Valorant Champions 2026 moves on to its Top 4 in Shanghai as three VCT Americas rosters accompany Vitality to the tournament’s conclusion.
Valorant Champions 2026 now moves to the 18,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena as the Top 4 compete for glory in Shanghai.
Valorant Champions 2026 Top 4
The Valorant Champions Top 4 is:
- Upper Bracket Final: Vitality vs LOUD
- Lower Bracket Semi-Final: G2 vs 100 Thieves
The Upper Bracket Final will see Vitality face LOUD after Vitality systematically dismantled G2 in their Upper Semis match, with LOUD blowing away defending Valorant Champions winners, NRG, winning the final map of Summit 13-3.
Regardless of the result of the clash, one unexpected team will be in the Grand Finals of Valorant Champions, with few fancying LOUD or Vitality before the tournament to get so deep.
The Lower Bracket features a rematch from Upper Bracket Round 1, which saw G2 upset a high-flying 100 Thieves. While 100T showed signs of nerves in that matchup, they have found outstanding form in the Lower Bracket, eliminating the hugely experienced NRG roster in the process.
G2 made the Lower Bracket Semis by defeating a resilient T1 in a 2-1 fight to the death. G2 did show some bad habits in the contest after starting the playoffs so strongly against 100T, so the rematch will be an interesting watch.
VCT Pacific Region suffers a sad exit at Valorant Champions Shanghai
VCT Pacific went into the Shanghai playoffs as the second-best-represented region, with three of the eight playoff teams coming from the region. Going into the Top 4, there are no teams left.
Paper Rex, Nongshim RedForce, and T1 were sequentially eliminated from the competition after all three were sent to the lower bracket at the first available opportunity, in Upper Bracket Round 1.
Only T1 survived Lower Bracket Round 1, by the simple virtue that one VCT Pacific region team had to progress after Paper Rex and T1 had to face each other.
The VCT Pacific Champions Playoffs results were:
- Vitality 2-1 Nongshim RedForce
- NRG 2-0 T1
- LOUD 2-0 Paper Rex
- 100 Thieves 2-1 Nongshim RedForce
- T1 2-1 Paper Rex
- G2 2-1 T1
The results were a major blow to the prestige of the region after Nongshim and Paper Rex entered the tournament as two of the favorites to win the entire competition.
However, the competition exposed some failures of the region, reinforcing the regression seen at EWC 2026, where VCT Americas again looked the strongest.
The Pacific region in general struggled with tactical depth and in-game adjustments in comparison to their opposition, failing to build layers on the unrelenting aggression that has become so synonymous with the region.
The region now faces significant questions that few thought of before the playoffs had occurred. It will have to figure out those issues in a changing landscape as Valorant prepares for its 2027 revamp. Worst of all, Paper Rex’s fate as a roster is unknown, with four players out of contract at the end of the year.
Who will win Valorant Champions 2026? 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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