On February 12, the final matches of the VALORANT Challengers 2025 Spain: Rising Stage 1 group stage concluded, determining the two teams that would leave the league. However, the decision regarding these teams turned out to be unclear and unfair, sparking outrage among professional players and the community against the tournament operator.

After the first stage of VALORANT Challengers 2025 Spain: Rising, two teams with the worst results were supposed to leave the league. These were KPI Gaming and ZETA Gaming, who earned 3 and 5 points, respectively. However, instead of KPI Gaming, NOVO Esports was relegated to the Relegation stage. According to the league regulations, the teams leaving the league were not necessarily the ones with the worst results in the current season but those with the lowest carried-over points from the previous season. This rule became the main reason for player frustration and numerous complaints directed at the tournament operator.

The most absurd part of this situation is that even the players themselves did not fully understand the criteria for determining which teams would be eliminated. Drunkenpony, KPI Gaming's Valorant manager, revealed on social media that their roster had already started preparing for Relegation, only to be shocked that they were actually staying in the league.

Another issue is the fairness of the ranking system, as pointed out by Pavlo "kauk" Kauk, former B8 Esports coach. He emphasized that most teams in the ranking (see below) had changed their rosters and did not retain the core of three players who had earned those points in the previous season. Moreover, there was no explanation for how exactly these points were calculated—except for new teams, which were automatically granted 153 points upon joining the league. This meant that, regardless of tournament results, four out of ten teams were never at risk of relegation.

Most likely, LVP, the organizers of VALORANT Challengers 2025 Spain: Rising Stage 1, will not overturn their decision, meaning the situation will remain unchanged. However, they may take lessons from this controversy to prevent similar disputes in the future.