TYLOO became the first team to exit Valorant Champions 2026 in Shanghai after losing 2-1 to Team Liquid in the Group C elimination match.
TYLOO entered the event as the VCT China first seed, carrying the hopes of the home nation at the event. Sadly, the team could not get a much-needed win for the region, which suffered a winless first week at the event.
The match was the first lower-bracket match-up of Valorant Champions Shanghai after Vitality, Paper Rex, NRG, and 100 Thieves progressed as group winners to the playoffs.
Liquid start Valorant Champions 2026 elimination match the stronger
Despite losing their first match against Paper Rex, Liquid came into the contest as favorites due to the fight they had shown in that match.
TYLOO were in quite the opposite position, having been dismantled by G2 13-6, 13-3 in their initial contest, deflating the roster’s VCT China success.
Starting on Liquid’s pick of Split, the first round itself was split. First by four rounds in a row by Liquid, then seven in a row for TYLOO’s attack to put themselves in a decent position at 7-5 up in the half.
That position faded quickly, as Liquid showed why they picked the map. Their Attack side manipulated TYLOO’s defence, exploiting gaps and hitting the lesser-defended site behind outstanding performances from Ognjen ‘GSR’ Bondžić and Kamil ‘kamo’ Frąckowiak.
TYLOO managed only one defensive round as Liquid swept over them like a rising tide, taking the map 13-8.
TYLOO wins eight rounds in a row to take Summit
Summit appeared to be following a similar pattern; another 7-5 half, this time in favor of Liquid. However, it never looked like a comfortable lead, a lead that was already gone after TYLOO took the pistol and the follow-up round, but to defusals.
The conversion of the bonus round set TYLOO well on their way to victory, and the crowd in the Jing’an Sports Center knew it, with every round being cheered by a jubilant Chinese crowd.
And it really was every round, as TYLOO did not drop a single one on their defence as they converted Summit 13-7, moving the series on to a third map.
Liquid destroy TYLOO on Lotus, sending them home
Moving on to the deciding map of Lotus, it seemed more like Liquid’s map pick, as the defensive side completely shut down TYLOO’s attempts to break into sites.
GSR, Kimmie ‘Kicks’ Laasner, and Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin all outfragged their opponents early to reinforce their already existing tactical advantages.
Liquid continued to read TYLOO like a book in the half. Even when they did give up a kill or two, they recovered immediately to dominate the half, giving no quarter to TYLOO.
Liquid kept the pressure on at every single moment, delivering a flawless 12-0 half and decisively silencing the crowd and putting them just a round away from victory.
Thankfully, TYLOO did not face the humilation of exiting the event with a 0-13, winning the second pistol to save face, but the end was not far away.
Team Liquid got their guns round in the third round of the half, and the game was over. 13-2, and heartbreak for the home crowd.
Liquid will next face G2 esports in the deciding match for the last playoffs place from the group. G2 fell 2-1 to Paper Rex in the upper bracket in a similarly tight contast as the Liquid loss to the same roster.
Can Liquid make it to playoffs? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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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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