The Road to Crowning the RRWC 2025 Champion
The most intense four weeks of the year
The 2025 Roulette Rivals World Championship is the latest edition of the premier Hitman tournament series, hosted by Frote7’s Speedrun Community. If you’re unfamiliar with the rules of roulette, check out the introductory articles covering the basics. Tournament results are available on RRStats as well as the community spreadsheet.
The highlight of the roulette year, the Roulette Rivals World Championship, kicked off its 2025 edition with 3.5 weeks of intense Group Stage action, narrowing the field from 60 down to 32. But as always, the Knockout Stage was where the competition truly ramped up, with the best players in the roulette community battling it out in a double-elimination format. This Substack recaps all 62 matches of the RRWC 2025 Knockout Stage, from the start of Round 1 to the Grand Final on November 23rd.
WB Rounds 1-2
The Knockout Stage of the sixth World Championship began with Scruffy beating Pigiero in three short maps. All sixteen Round 1 matches were scheduled and played over just three days, with eleven of them taking place on Wednesday. Notable results included IlikeHitman sweeping quatilyti, lukedotpng defeating The Rieper 47, and Alph reverse-sweeping Yannini.
The sixteen winners advanced to Round 2, a round expected to deliver some of the closest early-stage matches due to its First-to-6 format and the likelihood of group winners facing runners-up.
Despite those expectations, three matches ended in sweeps: Jokerj, Dein Nomos, and Meekah all advanced to the Top 12 with minimal resistance. Scruffy scored a convincing win over Frote7, and HOUSEN defeated graory. Alph completed his second consecutive reverse sweep, this time against Qrescent7; TheTimeCube edged out Ducker in five maps; and SkyL3R narrowly eliminated In4Fun 6–4, earning his tenth consecutive victory.
LB Rounds 1-3
Losers Bracket matches returned to Roulette Rivals for the first time since September 2024, giving many players a chance to correct their earlier setbacks and finish the year on a high note. The opening round was entertaining right away, with The Rieper 47 and GiggsRH both winning in five maps. ChrisX3 vs Pigiero delivered the expected fireworks, but the match of the round was aphro’s 6–2 upset over Group E winner and tournament contender quatilyti.
Round 2 losers joined in LB Round 2, though only four advanced past their first hurdle. Notably, there were two Group Stage rematches: Frote7 defeating Nezuko Chan again, and In4Fun taking revenge on aphro. IlikeHitman, despite sweeping quatilyti earlier, was eliminated by ChannelJoined, and lukedotpng’s two-year streak of ninth-place finishes ended at the hands of apricope.
LB Round 3 featured the final First-to-6 matches of the year, with top-10 placements on the line. ChannelJoined defeated apricope 6–2, improving to 4–0 in head-to-head matchups against the fellow American. In4Fun and Frote7 both avenged losses from last year’s world championship, defeating The Rieper 47 and Qrescent7, respectively. Meanwhile, graory built a 4–0 lead against Yannini and looked poised for a third straight win, but the three-time champion pulled off his record-breaking fourth reverse sweep to stay alive in RRWC.
WB Round 3 & LB Rounds 4-5
As the tournament entered its final weeks, twelve players remained, now competing in the First-to-8 format. Eight of them began Round 3 in the Winners Bracket: while the earliest matches weren’t nail-biters, four dominant winners quickly emerged as genuine title contenders. TheTimeCube swept HOUSEN; Meekah ended SkyL3R’s impressive win streak; Dein Nomos dropped only one map to an in-form Jokerj; and Scruffy shut the door on another Alph comeback.
Meanwhile, the two halves of the Losers Bracket unfolded vastly differently. In the upper half, both In4Fun and Yannini advanced to Round 5, only losing one map each, setting up an elimination match that could not happen in RR17. Their match this time was razor-thin: Yannini took the first three maps, In4Fun still managed to equalize, but Yannini played Miami to perfection to close out an 8–6 victory and eliminate his long-time rival.
The other half of the Losers Bracket played out oppositely, with Round 4 featuring closer results than Round 5. SkyL3R, one of the stars of the tournament, got off to a 6-2 lead against Frote7, but the veteran turned it around on the random maps to eliminate the last Russian from RRWC 2025. Frote would then play and defeat ChannelJoined, with the American finishing a career-best 7th after an impressive comeback against HOUSEN.
The Final Six
While the Losers Bracket shrank to just two players, Yannini and Frote7, the Winners Bracket progressed toward the Grand Final. In the first Round 4 matchup, Dein Nomos faced Scruffy in a chaotic semi-final: Dein took a 4–0 lead, Scruffy responded by winning three straight maps, but late restarts in Paris and Miami cost him, sending the defending champion to the LB. In the other semi-final, TheTimeCube looked confident on his longer picks, even stealing one of Meekah’s shorter maps, and ultimately won 8–2.
Unfortunately for Meekah, the next match marked the end of their run. Yannini won 8–4, avenging a sweep from RR8 that once eliminated him. Regardless, for the Canadian who is still easing back into roulette after two years, a Top 6 in a world championship clearly shows they can contend for titles again. In the other LB Round 6 match, Scruffy defeated Frote7 for the third time this year, losing only Berlin in the process. After a couple of tournaments outside the Top 8, Frote scored his best result since RR15, keeping up with some of the best in the game.
The 2025 Final Four consisted of three players who debuted between late 2022 and mid-2023, plus the veteran Yannini representing the Class of 2020. The LB Round 7 match of Yannini vs Scruffy played out much like the previous round: Scruffy performed at an exceptionally high level, losing Berlin but winning 8–2 to end Yannini’s best season since 2021.
Scruffy’s opponent would be decided by a dramatic WB Final. Dein built leads of 4–0, 6–2, and 8–6, but TheTimeCube equalized each time. The match was ultimately decided by the tournament’s only Map #9, Miami, where minute differences in the Sierra Fire setup earned Dein Nomos a Grand Final spot and sent Time into a rematch with Scruffy.
The rivalry between TheTimeCube and Scruffy was forged in 2023, when all three of their previous meetings took place, with Time winning two of them, including the RRWC Final. All of those matches went to the final map, but the pattern broke this year in dramatic fashion. Whether due to player motivation, the longer format, or the reset map pool, Scruffy dominated the LB Final, winning 10–0 and securing another Grand Final appearance. This may have been Time’s last match; whether that remains true or not, his impact on the game, over six tournaments and one world championship, remains clear.
Grand Final
Across six years of Roulette Rivals, including the era of PC/Console split brackets, only 28 players have ever reached a final, so it is expected to see some repetition in the 34 Grand Final lineups. Still, only three pairs have ever rematched for a title: Ducker and pokeredface at the dawn of the game, Yannini and In4Fun also in the first two years; and now Scruffy and Dein Nomos, meeting for a record-breaking third time after RR12 and RR16.
Scruffy and Dein’s rivalry is especially fascinating, not just because their playstyles couldn’t be more different, but because their matches shift dramatically depending on the stage of the tournaments. Before the final, Dein led the overall head-to-head 3–2, yet both of Scruffy’s wins came in Grand Finals. As in the RR12 Grand Final—the last First-to-8 final—Dein entered with a scheduling advantage and selected as many long maps as possible. And so, on November 23rd, 2025, the question stood: would it finally be third time lucky for Dein Nomos, or would Scruffy defend his world title?
The final opened on Dein’s pick, Mendoza, in what was admittedly a shaky start by both players. Dein died to the Don electrocution puddle, while Scruffy struggled to get the correct disguise for Tamara. Thanks to his earlier second run, Dein took Mendoza and the early lead, just as he had in RR12.
Dubai followed, again echoing RR12, but with this time the opposite outcome. A hectic opening minute caused Scruffy to restart, while Dein looked for a long-winded backup. In the end, Scruffy equalized with a second run that was twice as fast as Dein’s original attempt.
Scruffy also had an early restart in Haven Island, making it three rips in as many maps, but Dein Nomos made the very niche mistake of trying to isolate the Personal Trainer with a durian, making him stuck on the staircase indefinitely. Thanks to his standard second try, Scruffy took Haven and was now in the lead, with his map pick coming next. Ambrose Island was the first map without any restarts; the relatively straightforward spin was better optimized by Scruffy, who won it by 11 seconds.
Mumbai was up next, Dein Nomos’ choice of map, with pressure mounting higher and higher trying to stay competitive with Scruffy. The map looked close to call in the first couple of minutes, but tragically, Dein threw the impact explosive too close to a scooter and killed himself with it. In a slow but careful attempt, Scruffy stayed green and took the map, the 8-2 lead meaning one hand was already on the title.
Scruffy’s next pick, Bangkok, favored Dein statistically, as he held the map record and the higher win rate, but Scruffy had won all three of their previous spins. The simple spin came down to execution, with Scruffy pushing through the Ken kill faster to reach match point.
Whittleton Creek also offered little room for creativity, with one primary route to completion. Although Dein had the in-game time lead, he couldn’t utilize his Sieker well, and eventually, Scruffy used a rare manhole exit to win the map by 11 seconds and his second world championship title with it.
Watch: Dein Nomos vs Scruffy, the 2025 world championship final.
What’s Next?
As mentioned in several recaps before, Scruffy again writes history with his recent success. His fifth title places him tied second with Phanium, behind only Ducker, and he extends his lead in cross-platform titles over Phanium (3 titles), DaniButa, and In4Fun (2 each). With another Grand Final appearance, he becomes the first person to reach seven title matches, a standalone record even including all tournaments. Meanwhile, Dein Nomos’ second-place finish further cements him as one of the strongest players of the year, and arguably the best player still seeking a maiden title, now tied with The_Buff_Guy at three finals without a win.
While RRWC 2025 concludes the competitive year, the community itself is far from dormant. In fact, this is shaping up to be one of the busiest Decembers in years:
The RRWC survey has concluded, giving us valuable insight into how tournaments should be run next year. In particular, the RR18 dates can already be confirmed: 2026’s first tournament will run from January 30th to March 1st in double-elimination format.
The second annual RR Awards is hosted by CurryMaker, with voting in 15 categories open until December 12th, and the live show airing on December 14th from 18 CET.
Roulette Divisions returns for the Christmas season with an improved format (Play-all-4 matches, two picks per player), as part of the ongoing Roulette League revamp: join the RL Discord for the best practice environment between tournaments.
Finally, an exciting new event is taking shape: Roulette Arrivals, hosted by Meekah, the first-ever community tournament exclusively for players with no prior Roulette Rivals experience. With 16 responses already and guaranteed coaching opportunities, it’s shaping up to be the best entry point to roulette yet. Signups are open until December 27th in the #community-announcements channel of the F7SC Discord, with the event taking place on January 9th.
The 2025 Roulette Rivals World Championship is the latest edition of the premier Hitman tournament series, hosted by Frote7’s Speedrun Community. If you’re unfamiliar with the rules of roulette, check out the introductory articles covering the basics. Tournament results are available on RRStats as well as the community spreadsheet.
Pls nerf Scruffy