NRG threw FNC into the abyss in the VALORANT Champions 2025 upper final

The dramatic final of VALORANT Champions 2025 began with the match between FNC and NRG. In just three days, we will know the tournament winners, and this Western clash set the tone for the upcoming elimination battles.

Fnatic players were the favorite here. The team has had more international experience in the last two years. Fnatic were in the grand final of Masters Toronto 2025, and they’ve already got their revenge for that loss against Paper Rex.

Not only did NRG skipped all Masters in 2024 and 2025, but they also got themselves arguably an easier bracket. It’s only getting more challenging for these guys at this point. The match versus Fnatic was a nice opportunity to prove that NRG is the Champions material!

It’s the first match of the tournament day on Oct. 3. You can watch Fnatic versus NRG on the official YouTube channel of VALORANT esports. The stream is also embedded below.

The winners of this upper final will advance directly to the grand final. The losers will have another chance in the lower final — against the survivors of the elimination semifinal between DRX and PRX.

Here are all the details about the FNC vs NRG match at VALORANT Champions 2025.

Fnatic were shaky but still competitive on Ascent. They totally fell apart on Map 2, Abyss. 

NRG dominated as attackers on the first map, which helped them win in overtime. Then, NRG were unstoppable as attackers on Abyss — to earn a 1:11 advantage in the first half and threw their opponents into the elimination brackets.

NRG secured a spot in the grand final!

NRG started strong on Ascent but then let Fnatic recover and even force overtime. A couple of mind-blowingly close rounds at the end still secured Map 1 for NRG.

The North America team won the first pistols despite Boaster’s amazing clutch attempt. NRG played really great as defenders: often, thanks to their positioning, like in Round 9, where taking Mid helped NRG win on eco buy.

Also, the personal play was there. In Round 5, s0m caught three FNC players on A after their rotation — Fnatic had an advantage and did not expect resistance. 

FNC stopped making unnecessary mistakes in the second half. As defenders, they looked like themselves again. Kaajak chased NRG’s rotation and killed two opponents.

It was the turn of NRG to make mistakes, like an awfully slow offense in Round 19, so there was no time to plant.

In overtime, the side swap did well for NRG. It still was pretty close, though, as scuba had 2 HP for the win in the last round. He did it, and made the score 1:0 in favor of NRG in the upper final against FNC at VALORANT Champions 2025.

Fnatic had a chance to turn the map around after winning Round 3 despite losing the pistols, but NRG did not let that happen. Instead, they dominated the rest of the first half to finish with a crushing 11:1 lead.

Skuba was especially awesome in this domination play. In Round 6, he saved NRG when Fnatic almost retook A — won a 1v2 to stop defusal. He had 3K in Round 8.

Individual mistakes held Fnatic back quite a lot. In Round 10, kaajak made an early aggressive move and left his team at a man-disadvantage. In the same round, Alfajer missed crucial shots and gave away A site for free.

There was little chance for another 12-round streak by FNC. They still won the second pistols by faking actions on A and then rotating to an empty B.

NRG reached the match point in Round 15 thanks to a great 3K by mada. 

FNC managed to pull off two more rounds after that. The illusion of this comeback possibility evaporated too quickly. On their eco buy, FNC made a brave move — s0m rushed to the attacker spawn unnoticed, killed Boaster, and took his rifle.

The most recent head-to-head record between Fnatic and NRG is their match at VALORANT Masters Tokyo 2023. Back then, Fnatic won with a confident 2:0, including a pretty disastrous 13:4 for NRG on Bind.

Sure, the rosters are different now, but Boaster, Chronicle, and Alfajer still remain in Fnatic. They won the tournament in Tokyo! For NRG, only s0m is in the current team — after a short break between 2023 and 2024.

Fnatic has already faced their demons at VALORANT Champions 2025. In the upper semifinal, the FNC players defeated Paper Rex. That was a rematch of the Master Toronto grand final, and it was one of the best battles of this entire tournament.

NRG defeated two pretty strong teams in the Group Stage of VALORANT Champions 2025.

After dealing with some of the tournament favorites, NRG were seeded into the bracket with the most successful underdogs of this event.

The Champions 2025 grand final is on Oct. 5. Riot Games already highlighted the next steps in international esports: they revealed locations for the VALORANT Masters and Champions events in 2026. After such a wonderful competitive season this year, we look forward to even more exciting matches!