We continue reviewing all matches during the VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff. Today, let’s talk about the upper bracket semifinal, where Team Vitality will face FUT Esports for the first spot in the final. The match promises to be intense, and below we’ll discuss its potential outcomes.

Current Form of the Teams

FUT Esports

FUT Esports haven’t participated in tournaments for the last two months. Their last challenge was the Red Bull Home Ground #5, where they secured 3rd-4th place out of 8 teams. In their last five matches, FUT achieved three victories against KC, Team Liquid, and Team Heretics, but suffered two losses, both to T1.

The team can be considered stable but without major achievements in significant tournaments, making them a typical mid-tier representative.

Team Vitality

Team Vitality, like FUT, have only participated in the ongoing tournament over the last month. In their previous five matches, the team won two—against Talon Esports and KC—but lost three to Leviatan, Trace, and Fnatic.

At first glance, Vitality could also be labeled as a mid-tier team based on past results. However, before the start of the season, Team Vitality strengthened their roster with two renowned players, increasing their chances in this match. For this reason, the team is considered the favorite.

Map Pool Analysis

Based on the teams’ map pool, we can predict how the map veto will unfold:

Bans:

• FUT Esports will likely ban the recently added Fracture, as Team Vitality has a strong win rate on this map (62%).
• Team Vitality, on the other hand, may ban Pearl, a map often played by FUT Esports (67 matches) with an impressive win rate of 61%.

Picks:

• FUT Esports will likely choose the standard Bind, where they have a 57% win rate across 56 matches, showcasing their confidence on this map.
• Team Vitality will likely pick Split, as it’s one of their strongest maps (61% win rate) and a comfortable choice.

Head-to-Head Matchup

The last time FUT Esports and Team Vitality faced off was in the first half of 2024. Back then, Team Vitality emerged victorious with a 2-1 score.

Predict

Given the roster changes in Team Vitality, their favorite status, and the boost from their new players, it’s reasonable to predict another victory for them. However, much has changed since their last encounter, and both teams are evenly matched now. Even so, we give the edge to Team Vitality.

Predicted Outcome: Team Vitality wins 2-1

The VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff is being held from January 15 to February 9 as a LAN event organized at the Riot Games arena. Twelve partnered teams from the VCT program are competing for two invitations to the Masters Bangkok tournament and crucial EMEA Points necessary for World Championship qualification.