The 2025 VALORANT Champions Tour season is nearing its end, and the threat of a return to Tier 2 for teams who have joined international leagues via Ascension. Gentle Mates and Apeks, who respectively won the EMEA tournament in 2023 and 2024 and are therefore the two squads currently at risk in VCT EMEA, find themselves in a critical position — their spot among the domestic elite depends entirely on their performance in the coming weeks during Stage 2.

Three Possible Scenarios

Apeks and M8 have only one direct path to secure their place in VCT for next year: qualify for Champions Paris in September. If either team manages to reach Champions, it will automatically retain its league slot, while the other will be sent back to the Ascension tournament — or even worse, depending on additional criteria (detailed below). However, if both teams make it to Champions, only the better-performing team at the end of the tournament will keep a spot in the league for 2026. The other one would participate in the Ascension tournament, (scheduled for October 19–26 in EMEA), with the best Tier 2 teams.

Things get trickier if neither team qualifies for Champions. In that case, there is no way to remain in VCT EMEA directly. Instead, the only option left is to fight for survival through the Ascension tournament, if they meet at least one of the following criteria:

Failing to meet any of these conditions would result in direct relegation to Challengers — France for Gentle Mates, or NORTH//EAST for Apeks. Lucas “Squeezie” Hauchard, co-founder of M8, already addressed this after Stage 1, stating the club does not intend to continue competing in VALORANT if they drop back down to the lower tier.

The current situation

Following the first week of Stage 2 in VCT EMEA, both teams started off on the wrong foot: Apeks fell to Natus Vincere, while Gentle Mates were defeated by FUT Esports. Since they're not in the same group, they won’t face each other in this initial phase, but both teams still aim to reach playoffs.

In the Championship Points standings — based on results across the year — the Norwegian side Apeks sits at the bottom, tied with KOI, with zero points. Gentle Mates are just ahead with one point, earned during Stage 1. Fortunately for both teams, the top 8 remains within reach, especially since this Stage offers more points than Stage 1 or the Kickoff.