Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #1 MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius and Cloud9 Cloud9 North America Rank #8 Xeppaa Erick Bach Rossy Daniel Abedrabbo v1c Victor Truong moose Kaleb Jayne OXY Francis Hoang started things off on the right foot, moving one win closer to playoff qualification to open the main stage action at Red Bull Home Ground #5.

Team Heretics secured their win on Split, defeating Germany-based second-tier side FOKUS FOKUS Europe Rank #21 hoody Aaro Peltokangas YaBoiLewis Lewis Hughes Mistic James Orfila al0rante Felix Brandl xuss Tselmeg Tsolmon 13-11 on Split. Meanwhile, a new-look Cloud9 went up against European giants FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #3 Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu stand-in Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder , defeating them on Abyss 13-11.

The Swiss Stage format, which VCT fans may recognize as familiar from Masters Madrid, sees the event's teams pitted against each other by teams of identical records. The four teams to reach two victories will qualify to the event's playoffs, while the teams with two losses will be eliminated.

The other half of the field will play their opening matches of the Swiss Stage later on the same day, with the next pairing of matches, the first set of qualification and elimination matches, taking place on Friday.

Team Heretics vs FOKUS

Team Heretics entered this matchup as the overwhelming favorite, having been one of the EMEA region's strongest teams in the 2024 season. They carry over much of the same roster into the 2025 season, centered around a young core that saw them reach four grand finals but lift none last season.

However, they appeared to have some rust to shake off early on. Split, a relatively well-balanced map as far as attacking and defending goes, seemed to be defense-sided in this particular clash. After stealing the anti-eco round, the German team got out to a 5-1 lead which bubbled into an 8-4 halftime advantage.

There was an element of experimentation in Team Heretics' approach, though. They have tried several different team compositions on Split over the past season, a map that's been tough for them in stretches. On Thursday, they opted for a triple-Initiator, no-Sentinel composition that saw in-game leader Boo on KAY/O and benjyfishy on Breach.

While Team Heretics grabbed eight of the first nine rounds to open the second half, they started with ground to make up. A late surge by FOKUS seemed to threaten overtime, but a well-executed round with anchors from the right players and good mechanics saw them hold onto victory.

Team Heretics Duelist MiniBoo topped the scoreboard, putting up 20 kills and a server-leading ACS of 239 in the win. On the other side, Mistic, formerly of Fnatic, Apeks Apeks Europe Rank #2 hype Tautvydas Paldavicius MOLSI Michał Łącki AvovA Auni Chahade , and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #23 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak , led the way for FOKUS with a team-leading 20 kills of his own.

Cloud9 vs FNATIC

FNATIC, on the double-Duelist composition which saw Alfajer pick up Iso and new signing kaajak on Yoru, had no trouble carrying that picking up space on the large two-site map, heading into the second half with a 9-3 lead. They won six of the last seven rounds, with some vintage heroics from the most decorated player in Valorant history.

Fnatic's 16-year-old stand-in Sayonara took to the stage in place of Leo , who has been on the bench since the end of the team's Masters Madrid campaign. The youngster, who most recently showed out for EMEA Ascension side KPI Gaming KPI Gaming Europe Rank #10 went blow-for-blow with his tier-one opponents, finishing the map with 21 kills

The side switch did see a significant momentum shift, though. After winning the pistol round but dropping the anti-eco, FNATIC dropped seven straight rounds, allowing for their American opponents to tie things up and then take the lead.

Cloud9's double-Controller, and double-Initiator composition helped them put one foot forward on attack, while Duelist OXY heated up when his team needed him most.

A timeout after going down for the first time from head coach Elmapuddy appeared to inspire his team, as they put on a flawless round to knot things at 11, but Cloud9 would not stumble. They closed out a near-perfect attack half, outscoring Fnatic 10-2 with nine rounds being by way of eliminating all five of their opponents.

Alfajer put on a stellar performance in the losing effort, with nine of his 21 kills being first-bloods.

"Honestly, holy moly," OXY said after the match. "That is actually crazy, I don't even know what just happened. 3-10 comeback? Was it 3-9? Jesus."

Team Heretics and Cloud9 will eagerly await the later results of Thursday's slate of games. They will be drawn against fellow 1-0 teams that leave the opening round victorious, while FOKUS and FNATIC will wait to see who loses.