Team Heretics won their first domestic Tier 1 trophy in Valorant history with their VCT EMEA Stage 1 Grand Final victory over Team Vitality, claiming their first win in the VCT to complement their EWC 2025 victory.
The Grand Final went down as an instant classic, with Vitality and Team Heretics requiring the full five maps to separate the two sides, ultimately ending with Heretics breaking their second-place curse in VCT.
Team Heretics outlast Vitality in VCT EMEA classic
The Grand Final was a grind straight away, with Vitality recovering from a 5-1 deficit on Breeze to fight back to 7-7. Heretics looked to take control of the map on the defence, but a run of six straight rounds behind Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov’s impact saw Vitality take their first pick.
On Lotus, Team Heretics looked straight down the barrel of a potential 0-2 deficit in the Best of 5, as Vitality arrived first at map point in a back-and-forth contest, but a 2v4 clutch from Enes ‘RieNs’ Ecirli and Ričardas ‘Boo’ Lukaševičius prevented Vitality from taking the map.
In overtime, a blinded RieNs put Heretics on map point before a team hit on C delivered Heretics their map, reducing the Best of 3 to a Best of 5.
Vitality did not show any signs of regret despite Lotus slipping out of their hands, storming to a 10-2 defensive half on Pearl. Despite a five-round run from TH to start their defense, Vitality converted the map 13-7 to take control of the series.
Heretics decided to return the series to chaos, continuously gaining and then instantly losing momentum on Split. A 7-5 attack half was quickly squandered by a pistol loss, followed by a run of rounds from Vitality.
However, Heretics managed to finally break the momentum to even up the game 9-9, before a technical pause left Vitality stewing in that round loss. A series of opening kills bagged Team Heretics three map points, but it wasn’t until the last that Heretics finally put Vitality to bed on Split.
The contest was effectively a Best of 1, already cementing itself as one of the best series in VCT EMEA history. Four hours after the initial map, it was now a test of endurance, but neither team was willing to give any ground on Haven.
Team Heretics, having run the gauntlet from the lower bracket, initially seemed more energized, with a series of defuses putting them 11-6 up, but Dawid ‘PROFEK’ Święć would not let them rest, clawing the game back to overtime.
Still, Heretics were not to be denied. Despite reading the play, Vitality could not deny Heretics’ B site hit as a benjyfishy 1v2 brought them to map and championship point, 14-13.
Switching back to the defense, two wallbangs put Heretics in a 5v3, before a depleted Vitality failed to hold A on the retake, with Heretics ending the series with a flawless round, delivering Team Heretics their first domestic trophy and breaking their second-place curse in the VCT.
Team Heretics turn a potential nightmare split into a dream
After a 6th place in VCT EMEA Kickoffs, Team Heretics looked far from their best despite an aggressive meta seemingly favoring the classic TH playstyle.
Team Heretics seemingly entered VCT EMEA Stage 1 still on shaky ground, which was primed to explode at the slightest spark.
The roster immediately removed Berkcan ‘ComeBack’ Şentürk upon losing their opening VCT EMEA Stage 1 contest against NAVI, with Heretics coach Neil ‘neilzinho’ Finlay stating that ComeBack and the team had a “fundamental disagreement after the NAVI game in how we see the game as a team.”
The situation left Team Heretics in a precarious position, needing to integrate VCT debutant Martynas ‘Koshmaras’ Namikas into the roster midseason, something which proved immediately difficult with the roster losing 0-2 to Liquid to sit 0-2 in the group.
The situation threatened to entirely derail the split for one of Valorant’s most ambitious projects. Instead, it turned into a historic domestic split for the team with the VCT EMEA Stage 1 victory coming from a 3-2 group stage and a lower-bracket gauntlet.
After qualifying for VCT Masters London, neilzinho shared, “A lot of noise after we went 0-2 by the usual doubters, and that’s fine. Glad we turned it around as always and qualified for our 6th international. Keep doubting, as long as myself and weber are here, we’ll keep proving the haters wrong.”
As neilzinho watched his team lift the VCT EMEA trophy, he must have once again reflected on those dark times in the season and reflected on how far they have come in such a short space of time.
Next up, neilzinho and benjyfishy will get to play in front of their home crowd as the Scottish coach and English player contest Valorant Masters London as EMEA’s highest seed.
For a roster that has traditionally performed better at internationals, winning a domestic split is a great sign for the Team Heretics roster.
You can discuss all things Valorant on Insider Gaming’s Discord!
As for Heretics, they will play Masters London on the 13.00 patch. See what’s in store here.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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