The VALORANT Champions Paris group stage has delivered on all fronts at the Les Arènes venue, delivering bangers aplenty, including a record-tying comeback from NRG, and underdogs such as MIBR rising to the occasion.

As the group stage nears its end, GIANTX and DRX have punched their tickets to the playoffs of Champions Paris, edging closer to glory as they join Team Heretics, Fnatic, NRG, and Paper Rex.

Here’s how GIANTX and DRX made it through their respective groups at Champions Paris.

GIANTX survives Group A

Few VALORANT fans expected GIANTX to make it out of Group A. Going into the event, the team was one of the lowest-ranked, at #18 on the VCT Global Power Rankings.

With momentum from a 2nd place finish at VCT EMEA Stage 2, GIANTX impressed in Group A with a 2-1 reverse-sweep win over Sentinels in the opening match, and suffered a reverse-sweep at the hands of Paper Rex in the Winners match.

With a spot in the playoffs on the line, GIANTX faced Xi Lai Gaming (XLG) Esports in the Decider match. On XLG Esports’ map pick of Bind, GIANTX came back from trailing 4-8 in the first half to force overtime, and won 14-12.

XLG Esports took an early lead (7-5) on Ascent, but GIANTX proved stalwart on the defense in the second half to win the map 13-10, and the series 2-0, thereby eliminating XLG Esports and moving on to the playoffs of Champions Paris.

DRX sends Liquid packing in Group C

After beating Team Liquid 2-0 in their opening match, DRX got shut down by NRG, who claimed the top position in Group C.

The #1 seed from EMEA, Team Liquid, then sent the defending champions, EDward Gaming, packing after a dramatic 2-1 reverse sweep in the Elimination match.

Team Liquid was looking for revenge against DRX coming into the decider match of Group C. DRX stood firm on Team Liquid’s map pick of Corrode, with sides trading blows for a 6-6 first half. In the second half, DRX pulled ahead quickly on the attacking side to shock Team Liquid with a 13-8 win.

On DRX’s map pick, Abyss, the teams were neck-and-neck with a 6-6 score in the first half of play. However, Team Liquid could only manage to win one round on the defending side in the second half, as DRX’s onslaught was too much to handle. DRX closed out Abyss 13-7, eliminating Team Liquid with a solid 2-0 win to earn a spot at the Champions Paris playoffs.

The action continues with the two remaining Decider matches to lock in the eight teams that will compete at the Champions Paris playoffs.