VALORANT at EWC 25 Winners: Team Heretics Reverse Sweep

A tournament of early exits

Their road to victory started on July 8th alongside fifteen other contenders. After a set of unforgiving best-of-one matchups, teams were placed in either the upper or lower bracket to continue their quest for the title. The competitive nature of the format meant that elimination matches were already scheduled on the second day of competition.

This led to the early exit of G2, XLG Esports, Titan Esports Club, and 100 Thieves. Bilibili Gaming, DRX, Rex Regum Qeon, and Edward Gaming suffered the same fate a day later. Only eight teams were left to fight for the crown in the single-elimination bracket stage.

Crushing the VALORANT opposition

As is customary at the Esports World Cup, every eliminated team has their key crushed to symbolize their dreams of winning the title being shattered. A look of glee could be seen on most players’ faces when they earned the opportunity to literally crush their opponent's tournament hopes. After losing their quarterfinals in 2-0 shutouts, Sentinels, Karmine Corp, NRG, and BBL Esports had no choice but to watch their keys – and their dreams of EWC glory – crumble at the hands of their opponents.

“When they told me about this, at first I didn’t believe it,” Team Heretics in-game leader Boo said after being asked about the key-crushing. “I think it’s so cool and adds an extra stake to the match. You’re not only playing to beat your opponents in-game, but also put your actual trophy on the line. What I think is even more badass, though, is that in the end they get molten down and added to the trophy."

A big turnaround for Heretics

After a disappointing VCT Masters Toronto showing, Heretics came to the Esports World Cup aiming for a much higher placement.

“Our past months were super rough, but we felt we came to this tournament with good preparation. Then we got clapped in the first round and we feel like nothing [had] changed since Toronto. So we wondered how that can be, when we put so much work in," Boo said. “This led to one of those hard talks – where things are said that people might not want to hear, but it’s still important that they do – that are necessary if we want things to change.”

Looking back at the EWC VALORANT stage

Change they did, although it was a lot less convincing than they would have hoped. In a packed STC Esports Arena, Team Heretics got off to a horrible start. After being steamrolled by Fnatic in the first two games, the series looked like it would wrap up quickly.

With their backs against the wall, the team needed someone to step up. Mert "Wo0t" Alkan provided an injection of much-needed life with an incredible 26-kill statline on Icebox and an almost equally impressive carry performance on Haven directly after. It was a performance that pushed Heretics back into the series.

What followed was a back-and-forth, nail-biting game five, with Heretics taking a small lead early in the second half. A disadvantaged Fnatic wasn’t able to pull off a comeback of their own, leading to Heretics’ reverse sweep. In doing so, they claimed their first-ever international title as VALORANT’s inaugural EWC winners. Team Heretics also earns 1000 points towards their ranking in the Club Championship.