The final international event of the VALORANT season is a week away. Champions 2026 runs from September 24 to October 18 in Shanghai, splitting its time between the Jing’an Sports Center for the group stage and the Mercedes-Benz Arena for the playoffs. Sixteen teams are chasing a $2,250,000 prize pool, with $1,000,000 reserved for the winner – and after a Stage 2 that produced three first-time or surprise regional champions, the field looks less predictable than it has in years.
Format: four groups, eight survivors
The 16 teams are drawn into four groups of four, played in a GSL-style double-elimination bracket. Each group opens with two matches, the winners meet in a winners’ match, the losers in an elimination match, and a decider settles the second playoff spot. Two teams per group advance to an eight-team double-elimination playoff. Every series is best-of-three except the lower final and grand final, which are best-of-five. The last match is scheduled for October 18.
The groups
- Group A: 100 Thieves, JD Gaming, FUT Esports, T1
- Group B: Global Esports, LOUD, EDward Gaming, Team Vitality
- Group C: TYLOO, Team Liquid, Paper Rex, G2 Esports
- Group D: Karmine Corp, Nongshim RedForce, NRG, Xi Lai Gaming
Group C is the obvious group of death. TYLOO arrive as China’s Stage 2 winners with a home crowd behind them, but their opener is against G2, who qualified on points from the Americas. Team Liquid and Paper Rex have traded blows at international events for years and now meet in the very first match of the tournament. Only two of those four teams make the playoffs.
Opening schedule (CEST)
- Sept. 24: Team Liquid vs Paper Rex (11:00), TYLOO vs G2 Esports (14:00)
- Sept. 25: Nongshim RedForce vs NRG (11:00), Karmine Corp vs Xi Lai Gaming (14:00)
- Sept. 26: Global Esports vs Team Vitality (11:00), LOUD vs EDward Gaming (14:00)
- Sept. 27: 100 Thieves vs T1 (11:00), JD Gaming vs FUT Esports (14:00)
Storylines to follow
100 Thieves as favourites. The Americas Stage 2 champions beat LOUD 3-2 in the São Paulo final and also hold the Esports World Cup 2026 title. No other team arrives with two trophies from the summer, and most esports bookmakers are likely to price them at or near the top of the outright market. Their Group A opener against T1 is the toughest first-round draw among the top seeds.
Global Esports’ first Champions run. The Indian organisation reverse-swept Nongshim RedForce from 0-2 down to win Pacific Stage 2 – its first VCT title. It now leads Group B ahead of LOUD, EDward Gaming and Team Vitality, a group where every team can realistically claim a top-two finish.
Team Liquid’s teenage gamble. The EMEA runners-up benched purp0 two weeks before the event and promoted 18-year-old GSR. Debuting a rookie against Paper Rex on day one is as high-risk as it gets, and it makes Liquid the hardest team in Group C to evaluate.
LOUD without cauanzin. The Brazilian side’s lower-bracket run through G2 and NRG earned them a Champions spot with loanee tkzin in the lineup. On September 16, long-time initiator cauanzin confirmed he has left the organisation after nearly four years, having been benched since the mid-season break. LOUD will field erde, lukxo, DaviH, Darker and tkzin in Shanghai.
Karmine Corp’s redemption. The EMEA Stage 2 champions land in Group D alongside Nongshim RedForce and NRG – three teams with legitimate title ambitions and only two playoff tickets between them.
Betting angle
Group-stage upsets are common at Champions, and the GSL format means a single opening loss is survivable. For bettors that argues against heavy outright positions before the first round and in favour of match-by-match value, especially in Groups B and C where the seedings are least informative. Anyone opening a new account for the tournament should compare offers first; our guide to esports welcome bonuses explains the rollover terms that matter most for a three-week event.
Champions closes the 2026 season. Riot has already confirmed that VCT 2027 open qualifiers begin in November, so several of the rosters on show in Shanghai are playing their final matches together.
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