from a second-place finish in Stage 1. Now, after resting, they feel confident coming into Paris.

T1 stax and BuZz pose in Paris before Champions 2025.

T1 T1 Korea Rank #3 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) DH Kang Dong-ho (강동호) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) had BuZz speak, and the first thing that was brought up was not only their drop off in form since winning Masters Bangkok, but their pickup of DH helping right the ship.

“Things were very different from Kickoff to Stage 1,” BuZz said. “We thought we were up to date, if not ahead of the meta, but as the stage went on, we lost that advantage. Since DH joined us, the vibe has become more positive, and he has exceeded our expectations.”

Last but not least, DRG and representative Nicc spoke not only about their long-awaited return to international play, but also about their substitute Demon1 filling in.

“[Demon1] brought us a different feeling to the team than what vo0kashu brings,” Nicc said. “Being a world champion, his comprehension and thoughts on the game could lead us far in the tournament.”

Nicc and vo0kashu were the only members of the DRG team that made it to Masters Shanghai, meaning, depending on whether vo0kashu can make it to Paris, he is the only one who could learn from that experience to teach his team outside of new addition Demon1. He spoke on that experience, focusing on improvement above all else.

“I've matured from the last time I was at an international, and I'm honored to play against other strong teams across other regions in VCT,” Nicc said. “We need to keep enhancing ourselves and keep improving.”