Kicking off the competitive season in the European region with the start of VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff. The opener will feature the first match between BBL Esports and GIANTX. The teams are fairly evenly matched, making this clash even more exciting.

Current Form of the Teams

BBL Esports

Over the past month, the team participated in the tier-2 tournament Monsters Reloaded 2024, where they delivered excellent results. In the tournament’s final, BBL Esports faced their upcoming opponents GIANTX and claimed a 3-1 victory, becoming the champions of the competition.

Additionally, BBL won 3 out of their last 5 matches, defeating Zen eSports, Papara SuperMassive, and GIANTX. The two losses came against Permitta Unicorns and G2 Esports.

Despite decent overall statistics during the offseason, BBL Esports has one major issue — a roster problem. Their core player, chiwa, will miss the upcoming tournament. This significantly weakens the lineup, as the substitute player hasn’t yet fully adapted to the team, which may impact their coordination during matches.

GIANTX

GIANTX also participated in Monsters Reloaded 2024 and secured second place, losing to their future opponents BBL Esports in the final with a 1-3 scoreline.

Over the past month, GIANTX played 5 matches, achieving two victories against Team Liquid and Natus Vincere. However, three losses against Team Heretics, FUT Esports, and BBL Esports highlight the team’s inconsistency.

Without BBL’s roster issue, GIANTX would be considered the weaker team. However, given chiwa's absence, the odds between both teams seem equal, making the upcoming match more intriguing.

Map Pool of the Teams

BBL Esports

The team frequently plays on the following maps:

• Haven — 60 matches (73% win rate)
• Bind — 51 matches (59% win rate)
• Ascent — 73 matches (63% win rate)

Maps with the highest win rate:

• Bind — 59%
• Haven — 73%
• Ascent — 63%

Predicted map picks:

• Ban: Bind
• Pick: Haven

GIANTX

The team frequently plays on the following maps:

• Ascent — 74 matches (60% win rate)
• Split — 54 matches (61% win rate)
• Bind — 61 matches (70% win rate)

Maps with the highest win rate:

• Ascent — 70%
• Icebox — 70%
• Bind — 70%

Predicted map picks:

• Ban: Haven
• Pick: Icebox

Head-to-Head Matches

Over the past six months, the teams have faced each other twice. The first time was in the grand final of the Monsters Reloaded 2024 tournament, where BBL Esports claimed a 3-1 victory and secured the championship title. This result demonstrates that BBL can defeat GIANTX even in a best-of-five format, although it's less significant in a best-of-three. Their second encounter took place during the playoff stage of Spotlight Series EMEA 2024, with BBL once again winning 2-1.

Match Prediction

The match between BBL Esports and GIANTX promises to be intense. On one hand, BBL has an advantage in head-to-head matches and has shown solid performances in recent tournaments. However, the absence of chiwa could be a decisive factor in favor of GIANTX. Additionally, both teams have a surprisingly similar map pool, making the match even more exciting.Taking all factors into account, it’s difficult to determine the winner, but we favor BBL Esports.

Match Prediction – BBL Esports to win 2-1

The VCT 2025 EMEA Kickoff will take place from January 15 to February 9 in a LAN format at the Riot Games Arena. Twelve partner teams from the VCT program will compete for two invitations to Masters Bangkok and EMEA Points, which are crucial for qualifying for the World Championship.