Fnatic on redemption arc! They defeat PRX and advance to the EWC 2025 grand final

The playoffs stage of the VALORANT Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC 2025) reached the semifinals. Four teams remain in the competition, and they have only one chance to advance to the grand final. There are no lower brackets at this tournament, and semifinal losers can hope for 3rd place at most.

Paper Rex and Fnatic are no strangers to high-stakes battles. In fact, they played each other three weeks ago, at a huge official event. Witnessing PRX vs FNC as a semifinal at the VALORANT EWC is quite a treat for the fans!

The official YouTube channel of the Esports World Cup broadcasts all the VALORANT matches from this massive event. You can watch the semifinal between Paper Rex and Fnatic right here: the stream is embedded below.

It’s the first match of the tournament day. Gen.G and Team Heretics play next.

The semifinal at the VALORANT EWC 2025 is under the best-of-three (Bo3) format. Paper Rex and Fnatic should do their best on each map for a chance to play in the grand final.

You can check out the odds on the best VALORANT betting platforms that support the Esports World Cup 2025.

In a way, we had some vibes from the VALORANT Masters Toronto 2025 at the start of this match. Paper Rex won a few early rounds and successfully closed map 1.

However, the differences were apparent even on Sunset. Fnatic did not give easy rounds to their opponents. Despite being down significantly, they battled and made every W for PRX pretty tough.

The redemption arc started for Fnatic on Ascent. They literally demolished their opponents. The emotional boost from that win touched the first half of the decider map. Paper Rex had a chance to recover, but it was too late for them.

Fnatic win and advance to the grand final of the VALORANT Esports World Cup 2025. Paper Rex play in the third-place match.

PaperRex earned an early advantage on Sunset, and Fnatic just couldn’t compensate for that gap — even if they also had brilliant round streaks.

In general, the battles were extremely close. Somehow, Fnatic delivered first kills quite often to win a man advantage. However, PRX overplayed on the individual level to win more points for the game score.

Some examples of such an individual play are 1v2 win by d4v41 in round 3 and great kills by PatMen in round 16. It even ended up with disrespectful knife kill in round 17.

PRX reached the map point, and Fnatic woke up with some great rounds. When it felt quite scary, Paper Rex still won. The game’s end was still not too comfortable for them.

Fnatic lost the pistols again, but they did not let Paper Rex build up any advantage this time. In round 2, on eco buy, FNC won a crucial battle — to ruin the economy of their opponents. Great round streaks came after that, up to a wonderful map win.

Paper Rex had two more chances to show their power on Ascent. When it happened for them to have a full buy, they won occasional rounds. Still, FNC nicely recovered from that in the next rounds to march forward.

After the side swap, Fnatic barely won the pistols. As defenders, they defused with almost nothing on the clock. After that hit, PRX could not stand back.

Fnatic take the VALORANT EWC 2025 semifinal against Paper Rex to the decider map.

The attacking side was simply exceptional for Fnatic! Paper Rex could not do much, and the score gap turned out to be deadly for them.

Fnatic kept the victorious spirit by winning the pistols. The following eco did not go well for Paper Rex, and they managed to get something only after a few attempts.

f0rsakeN was the last man standing in round 5 to help PRX clutch it. His early aggressive kill gave an upper hand for PRX in the next round too — a 1v1 win by PatMen ended it.

Beyond that, Fnatic looked better. And they probably were somewhat luckier: look at the Spike planting in the last moments of round 11!

As defenders, Paper Rex found more success. They won the pistols and a few more after that. Fnatic made even those rounds harsh for the opponents: like an eco buy in round 18, when FNC needed just a bit more time to use the weapons they picked up.

The initial advantage of Fnatic was great, and they required just a little to win on Split. Sure, this win was delivered for the fans’ excitement.

The Esports World Cup 2025 for VALORANT started with Group Stage matches. Paper Rex and Fnatic were seeded into different groups, so they did not face each other at this tournament before the semifinal. Still, they had other pretty strong opponents.

Fnatic advanced to the playoffs after two victories.

In the VALORANT EWC 2025 quarterfinal, Fnatic won over fellow Europeans — 2:0 against Karmine Corp.

Paper Rex has a similar history in the group stage.

In the first match of the playoffs, PRX defeated Sentinels. That was a nice repeat of the Masters Toronto upper semi. With 2:0, Paper Rex are ready to face Fnatic again.

The VALORANT EWC 2025 grand final is on Sunday, July 13. After the Esports World Cup, teams return to their regional competition — to battle for the VALORANT Champions 2025 qualification. The biggest event of the year is from Sept. 12 to Oct. 5 in Paris, France.

For more VALORANT news and competitive coverage, stick around on esports.gg.