The SOOP Valorant Legaue has concluded its group stage, narrowing a field of eight teams and two groups into a four-team bracket. The competition's group stage mirrors the group stage used at Champions Seoul, arranging teams in groups of four with matches to be played in a double-elimination tournament.

With powerhouse teams from North America, China, the host nation South Korea, and qualified teams from Thailand and Vietnam, the group stage was filled with tight matches, upsets, and the birth of a Cinderella story.

Meet Made in Thailand, the Group A Cinderellas. (Photo by SOOP)

Group A winners: Made in Thailand Made in Thailand Asia-Pacific Unranked Kadoom Kantapong Kingthong Killua Tanate Teerasawad cgrs Patiphan Porsi Laz Kittikawin Jirawatkakan seph1roth Chinnakrit Phoojaroen & Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태)

Eliminated: Sentinels Sentinels North America Unranked N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid & TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Unranked Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No

Made in Thailand Made in Thailand Asia-Pacific Unranked Kadoom Kantapong Kingthong Killua Tanate Teerasawad cgrs Patiphan Porsi Laz Kittikawin Jirawatkakan seph1roth Chinnakrit Phoojaroen earned their way into SOOP by winning the Thailand Qualifier, beating out second-tier teams like XERXIA Esports XERXIA Esports Asia-Pacific Unranked and FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Unranked JohnOlsen Chanawin Nakchain Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee aLerT Wattanachok Yingnakorn Potter Sutthichai Promsrikaew Sushiboys Panyawat Subsiriroj while defeating Team NKT Academy Team NKT Academy Asia-Pacific Unranked ArPoom Rujipoom Changkrut socools0da Natdanai Chaibun Vickyz Sakthithat Phattharaampornchal D4rf Wayu Phantakerngamorn LoRangeZ Phanthaphat Yaowasakunmat in a five-map grand final. They turned heads with a 2-1 victory over fellow Thai team TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Unranked Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No , but topped that performance with a 2-1 upset over American giants Sentinels Sentinels North America Unranked N4RRATE Marshall Massey bang Sean Bezerra Zellsis Jordan Montemurro zekken Zachary Patrone johnqt Mohamed Amine Ouarid . On the all-decisive third map, they fought back from down 12-6 to tough out a 17-15 victory. With Killua and former Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Unranked mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov stand-in cgrs impressing through two wins, they finished the group stage as Group A's top seed.

After being placed in another double-elimination group with Sentinels, Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) got the better of their overseas rivals in the SOOP Colosseum. After losing to them in two maps to open the event and then making quick work of TALON, they bounced back to avenge themselves against Sentinels, winning in two maps by a difference of five total rounds. t3xture had a match to remember in the rematch, dropping a server-high 47 kills with a rating of 1.26. He is part of a three-man returning class for the Masters Shanghai winners, who seem to have finally hit their stride with two new players.

With no more OFF//SEASON events on their calendars, Sentinels and TALON have just around a month to prepare for the start of their respective region's Kickoff tournaments after being eliminated. Sentinels, who reloaded their roster with bang and N4RRATE , appear to still be troubleshooting the fine details of their team. Meanwhile, an impressive showing from rising star duelist primmie , who recorded 65 kills in the team's loss to Made in Thailand, was not enough to keep TALON alive.

DRX wins on home soil to set up a Korean derby in the semis. (Photo by SOOP)

Group B Winners: DRX DRX Korea Unranked Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) & NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Unranked FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold

Eliminated: Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Unranked B3ar Yang Zhanxiong (杨瞻雄) whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) & Rapid Lofi Rapid Lofi Asia-Pacific Unranked TRIPCIEW Vữ Minh Cường albus Trần Phúc Thiên Pr0digy Suka Nguyễn Văn Tiến gin Phan Văn Gin BánhMj

After a back-and-forth, three-map contest against Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Unranked B3ar Yang Zhanxiong (杨瞻雄) whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) Levius Lu Yinzhong (卢胤中) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) , DRX DRX Korea Unranked Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) made quick work of Vietnam qualifiers Rapid Lofi Rapid Lofi Asia-Pacific Unranked TRIPCIEW Vữ Minh Cường albus Trần Phúc Thiên Pr0digy Suka Nguyễn Văn Tiến gin Phan Văn Gin BánhMj to qualify for the playoffs. Continued positive performances from Flashback on Cypher elevated the performance of DRX. He finished as the highest-fragging player in both matches with 20 more kills than deaths in both. DRX lost BuZz and Foxy9 to other Korean teams to start their offseason, and before SOOP, experienced inconsistent performances at the TEN Asia Invitational and the Radiant Asia Invitational. They move on to the playoffs as Group B's top seed, and will play Group B's second seed, Gen.G.

After a shock upset to Rapid Lofi Rapid Lofi Asia-Pacific Unranked TRIPCIEW Vữ Minh Cường albus Trần Phúc Thiên Pr0digy Suka Nguyễn Văn Tiến gin Phan Văn Gin BánhMj put them on the brink of elimination, NRG fought their demons of the past, defeating BiliBili Gaming in three maps. That victory set up a rematch with Rapid Lofi, one that they handled with much more ease than in the opening match. Despite struggles in pistol rounds, which at times put them at an early disadvantage, NRG ultimately prevailed. Namely, the play of new addition Verno , who ended the decider match with a server-high 38 kills, lifted the team.

BiliBili Gaming failed to replicate their Champions Los Angeles success against NRG. Despite keeping both of their matches relatively competitive, they ultimately fell in three maps against NRG and DRX. Meanwhile, Rapid Lofi leaves SOOP at around the level that may have been expected of a Challengers squad, despite early hype after their win over NRG.

Playoffs

And then there were four. (Photo by SOOP)

The playoffs will be single-elimination, with the semifinals best-of-three and the grand final a best-of-five. With the top-seed of the groups paired with the second-seeds, the first-round matchups are:

DRX DRX Korea Unranked Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) vs Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태)

The derby between Korean giants isn't quite the same as it was during the 2024 season. In Pacific play, Gen.G had the upper hand over DRX, winning four matches and dropping just one. In offseason events, DRX has gotten the better of Gen.G in both meetings. This match will be the last time that former Foxy9 will play his former team before the official season begins.

Made in Thailand Made in Thailand Asia-Pacific Unranked Kadoom Kantapong Kingthong Killua Tanate Teerasawad cgrs Patiphan Porsi Laz Kittikawin Jirawatkakan seph1roth Chinnakrit Phoojaroen vs NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Unranked FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold

After turning heads in the group stage, Made in Thailand has a chance to cause more chaos, being matched up with NRG Esports. While the Thailand Challengers team may be new to many, one face is sure to be familiar to hardcore NRG fans: cgrs. Most known for his play on Gekko and Sova, he's iconic for his stand-in run at Masters Tokyo, which included an iconic win over a certain NRG.