G2 and Team Vitality come out on top with dominant victories against Trace and T1 at VCT Masters Bangkok day two.
Team Vitality overcome T1 in two close maps
The second day of VCT Masters Bangkok 2025 had the EMEA Kickoff winners Vitality face off against Pacific runners-up T1 in the first game of the day. T1 had placed second at Kickoff, with the last few games being played by Carpe, who was subbing in place of Sylvan. This continued at Masters Bangkok, with the super-sub once again stepping up when necessary.
The map veto saw Vitality choose Fracture to be the first map of play, with them starting on the attacking side. Both teams opted for the same composition, consisting of Breach and Tejo, alongside Vyse, Brimstone, and Raze. The utility-high composition saw Vitality open on the attack with a pistol and anti-eco win. Once T1’s buy kicked in though, they were able to find three rounds of their own, bringing the score to 3-2. Both teams found a round apiece before Derke went ballistic with an ace in round eight, then Vitality won another to take the lead again, 5-4. T1 though would recover off of a crucial 4K in round 11 from Carpe and end the half with another couple of rounds, 7-5.
After the side swap, however, T1 looked like they’d found their momentum with another two rounds, pushing their lead to 9-5. Vitality countered in their rifle rounds, however, showing off a defense that didn’t even let T1 get a plant for the next few rounds to catch up. T1 won the next round but that was all they would find, with Vitality finding their form to win the next six rounds in a row to take their map pick 13-10. Less was the MVP of the map on Brimstone, with 23 kills, a +9 kill differential, and 78% KAST.
Map two was T1’s pick, Bind. They had a checkered history on this map through Kickoff, with two losses and three wins, one of which was in OT. While Vitality had played the map only three times, they’d come out on top the last two times. Further, while Vitality stuck to the same comp as the one they’d showcased in Kickoff, T1 had almost completely altered theirs.
Vitality got off to a blistering start on their opponents’ map pick, winning five out of the first six rounds on the attack side to bring the score to 5-1. T1 would find three in a row to narrow the gap to 5-4. They were not able to retake the lead but did end the half 7-5 in Vitality’s favor. With the sideswap, T1 were able to even things up with a pistol win and successful antieco to tie things up 7-7. After Vitality bought rifles into, however, their composition made full use of the defensive tools the Viper, Brim, and Tejo provided. Despite T1 winning one more round after the full buy win of Vitality to keep things 8-8, Vitality found their footing on the map, winning four rounds in a row to get them to match and series point. T1 were only able to win one more round before Vitality closed it out 13-9, winning them the series 2-0.
“Having Sayf as IGL, an ex-duelist, he gives me more freedom and lets me do my own thing, which makes my life more easier.”
– Vitality Derke
Derke, Trexx, and Less all had 40+ kills across both maps, with Derke finding ten first-bloods across the series. Four of Vitality’s players went positive in terms of K/D while, unfortunately, none of the T1 squad managed the same feat. Vitality moves on to play DRX, and the winner of that series will qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, T1 will face off against Trace Esports in an elimination game where only the winner continues in the tournament.
G2 Esports take down Trace Esports, barely breaking a sweat
The second series of the day saw Americas’ Kickoff winner G2 Esports go up against Chinese second seed Trace Esports. This was the first time these two teams were facing off, and the map veto saw Trace choose Lotus to be the first map of play, a map they had not lost the four times they’d played it this year, with G2 having played it only once in comparison, but also with a 100 percent win rate in 2025.
Trace started with a pistol round win and won the next round as well. With G2 having rifles in their grasp though, they showcased why they were one of the favorites to take the trophy, with leaf on the Viper finding incredible lurk value. G2 were able to pick up the pace, winning six out of the next eight rounds to bring the score to 6-4. Trace did find one more round in the half, but G2 kept a slight lead, ending the half 7-5.
The sideswap saw G2 extend their lead further by winning the first two rounds of the half. Trace won the next round thanks to a 4K from FengF, and the next few rounds were very back and forth, with G2 ultimately getting to 11-8. Trace’s momentum seemed to stall out here as G2 would win the last two rounds necessary to take the map 13-8.
Map two was G2’s pick of Abyss, a map they had a 66% win rate on this year, while Trace had played it twice but had lost the last time they’d faced EDG in the Kickoff China final. G2 seemed vitalized by their win and started the map with a pistol win. Trace did win their full buy, and the next two rounds to bring the score to 3-2 in their favor, but G2 were not fazed. They did not lose any more rounds in the half, with jawgemo finding a 4K in round six to set the pace for the rest of the game. G2 closed Abyss flawlessly from that point, taking the map 13-3 in the most dominant map seen in the tournament till now.
With this win, G2 will face off against EDG, with the winner headed to the playoffs of Masters Bangkok, while Trace and T1 will battle it out to decide which team retains their chances of the trophy while the loser goes home.
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT Champions Tour
