VALORANT Champions 2026 will bring the VCT season to Shanghai, China, from September 24 through October 18. Sixteen teams will compete for the world championship, but most of the field has yet to be decided under Riot Games’ new qualification structure.
Paper Rex, EDward Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming, and JD Gaming have already secured places. The event will also feature a clearer route for Challenger teams to reach the biggest tournament on the VALORANT calendar, giving the 2026 competition a different look from earlier Champions events.
Champions Shanghai schedule and venue
VALORANT Champions 2026 will take place in Shanghai between September 24 and October 18. Riot Games has not announced the tournament’s specific venue yet.
Shanghai previously hosted VCT Masters in 2024, with the final played at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Champions will now bring the VCT’s world championship to China for the first time as part of the wider V26 Tour, also known as V26 无畏巡回.
The tournament will have extra local meaning for EDward Gaming. VCT China joined the International League in 2024, and EDG won that year’s Champions event to become China’s first world champion in the VCT system. The team has already qualified for the first Champions tournament held in China.
How the 16-team format will work
According to Riot’s League Handbook, the field will begin in four GSL-style groups. Each group will contain four teams, with every opening-stage match played as a best-of-three series.
The top two teams from each group will advance to a double-elimination playoff bracket. The bottom two teams in every group will be eliminated. Playoff matches will remain best-of-three until the lower final and grand final, which will use best-of-five series to decide the champion.
Riot has not completed the final group draw. Teams will be seeded according to how they qualified, with regional Stage 2 finishers separated from Championship Points qualifiers. Teams from the same region will also be kept apart during the draw.
Current VALORANT Champions 2026 qualifiers
Each of the Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China regions will send four teams. Two places from each region will go to the top Stage 2 playoff finishers, while two more will come through the eligible Championship Points standings.
| Region | Stage 2 qualifiers | Championship Points qualifiers |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | TBD, TBD | TBD, TBD |
| EMEA | TBD, TBD | TBD, TBD |
| Pacific | TBD, TBD | Paper Rex, TBD |
| China | JD Gaming, TBD | EDward Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming |
Paper Rex, EDward Gaming, and Xi Lai Gaming qualified through Championship Points. JD Gaming claimed China’s first Stage 2 place, leaving the rest of the field to be decided by regional competition and the remaining points race.
An August 12 graphic from the official VALORANT Champions Tour account also showed EDward Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming leading China’s Championship Points standings.
The race to Shanghai is at an all time high.
Check out which teams are leading their #VCT region in Championship Points! 👇 pic.twitter.com/PRi3zBlHrJ
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) August 12, 2026
Challenger teams have a route to Shanghai
Riot’s Path to Champions system has opened the door for Challenger organizations to compete in the same Stage 2 pathway as established International League teams.
In the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific, four Challenger representatives from each region enter the Stage 2 route. China uses a different domestic structure, but the central opportunity remains: teams that survive the Play-In phase can reach the main Stage 2 playoffs and compete for one of the region’s Champions places.
That creates a possible climb from Premier to Challengers, then through Stage 2 and into Champions. A non-partner team could eventually appear in Shanghai alongside the VCT’s familiar organizations, although the final field will depend on the regional results.
Teams to watch before the field is complete
It is too early to name one clear favorite while most qualification spots remain open, but Riot’s current Global Power Rankings offer a useful snapshot of the teams near the front of the 2026 season.
Leviatán currently leads with a 19–8 record, a 70.4% win rate, and a 1,573 power score. Paper Rex follows on 1,519 points, while defending world champion NRG sits on 1,470. Team Vitality, 100 Thieves, and T1 complete the current top six.
Paper Rex
Paper Rex has already taken two major international runner-up finishes in 2026. The Pacific team finished second at both Masters Santiago and Masters London while posting a 25–9 season record and a 73.5% win rate.
Nongshim RedForce swept Paper Rex 3–0 in the Santiago final, and Leviatán later edged PRX 3–2 in the Masters London grand final. Those results gave Paper Rex enough Championship Points to qualify without needing to fight through Pacific Stage 2.
The remaining question is whether PRX can convert another deep international run into its first VALORANT world championship. It will arrive in Shanghai with the pressure of a team that has repeatedly reached the final stage without taking the trophy.
EDward Gaming
EDward Gaming enters with the comfort of a secured Champions place and the advantage of playing a world championship in front of its home audience. The team’s current Global Power Ranking position is below Paper Rex and Leviatán, but EDG has already shown that it can win on the international stage.
After claiming the 2024 Champions title, EDG reached the final four at Masters London in 2026. Leviatán ended that run with a 3–0 victory in the lower final. EDG will now have time to focus on building its form for Shanghai rather than protecting its qualification position.
Prize pool and viewing information
VALORANT Champions 2026 has a reported prize pool of $2.25 million. The world champion is due to receive $1 million, while Riot has not yet published the complete prize distribution.
Fans will be able to watch the tournament through the official VALORANT YouTube channel and VALORANT Twitch channel. Co-streams and regional-language broadcasts will also be available, but Riot has not released the detailed broadcast schedule yet.
With the event still ahead, the venue, group draw, daily match times, and most of the competing teams remain unknown. The first confirmed names already give Shanghai a mix of international contenders, a defending regional champion, and a Challenger-era qualification path that could add an unexpected organization to the bracket.
Share your thoughts on the Champions Shanghai format and the current qualifiers in the comments, and stay connected through X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Valorant
Developed by Riot Games
Valorant is a character-based 5v5 tactical shooter set on the global stage. Outwit, outplay, and outshine your competition with tactical abilities, precise gunplay, and adaptive teamwork.
- Genre Shooter, Tactical
- Platforms Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Perspective First person
- Modes Multiplayer
- Release June 2, 2020
- Publisher Riot Games
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Age Rating
