It was day 4 of VCT Champions Paris 2025, and the first match of that day was Dragon Ranger Gaming (DRG) vs T1.
This would be the return match for former MVP Demon1 on the international stage.
He would join the Chinese team DRG after Vo0kashu had Visa issues that prevented him from going to Paris with the team.
The 2023 VCT Champions MVP joined the Americas team Leviatan on Oct. 11, 2024, and after an unsuccessful season from Kickoff to stage 1, Demon1 was listed as inactive on May. 3, and was released from the team on Aug. 2.
Demon1 would join DRG on Sept. 5, and a week later, he starts his first match with the team on the international stage.
With Demon1 looking for a final redemption to an already lacklustre season for him on a very new team, he would have to face T1.
The first map would be Lotus, DRG’s map pick.
DRG had a 54 per cent win rate with a 7-6 record, while T1 had a 43 per cent win rate with a 6-8 record, meaning DRG would have enough confidence heading into Lotus.
T1 would start on the attacking side, and DRG would be on the defensive side.
T1 would quickly gain a lead over DRG as they started the first half with a 5-2 lead.
DRG would win the next three rounds, but T1 would take the final two rounds of the half, securing a 7-5 lead at the half.
T1’s DH would be leading his team in the half with 16 kills, 8 deaths and 9 assists.
Entering the second half, both teams would switch sides, with T1 being on defence and DRG on the attack.
DRG would start the second half hot by applying pressure to T1’s defence and going on a streak of 6-1, and gain a lead over T1 with a total score of 11-8.
DRG would reach match point, but T1 would quickly tie up the match.
The match would be pulled into overtime, and in the first two rounds of overtime, both teams would trade, bringing the match to 13-13, before T1 would go and win the next two rounds, securing map one in their favour.
T1’s DH would also secure map MVP 27 kills, 18 deaths and 13 assists.
Demon1 and DRG look to regroup after a hard-fought loss on Lotus, but they would have to get ready for map two.
T1 would have the second map pick, and they chose Sunset.
T1 had an 83 per cent win rate, as DRG had a win rate of 67 per cent on Sunset.
DRG would start on the attacking side this time, and T1 would start on the Defence.
T1 showed how dominant their defence on Sunset was, by accumulating a 6-2 lead, though that lead.
DRG would go on a small 3-1 run before the end of the first half, but it didn’t lead to a tie as the first half ended with a 7-5 lead in T1’s favour.
T1’s BuZz would lead the pack at the half at 19 kills, 12 Deaths and 3 assists.
T1 extended their lead at the start of the second round, this time on the attacking side, with them going on a 4-2 run.
Before they could extend their lead further, DRG would have a 5-round win streak, bringing Sunset to match point 12-11.
T1 would immediately tie the match up, leading to another overtime where DRG would look more confident, but would ultimately fail as T1 would win overtime with a total score of 16-14.
Map MVP would be T1’s Meteor with 29 kills, 20 deaths and 6 assists.
In the end, BuZz would take home Match MVP with a total of 48 kills, 43 deaths and 14 assists.
T1 would be one win away from qualifying for the playoffs, and Demon1’s misfortune would continue, as he and DRG go down to the losers' bracket, where one more loss eliminates them from competition.