All VCT CN Teams Eliminated from Champions Shanghai in First Round

In the Champions 2026 Group Stage, VCT CN went 0-4 throughout its opening matches. A few days later, every single team from the region has been eliminated in the first round of cutoffs. What’s going on in Shanghai?

No VCT CN Teams Have Passed the Champions Shanghai Group Stage

VALORANT Champions 2026 carries particular importance for the title. While esports fans saw Masters Shanghai in 2024, this is the first time VALORANT’s most important tournament has ever occurred in China.

VCT CN’s four teams entered the tournament with extra pressure to perform on their home turf. EDward Gaming, the Champions 2024 victors and VCT veterans, headlined the list. JD Gaming, TYLOO, and XLG Esports emerged as fellow strong contenders in the circuit, taking the other 3 spots.

Things originally began looking bleak for the region after VCT CN went 0-4 in the Group Stage’s opening matches. The orgs hovered just below the elimination threshold for a time, but there was still a chance to proceed. However, as of October 2, every VCT CN team has been cut from Champions Shanghai 2026 in the first round of eliminations. This means not a single VCT CN org will progress to the Playoffs stage on their home turf.

Two of the elimination matches (TYLOO vs Team Liquid and JDG vs T1) were closer, at a 1-2 scoreline. However, Global Esports and Nongshim RedForce defeated EDG and XLG respectively without dropping any maps.

ZmjjKK: ‘I Think Every Time We Lose a Match, We Learn From It’

🇨🇳 EDG ZmjjKK: "It's true that this year we weren't able to meet everyone’s expectations, and we didn't perform particularly well. But there are still many days ahead of us.

I think every time we lose a match, we learn from it. No matter how ugly the loss looks, or whether… pic.twitter.com/3mgrlXPDZO

— VALO2ASIA (@VALO2ASIA) October 2, 2026

EDward Gaming’s ZmjjKK, known as ‘KangKang’ to the VCT fanbase, spoke about the phenomenon in the post-match press interviews:

“It’s true that this year we weren’t able to meet everyone’s expectations, and we didn’t perform particularly well. But there are still many days ahead of us.

I think every time we lose a match, we learn from it. No matter how ugly the loss looks, or whether people say we’ve lost our fighting spirit, every time we sit on that stage, we’re still giving it our all because we wanna win.

There are really no excuses for losing. We just played badly. I’ll do better myself in the future, and I believe I can live up to your expectations.”

Why is VCT CN Struggling in Champions Shanghai?

When VALORANT first introduced the VCT China region in 2023, its teams swept the scene. The region’s playstyle was unlike anything the game had seen before: Chinese teams were more agressive, relying on fast, heavy pushes. Their confidence in mechanics made them more risk-tolerant, setting up individual players for carry potential and success. EDward Gaming’s 2024 win solidified their strategies in VALORANT history, proving that VCT CN shouldn’t be underestimated.

However, in 2025, things started to shift. EDG qualified to Champions, but was one of the first teams to face elimination. Its season was objectively weaker than before. 2026 has continued this trend on a larger scale, with the China region overall struggling to stay afloat in international tournaments.

It seems like a shifting meta is responsible for some of the issues. EDG head coach Autumn stated in a recent interview with Ult Orb that ““Right now […] Neon, Yoru, and Chamber are all being used a lot again, and with that meta returning, I think our players are still a bit weaker compared to other regions, so I think that’s why we’re getting these results.” The current Agent pool makes it difficult for VCT CN to continue monopolizing its aggressive playstyle and early-round dominance.

Autumn also noted that EDG’s map pool had struggled due to these meta changes: “we were actually a team with an advantage in terms of map pool and other strengths [when Yoru and Neon weren’t viable in pro].”

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