The first competitive day of not only the VCT 2025: China Kickoff but also the entire new Valorant Champions season has concluded. Two Chinese teams have taken a step closer to their initial goal — securing slots at Masters Bangkok. Read more about the opening matches of the Chinese league in this article.

The entire VCT 2025: China Kickoff is being held in a Double-Elimination playoff format, meaning that even after a loss, teams remain in contention for the main prize — a slot at Masters Bangkok. However, they now have no room for mistakes.

TEC Esports vs. TYLOO

The first match of the Valorant Champions Tour in 2025 was a showdown between TEC Esports and TYLOO, which surprisingly ended after just two maps. We expected a close battle and a TYLOO victory in this best-of-three series. But, to our surprise, TYLOO, who had defeated TEC Esports twice a few months ago, couldn’t replicate that success and lost both maps: Fracture 11-13 and Abyss 10-13.

TEC Esports will face FunPlus Phoenix in the second round, while TYLOO dropped to the lower bracket, where they now await the result of the first round to learn the name of their next opponent.

XLG Esports vs. Wolve Esports

The outcome of the second match between XLG Esports and Wolve Esports was even more unpredictable than the first. The league’s newcomers, XLG Esports, managed to defeat Wolve Esports with a solid 2-0 map score, despite some difficulties. In the second round, they will face Bilibili Gaming.

The VCT 2025: China Kickoff runs from January 11 to January 25 in a LAN format at the VCT CN Arena in Shanghai. Twelve partner teams from the VCT program are competing for two invitations to Masters Bangkok and China Points, which are crucial for qualifying for the World Championship.