The match between XLG Esports and Wolves Esports opens the VCT 2025 China Kickoff, marking the start of the teams' battle for spots at Masters Bangkok. This game promises to be quite interesting, as it is the first official meeting after the end of the offseason. Below, we take a detailed look at the current form of both teams and their chances of winning this match.

Current Form of the Teams

XLG Esports

Over the past month, XLG Esports have shown solid form by participating in two tournaments during the offseason: Shanghai Esports Masters 2024 and the Superb Cup. In the first tournament, the team reached the final but suffered a crushing defeat to their upcoming opponents, Wolves Esports, with a 0-3 scoreline. However, they managed to bounce back at the Superb Cup, where they claimed the championship title.

In their last five matches, XLG secured four victories. They defeated Nova Esports twice and confidently overcame EDward Gaming and JDG Esports. Their only loss came against Titan Esports Club.

XLG Esports can be considered a dark horse in this tournament. The team only started competing at the tier-1 level this year, which could impact their readiness to face more experienced opponents — both positively and negatively.

Wolves Esports

Wolves Esports participated in just one tournament over the past month — the Shanghai Esports Masters 2024, where they confidently took the championship. In the final, they crushed their future rivals, XLG Esports, with a 3-0 scoreline.

In their last five matches, Wolves claimed three victories against XLG Esports, Paper Rex, and FunPlus Phoenix. However, they suffered two losses to Bilibili Gaming.

Wolves Esports cannot be considered the tournament favorites, but they have established themselves as a strong mid-tier team capable of challenging even the top contenders.

Map Pool Analysis

XLG Esports

XLG Esports will likely ban Split as their first choice, having banned it 11 times already. This map clearly doesn’t fit their pool, and they aren’t prepared to play on it.

For their map pick, the team would usually opt for Sunset, but since it has been removed from the rotation, they are likely to choose Bind instead. XLG played Sunset 14 times with a 71% win rate and Bind 18 times with a 67% win rate.

Their best maps are Icebox and Sunset. XLG have a 100% win rate on Icebox, although they’ve only played three matches on it.

XLG Esports Map Picks and Bans Prediction:

• Ban: Split
• Pick: Bind

Wolves Esports

Wolves Esports typically ban Sunset, having done so 12 times. Since this map is now out of the pool, they are likely to ban Abyss, which they’ve banned 11 times.

The team tends to pick maps based on their opponents' weaknesses. Their most frequent choices are Ascent and Haven. Notably, Wolves have a 100% win rate on Haven.

Wolves' best maps remain Haven and Pearl, both with a 100% win rate.

Wolves Esports Map Picks and Bans Prediction:

• Ban: Abyss
• Pick: Haven

Head-to-Head Record

In the past six months, the teams have faced each other three times, with Wolves Esports winning all three encounters:

• A month ago, Wolves won 3-0 in the Shanghai Esports Masters 2024 final.
• Three months ago, they played twice, with Wolves winning both matches 3-1 and 2-0.

These results suggest that Wolves Esports clearly dominate in head-to-head meetings, leaving no chance for the young XLG Esports squad.

Match Prediction

Based on their current form and head-to-head history, Wolves Esports are the clear favorites in this matchup. They’ve defeated XLG three times over the past six months, including two convincing victories.

XLG Esports might try to put up a fight thanks to their improved form and strong showing at the Superb Cup. However, their lack of experience at the tier-1 level and inconsistency against strong teams could work against them.

Final Prediction: Wolves Esports win 2-1.

About the VCT 2025 China Kickoff

The VCT 2025 China Kickoff is held 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, as well as China Points, which are crucial for qualifying for the World Championship.