Valorant Champions 2026 sees the climax of the Valorant calendar taking place in Shanghai, with 16 teams fighting for Valorant’s greatest prize.
Insider Gaming has everything you need to know to follow and enjoy Valorant Champions 2026 in Shanghai, including how to watch and which teams to watch as potential contenders.
Valorant Champions 2026 Schedule and Format
Dates:
- September 24-October 18
- Group Stage: September 24-October 4
- Playoffs: October 7-18
Format:
Group Stage:
- Four-team double-elimination GSL groups
- Top two teams progress to the Playoffs
- All matches are Bo3
Playoffs:
- Eight-team double-elimination bracket
- All matches, excluding the Grand Final and Lower Bracket Final Best of 3
- Grand Final and Lower Bracket Final are Best of 5
Valorant Champions 2026 Teams & Groups
Following the conclusion of the regional VCT Stage 2 splits, the following teams qualified for Champions from each region:
VCT Americas:
- 100 Thieves (Stage 2 champions)
- Loud (Stage 2 runners-up)
- NRG (VCT Points)
- G2 (VCT Points)
VCT China:
- TYLOO (Stage 2 champions)
- JD Gaming (Stage 2 runners-up)
- EDward Gaming (VCT Points)
- XLG Esports (VCT Points)
VCT EMEA:
- Karmine Corp (Stage 2 champions)
- Team Liquid (Stage 2 runners-up)
- FUT (VCT Points)
- Vitality (VCT Points)
VCT Pacific:
- Global Esports
- Nongshim RedForce
- Paper Rex
- T1
They are arranged into the following groups:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| 100 Thieves | Global Esports | TYLOO | Karmine Corp |
| JD Gaming | LOUD | Team Liquid | Nongshim RedForce |
| FUT | EDward Gaming | Paper Rex | NRG |
| T1 | Vitality | G2 | XLG |
Valorant Champions Shanghai Prize Pool
Valorant Champions 2026 features a $2,250,000 prize pool, where the winning team secures the $1,000,000 top prize.
An MVP award will also be given out following the Grand Final, with NRG’s Brock ‘brawk’ Somerhalder securing the prize in 2025.
Valorant Champions 2026 Location
Valorant Champions 2026 takes place in Shanghai. As usual, the event is split between two venues, one for the Group Stage and early Playoffs, and the other for the top four match-ups.
The Jing’an Sports Center will be used for the Groups and early Playoffs, with the event moving to the 18,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena for those all-important top four matches.
How to watch Valorant Champions 2026
Valorant Champions Shanghai will be broadcast across Riot’s official Valorant Champions Tour channels:
Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026 Predictions
Valorant’s picture at the top level has not exactly been stable this year. That aspect of the scene is epitomized by the absence of Leviatán from Valorant Champions Shanghai.
The South American roster and Valorant Masters London winners are absent from the event after a 5th/6th placed split finish. The roster lacked the VCT Points to qualify, despite the London victory and being ranked Number 1 in the world by Riot’s own power-ranking.
So we know Leviatán can’t win, but who can? Well, the fight largely seems to be between the top of the Americas Region and the Pacific.
Global Esports have continued to go from strength to strength this year as a team that exudes determination and togetherness, leading Patrick ‘PatMen’ Mendoza to exclaim on broadcast that he “doesn’t need a superstar team” to win.
However, the Stage 2 winners are yet to prove themselves on the international stage, leading to more emphasis on veteran force Paper Rex and Masters Santiago champions Nongshim RedForce.
Paper Rex remain hugely popular, but for success in Shanghai, Paper Rex need a mental reset to come to fruition, as the team has looked demotivated and a step behind for much of the year.
The 2026 Valorant scene has shown that having momentum and exploiting those moments of being in form as a team is the most vital ingredient to success.
In the Americas region, there is no doubt about the team that is riding high on momentum, and that is 100 Thieves.
100T’s victory at the Esports World Cup was a moment when everything came together for the roster, where team synergy, preparation, and confidence culminated in a tournament victory.
The roster rode that momentum through VCT Americas Stage 2, resulting in their first VCT trophy since 2024. Now the only barrier is recreating their international and regional success in a VCT international.
That barrier might be hard to break through. Valorant Internationals are long events, unlike EWC. They test tactical depth, composure, and reward experience.
In that sense, Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold and his NRG roster have the edge over their regional rivals. The Valorant Champions Paris 2025 winners are skilled at counter-stratting, grinding out their opponents, and developing over a long tournament.
In that sense, you can never look past the roster despite a lack of regional success this year.
Sadly, we may finally be at the end of this iteration of G2, with rumors swirling about changes following Champions. In that sense, the pressure valve may be off G2, and they may finally be able to play an international event with less pressure and more freedom.
For EMEA, it’s hard to see any of the rosters as favorites for the competition. The collapse of Fnatic has left EMEA as an unstable picture this year, with FUT arguably being the most stable piece, qualifying for each international this year.
Still, the roster’s end to VCT EMEA Stage 2 was hugely disappointing as they failed to win a single map in Barcelona, falling 0-2 to Karmine Corp and 0-3 to Team Liquid.
If Valorant 2026 is truly about momentum, then that certainly belongs to KC, but overall EMEA’s problem this year is that the teams qualifying for internationals are lacking in experience and success at that level, experience that proved so important for Fnatic’s success in internationals.
But Fnatic fans know where to look for that experience: Timofey ‘Chronicle’ Khromov and Nikita ‘Derke’ Sirmitev of Team Vitality.
Still, for all the potential to build around their stars, Vitality don’t seem stable or tactically deep enough to win an international event. 2027 may be a better year for Vitality overall.
As for China, getting any team deep in the competition would be a success in front of the home crowd.
We have seen the massive viewership numbers that Riot draws for the game in China, the success of Valorant Mobile in the region, and the instant ticket sales for this event, yet China is undoubtedly the weakest region at this moment.
That only makes the idea of a TYLOO, JD Gaming, EDward Gaming, or XLG home miracle run even more attractive, however unlikely.
Predicted winner: Nongshim RedForce
Who do you think will win Valorant Champions 2026? Share your opinions with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, see that teabagging is banned at Champions. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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