VALORANT at Esports World Cup 2025 Day 3 Recap: China Out, EMEA and Sentinels March to Playoffs

The final day of Group Stage matches at the VALORANT Esports World Cup 2025 has concluded, delivering a mix of domination from some teams and heartbreak for others. While EMEA continued to impress by sending all four of its teams to the playoffs, China's run came to a bitter end, with none of their representatives making it through. That being said, here are the highlights of the VALORANT at Esports World Cup Day 3, in case you have missed it.

Karmine Corp Outclasses Bilibili Gaming in a Rollercoaster Match

Coming off a tough loss to Paper Rex, Karmine Corp was under pressure to deliver. Bilibili Gaming, on the other hand, had just eliminated G2 and hoped to keep their momentum going.

However, KC was looking more prepared this time. The very first day of the matches started on the map of Icebox, playing slow and clinical VALORANT, Karmine Corp comfortably secured the first map with a 13-5 score. This was an interesting win as KC had decided to go ahead with zero duelist comp. Still, they were easily penetrating through BLG's kind a defense.

Bilibili rectified their mistake on the second map of Lotus and secured the comeback with a 13-11 score. Wang "whzy" Haozhe stepped up for his team with massive 24 frags.

The decider, Sunset, swung wildly. Despite BLG having strong early control, Karmine Corp found another gear and went on a massive 7-0 streak to close the map 13-9. With this, KC secured their spot in the playoffs while BLG’s run ends here.

Sentinels Get Their Payback Against DRX

The two teams had exchanged sweeps in recent events, and most recent was in VALORANT Masters Bangkok, where DRX comfortably swept Sentinel 2-0, and this was Sentinel's chance to payback, which they did.

Map one, Lotus, went the Sentinels’ way thanks to their solid defense and clean execution. A 13-7 scoreline set the tone. Then, on Sunset, a map that Sentinels have dominated a lot in recent events, they completely dominated again. A 9-3 half turned into a quick 13-4 win, closing out the series 2-0.

Whether it was the aim department or site execution, Sentinels looked sharper, faster, and more confident than DRX throughout, and with this win, they move forward into the playoffs. DRX, unfortunately, are going home.

Team Heretics Prevails over Team RRQ

It was expected that Team Heretics had an upper hand over RRQ, especially in their own map pick of sunset, but nobody had idea that Team RRQ would be completely crushed by Team Heretics. In the entire first half, RRQ could only score 1 round. Heretics secured the map with a comfortable 13-3 score.

But things weren’t so simple on Icebox, as it is one of the strongest maps of RRQ. While Heretics had a strong first half, RRQ mounted a comeback and pushed the game to overtime. Eventually, Heretics pulled through 14-12 in a nerve-wracking finish. 

Team Heretics' Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius was the standout for his team, delivering a monster 31-kill performance. RRQ gave it their all, but Heretics proved more composed when it mattered. They now advance to the playoffs, while RRQ exits the tournament.

Gen.G Crushes EDG Again to Close the Group Stage

Gen.G and EDward Gaming met in a rematch of their opening bout. Gen.G had destroyed them 13-4 the first time around, and nothing changed as Gen.G again prevailed over EDG. 

On Lotus, Gen.G stayed calm under pressure and found ways to shut down EDG’s key players, especially ZmjjKK, who was unusually quiet. Gen.G won the map 13-8. On Haven, it was a complete beatdown. Gen.G stacked round after round, building a 10-2 lead at the half. Even though EDG got a few rounds after switching sides, Gen.G finished the job 13-4.

With this win, Gen.G earns a spot in the playoffs, while the last Chinese team, EDG, bows out of the tournament.

Playoffs begin today at 2:30 PM IST onwards. Stay tuned to the Esports World Cup YouTube and Twitch channels.

Written By: Ashish Jha, India Today Gaming