The playoffs for the Esports World Cup Valorant tournament are set after the conclusion of a shocking group stage that saw favorites fall by the wayside.
The groups were yet another insight into the fluctuating power levels of the Valorant regions, with four of the five EMEA teams advancing to the eight-team playoffs.
The EWC Valorant 2026 Quarter-Finals are:
- 100 Thieves vs MIBR.LOS
- Team Vitality vs Nongshim RedForce
- Team Heretics vs BBL Esports
- Gentle Mates vs NRG
Paper Rex have a tournament to forget
The biggest surprise of the Group Stage came in the form of Valorant Masters London runners-up, Paper Rex. PRX were drawn in the ‘Group of Death‘ against NRG, Paper Rex, and Vitality, but it was not their death that was foreshadowed by the pundits.
With London winners missing from the event, Paper Rex came into the tournament as the most powerful and consistent roster of the 16 teams, but failed to win a single series at EWC 2026.
Paper Rex started the tournament against Valorant Champions 2025 winners, NRG. After securing their map pick of Fracture, the Pacific roster capitulated on Lotus before narrowly losing the decider of Breeze.
While the result was disappointing, it did come against one of Valorant’s elite rosters, but that cannot be said of the following series when they faced Karmine Corp in the 0-1 bracket.
After taking Karmine Corp’s map pick in the 0-1 series, Paper Rex were expected to make a full recovery, but Karmine Corp’s semi-miracle-run through the EWC qualifiers continued at least to their second match of the main event, taking Fracture and Lotus to eliminate a disappointing Paper Rex.
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EWC produces a regional shakeup once again
EWC 2025 saw Team Heretics take a surprising first top-tier Valorant title by defeating Fnatic in the Grand Final, months before their VCT 2026 Stage 1 triumph gave them their first VCT title.
EWC 2026 seems to be sticking to that role as a tournament of upsets, with the Pacific region notably suffering despite its position as a 2026 Masters winning region with perennial contenders, with Global Esports and Paper Rex leaving the tournament.
Meanwhile, the Americas region showed its prowess with one huge exception. 100 Thieves topped their group, with NRG and MIBR progressing. MIBR showed their elite fragging ability in Group D to recover from a map deficit in the decider to blow AG.AL away 13-6, 13-4 to qualify.
However, that success cannot paper over the pain of yet another G2 failure in an international. While Santiago saw G2 fall to Paper Rex and Nongshim, their bruising London exit to losses against XLG and FUT shook the domestically dominant American roster.
In falling to two losses to Nongshim, losing map and series points on Sunset in the Elimination match, the inquest will begin as to whether G2’s international struggles are becoming a pattern that is all too familiar to the organization.
EMEA had boons in the success of both Gentle Mates, who topped Group C, and BBL, who took down EDG to reassert themselves as a potential challenger after a difficult EMEA Stage 1 campaign.
With Vitality and Team Heretics also progressing, only Karmine Corp missed out from EMEA, narrowly falling in the ‘Group of Death’ to an NRG who are so used to grinding out those crucial wins at international events.
Unfortunately, what is not in flux is the continued status of China as the region with the least potential to upset. China started the event with a disadvantage, with only three teams in the groups, with none progressing to the playoffs.
Who will take the EWC trophy? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out Liquid’s new roster for VCT EMEA Stage 2, and be sure to subscribe to the Insider Gaming 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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