VALORANT Champions 2026 preview: schedule, format, teams, and more

VALORANT Champions 2026 marks the culmination of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), drawing the world’s best teams to the bright lights of Shanghai, China.

From Sep. 24 to Oct. 18, teams from across the Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China will battle for the title of world champion and the lion’s share of a reported $2.25 million prize pool. Even more exciting, Riot’s overhauled qualification system means partner teams might not be the only ones fighting for the trophy.

Editor’s Note: This page will be updated as Riot announces more details about VALORANT Champions 2026.

VALORANT Champions 2026 will take place in Shanghai, China, from Sep. 24 to Oct. 18. Riot has not yet revealed the specific venue.

Shanghai is no stranger to high-profile VALORANT tournaments. The city hosted VCT Masters in 2024, culminating at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, and will once again take center stage when Champions arrives as part of the wider V26 Tour (V26 无畏巡回) in 2026.

What’s even more interesting, though, is that things have almost come full circle. VCT China joined the International League in 2024, right before EDward Gaming won Champs that same year. Now, EDG has already guaranteed a place at the first-ever VALORANT Champions held on home soil.

According to the Riot League Handbook, VALORANT Champions 2026 will initially separate the participating teams into four GSL-style groups of four, with all matches played as best-of-three series.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the double-elimination playoffs, while the bottom two teams will be eliminated. Playoff matches will also be played as best-of-three until the tail end of the tournament, where the lower final and grand final will switch to best-of-five matchups to decide who lifts the trophy.

Importantly, the final group draw has not yet been finalized at the time of writing, but teams will be seeded according to their qualification method. Riot will separate regional Stage 2 finishers from those qualified through Championship Points and prevent teams from the same region from being drawn together.

You can watch VALORANT Champions 2026 on the official YouTube and Twitch channels, alongside co-streamers and regional-language broadcasts.

Riot has not yet released the broadcast schedule for Champions Shanghai, though details should be announced in due time. In addition to the broadcast, Riot is also expected to roll out Pick’Ems, viewership rewards, and other Champions-themed content closer to and during the event.

VALORANT Champions 2026 will feature 16 teams. Among the qualifying teams are the winners and runners-up of each region’s Stage 2 playoffs, plus the two highest-ranking eligible teams on the Championship Points ladder.

Currently, Paper Rex, EDward Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming, and JD Gaming have locked in spots at Champions Shanghai. PRX, EDG, and XLG qualified through Championship Points, while JDG secured China’s first Stage 2 qualification spot.

The most striking change heading into VALORANT Champions 2026 is Riot’s new Path to Champions system.

Instead of keeping VCT and Challengers completely separate, top Challenger teams have been allowed to enter their respective Stage 2 competitions and fight established International League organizations for a spot in Shanghai.

Four Challenger representatives per region feed directly into the Stage 2 pathway in the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific, while China operates a slightly different domestic structure. Teams that survive the Play-In phase can reach the main Stage 2 playoffs, where nothing stands in their way of finishing in the top two and qualifying directly for Champions.

This means a team can theoretically rise from Premier to Challengers and all the way to Champions, creating a direct route to VALORANT’s crowning event. This means there’s a genuine possibility that Shanghai features a non-partner organization alongside the VCT’s traditional giants.

With most of the field still undecided, it’s still too early to point out a definitive favorite. However, Riot’s latest Global Power Rankings (GPR) paints an interesting picture of the teams currently leading the VCT 2026 season.

Leviatán sits 1st with a 19–8 record (70.4% win rate) and 1,573 power score, followed by Paper Rex on 1,519 pts and defending world champion NRG on 1,470 pts. Team Vitality, 100 Thieves, and T1 complete the current top six. Of course, those rankings mean little if a team fails to qualify.

For now, though, only two of the potential contenders can plan their flights to Shanghai with certainty.

If any confirmed team deserves to be an early favorite, it’s Paper Rex.

PRX has been one of the most dangerous VALORANT teams of 2026, boasting a strong 25–9 season record (73.5% win rate) and placing 2nd at both Masters Santiago and Masters London.

Unfortunately, silverware has repeatedly slipped through their fingers. Nongshim RedForce swept Paper Rex 3–0 in Santiago before Leviatán edged the Pacific powerhouse 3–2 in an incredibly close Masters London Grand Final.

Nevertheless, two international runner-up finishes have given PRX a massive Championship Points haul and removed any qualification pressure from Stage 2. The bigger question is whether the team can finally turn another deep international run into a world title.

EDward Gaming enters from a very different position.

The Chinese giant may not currently sit alongside Paper Rex and Leviatán at the very top of Riot’s Global Power Rankings. Still, Shanghai offers something no other confirmed team can replicate: the opportunity to fight for a world championship in front of its home crowd.

EDG has also already proven its ceiling. The organization became VALORANT Champions 2024 winner, delivering China’s first world championship during the region’s inaugural season in the VCT ecosystem. EDG also reached the final four at Masters London, but eventually fell 3–0 to Leviatán in the lower final.

With its Champions ticket already secured through Championship Points, the pressure now shifts from qualifying to finding the form required to make another deep international run.