VALORANT's Champions is the game's world championship. This year's edition will be held in Paris, France, and it will be played from September 12 to October 5. In this article Siege.GG will focus on GIANTX, EMEA's second seed in the competition.
This will be GIANTX's second appearance in Champions after narrowly qualifying for Champions 2023. Back then, the Spanish organization qualified for VALORANT's world championship after winning EMEA's Last Chance Qualifier. Eventually, the team finished in 9th - 12th place after beating KRÜ Esports but falling twice against EDward Gaming. Only two members remain from that roster, including the Russian duo Kirill "Cloud" Nekhozhin and Daniil "pipsoN" Meshcheryakov; the rest of players in GIANTX will make their international debuts this week.
Given the team's inexperience — which is a factor to consider especially in a group which also includes VCT Masters champions Paper Rex and Sentinels — GIANTX are Group A's black horse. Could the European mix upset the well-established powerhouses or will they go home alongside XLG Esports, as odds already indicate?
Starting from the bottom now we're here
If you told a VALORANT fan six months ago that GIANTX would be in Paris fighting for the Champions title, they wouldn't have taken you seriously. Across last season, GIANTX won three of the twelve matches they played as they failed to qualify for any international championship. The start to the VCT 2025 campaign was similar as, combining Kickoff and Stage 1, the European mix had only won two out of eight games. So, after a year and a half of underwhelming performances, the chances of seeing GIANTX fighting for EMEA's top two spots were pretty low.
Surprisingly enough, that's exactly what happened. Against all of the odds, GIANTX qualified for Champions 2025 after a Lower Bracket run that included victories against Fnatic, Natus Vincere, and BBL Esports. Plain and simple, the European mix earned their spot in VALORANT's world championship. Now, they have set their eyes on causing an upset in Paris.
Three roster moves in the same season
Usually teams that are serious candidates to win an international championship are rosters that have been together for a long while. It only takes a quick look to see it; teams like Paper Rex, Team Heretics, Fnatic, G2 Esports, or Sentinels haven't made more than two changes in over a year. These are lineups which successfully combine experience, stability, and chemistry. After all, it takes time to build synergy between players, which helps players to bond and easily find out solutions to their problems.
However, there are teams who experience their best results right after making roster changes. This period of time is known as honey moon stage — the changes have worked instantly and everything seems perfect... until the first real challenges slowly make the hype fade away, and the relationship between players starts to degrade.
It's hard to say where GIANTX stand at the moment. In Stage 1, GIANTX played with multiple roster shapes as Emil "runneR" Trajkowski, Tomás "tomaszy" Machado, and Semyon "purp0" Borchev were all officially benched between April 2025 and July 2025. Instead, GIANTX signed Eduard-George "ara" Hanceriuc, Karel "Flickless" Maeckelbergh, and Grzegorz "GRUBINHO" Ryczko. The team made its first appearance together at the VALORANT EWC 2025 EMEA Qualifier, which saw them winning against Ascend but falling twice against Natus Vincere.
In Stage 2, GIANTX suddenly caught everyone off-guard with wins against BBL Esports, Team Vitality, and Gentle Mates in Group Alpha, which saw them collecting a second place finish — only behind the VALORANT EWC 2025 champions Team Heretics. As previously mentioned, GIANTX ended up securing a Champions 2025 spot after an impressing Lower Bracket run. Only in Stage 2, GIANTX collected more wins (7) than the previous three stages and two Kickoffs combined (5). But, is this a honey moon stage, or are GIANTX here to stay?
GIANTX Map Pool
Here's a look at GIANTX's map pool performance since ara, Flickless, and GRUBINHO joined the team's starting lineup:
- Sunset: 71% (7 matches)
- Corrode: 67% (3 matches)
- Lotus: 60% (5 matches)
- Haven: 57% (7 matches)
- Ascent: 43% (7 matches)
- Bind: 40% (5 matches)
GIANTX's best map is Sunset with a 71% win rate after 7 matches played. Meanwhile, Corrode, Lotus, and Haven go next, after having played them three, five, and seven times each. With the return of Abyss to competitive, we still have to see how GIANTX can perform in this new map. Furthermore, GIANTX have never had the chance to play Abyss at a top flight competition, so it's a map that's completely new to them on the big stage.
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