We continue to tell you about our editorial team's predictions for all matches of VCT 2025 China Kickoff. Today we will talk about the match between JD Gaming and Dragon Ranger, which will take place on the second match day. Both teams are not the favorites of the tournament, but even so it is still quite interesting to follow their fight.

JD Gaming

JD Gaming finished the last month on a not so optimistic note. At the Superb Cup tournament the team suffered two defeats - against XLG Esports and EDward Gaming, and gained only one victory in the match against Titan Esports Club. As a result, the team finished in 5th-6th place out of a possible eight and was eliminated from the tournament.

Out of their last five matches, JD Gaming have won only one - again against Titan Esports Club, while the other losses came in games against EDward Gaming, Wolves Esports and twice against XLG Esports.

At the moment, JD Gaming are one of the outsiders of the VCT 2025: China Kickoff. Both last season and in the offseason, the team failed to produce meaningful results and did not show any steady progress.

Dragon Ranger

Dragon Ranger approached the playoffs without any game practice in recent months. Their last tournament was the FGC VALORANT Invitational 2024, which ended two months ago. Back then, the team finished one of the last places - 9th-10th.

The team's last five matches also left much to be desired. Dragon Ranger's only win came against TYLOO, but they lost against Nova Esports, TYLOO again, and twice against XLG Esports.

Despite the current slump, we can't forget that Dragon Ranger had quite decent results in the first half of 2024. However, the lack of regular game practice and recent successes puts them at a disadvantage.

Team Mapple

Based on the available data about the teams' performances, we can assume the following scenario of map selection.

JD Gaming

JD Gaming will most likely start by banning Ascent, where their results are not the best (40% winrate with 10 matches played). After that, the logical choice will be Haven, a map where the team has 57% winrate.

Suggested mapple for JD Gaming:

• Ban: Lotus

• Peak: Bind

Dragon Ranger

Dragon Ranger will likely start with Pearl Ban, given JD Gaming's good winrate on this map. Their first pick will likely fall on Abyss, a card with 100% winrate, which is their strongest weapon.

Suggested mapple for Dragon Ranger:

• Ban: Pearl

• Peak: Abyss

Head-to-head meetings between the teams

JD Gaming and Dragon Ranger have met only once in the last six months. The match ended in a 2-1 victory for Dragon Ranger. Since there have been no more head-to-head meetings recently, it's hard to make a guess based on this statistic.

Match Prediction

Based on the current form of the teams and their previous meetings, Dragon Ranger look preferable. Despite the lack of match practice in recent months, they have experience of beating JD Gaming, which psychologically gives them confidence.

JD Gaming's poor results in the offseason and their failures in matches against top teams do not allow them to be considered favorites. Dragon Ranger, on the other hand, can surprise due to their more varied mapple and confidence in head-to-head matches.

Prediction: Dragon Ranger win with a score of 2:1

VCT 2025 China Kickoff takes place from January 11 to 25 in LAN format at the VCT CN Arena in Shanghai. Twelve partner teams from the VCT program are competing for two invitations to Masters Bangkok, as well as China Points, which are key to qualifying for the World Championship.