VALORANT Champions 2026 runs from September 24 to October 18 in Shanghai, China. Sixteen teams will play for a $2.25 million prize pool, with $1 million going to the winner. It is the first time China has hosted the tournament and the last Champions under the current franchise system before VCT moves to an open format in 2027.
Not every strong team made it. Several organizations with deep VALORANT Champions history, including a Masters winner and a former Champions finalist, will watch this event from home. Here is a full breakdown of the biggest teams missing from VALORANT Champions 2026 and how each one fell short.
How VALORANT Champions 2026 Qualification Works
Sixteen teams qualify through two paths. In each region, Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China, the top two finishers in the Stage 2 playoffs earn a direct spot. The other two spots per region go to the teams with the most Championship Points collected across Kickoff, Masters Santiago, Stage 1, Masters London, and the Stage 2 regular season.
That points system is exactly why some of the teams below missed out. A single bad week in Stage 2 was enough to undo months of consistent play.
The 16 Teams Going to Shanghai
For the full list of qualified teams by region, here is the quick version:
- Americas: 100 Thieves, LOUD, NRG, G2 Esports
- EMEA: Karmine Corp, Team Liquid, FUT Esports, Team Vitality
- Pacific: Nongshim RedForce, Paper Rex, T1, Global Esports
- China: TYLOO, JD Gaming, Edward Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming
With the field set, here are the teams that did not make the cut.
Leviatán
Leviatán will miss Champions despite winning Masters London in June, where the Argentine roster beat Paper Rex 3-2 in the grand final. The win made Leviatán the youngest team ever to take an international VALORANT trophy.
That result gave Leviatán 15 Championship Points, more than NRG or G2 Esports had at the time. But both of those teams went deep into the Stage 2 Playoffs and picked up enough additional points to pass them. Leviatán lost to 100 Thieves in the upper bracket, then fell to G2 Esports 2-1 in the lower bracket, finishing tied for 5th-6th place in the region. That result left them outside the top four in Americas Championship Points and outside Shanghai.
Fnatic
Fnatic will miss VALORANT Champions for the first time since the tournament began. The EMEA org reached the grand final last year in Paris, but 2026 did not go the same way.
After finishing fifth in the EMEA Group Stage, Fnatic had to fight through the Stage 2 Play-Ins. They lost to Enterprise Esports in the upper bracket, then were swept 2-0 by Joblife in the lower bracket, a team making its first VCT appearance. It is also the first season that players such as Jake “Boaster” Howlett and Emir “Alfajer” Beder will miss an international VALORANT event since turning pro, and both players’ contracts are up at the end of the year.
Team Heretics
Team Heretics won VCT EMEA Stage 1 this year, the org’s first VCT trophy after several runner-up finishes. That title did not carry over. Heretics were eliminated during the Stage 2 Play-Ins, missing Champions for the first time since 2023.
Sentinels
Sentinels did not reach the VCT Americas Stage 2 Playoffs bracket at all. The team lost 2-0 to KRÜ Esports in the Play-Ins lower bracket, ending their run before the direct-qualification stage even began. Two of last year’s Sentinels players will be at Champions with new teams instead: Sean “bang” Bezerra with 100 Thieves and Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey with Karmine Corp.
DRX
DRX will miss Champions for the first time in the organization’s history. The Pacific side had reached the playoffs every year since entering the game and finished third at Champions 2025.
DRX clawed through the Pacific Stage 2 Play-Ins to reach the Busan finals, but lost their opening match there to Global Esports 2-1, ending their qualification hopes. In-game leader Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan will miss the tournament for the first time in his career.
Gen.G Esports
Gen.G will miss Champions for a second straight year. The Pacific org reached the Stage 2 Playoffs at Busan after a strong group stage, but lost to Nongshim RedForce 2-1, the result that decided one of the region’s Championship Points spots. After reaching the top of the region in 2024, Gen.G has now missed the last two editions of the tournament.
Other Notable Teams Left Out
The Americas region was especially competitive this year. Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, MIBR, FURIA, and KRÜ Esports, the same team that eliminated Sentinels, all missed Champions as well. In EMEA, BBL Esports and GIANTX also fell short during the Play-Ins. None of these teams reached the depth of Championship Points needed to compete with the four sides that ultimately qualified from each region.
Why So Many Established Teams Missed Out
The 2026 season introduced the Path to Champions system, giving Challengers teams a direct route into Stage 2 Play-Ins for the first time. That change added more competitive pressure at every stage, and it shows in the results. Six established EMEA franchise teams, including Fnatic, were eliminated from the Play-Ins before a single Challengers side went home.
The Americas region told a similar story. Leviatán entered Stage 2 as a Masters champion with more Championship Points than NRG or G2 Esports, yet both teams overtook them through deep playoff runs. A single lower-bracket loss was enough to end a season that had included an international trophy.
VALORANT Champions 2026 begins September 24 at the Jing’an Sports Center, with the playoffs and grand final moving to the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Full match schedules and results are tracked on VLR.gg as the tournament approaches, and the Valorant Champions Tour’s official Wikipedia record lists every confirmed team and result once the event is underway.
