G2 and Vitality Advance in Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026

Valorant Champions Shanghai is heating up. The Playoffs are in full force, and some surprising storylines have emerged. Right now, VCT Americas is on top, with all 4 orgs from the region qualifying. However, not a single VCT CN team has made it to this stage, leaving the home turf unrepresented.

On October 8, Team Vitality and G2 Esports both advanced to the Upper Semifinals. They join NRG and LOUD as top contenders. Meanwhile, 100 Thieves and NS Redforce drop to the lower bracket.

G2 Sweep 100 Thieves and Vitality Defeat Nongshim RedForce at Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026

The Vitality vs NS Redforce matchup was a clean 2-0 sweep. However, G2 vs 100 Thieves was closer. The NA VALORANT powerhouses went 2-1 with an overtime in their final map.

We got to see one of the best KJ Ultimates in VCT history from Ivy, insane Chamber shots from babybay, and Asuna locking in like his prime. Let’s recap.

Team Vitality vs NS RedForce

• Vitality VALORANT Roster: Derke, Sayonara, Chronicle, Jamppi, PROFEK
• NS RedForce VALORANT Roster: Xross, Dambi, Francis, Ivy, Rb

European org Team Vitality faced off with NS RedForce. The first map, on Split, was quite close. Vitality’s Attacker side was decently matched. The team pulled ahead to a 13-8 victory on Defender, where it excelled and only dropped a single round.

Derke was a deciding factor in this win. His Yoru shone with a 21/14 scoreline. Sayonara’s Viper, going 18/10, kept the map locked down on Defender. He proved he had the frags to match his valuable utility.

Abyss, however, was NS’ playground. Though Vitality won the first pistol, NS easily thriftied them in round 2 and just kept snowballing from there. The org’s Defender was flawless, with xross and Ivy destroying on Sova and Omen respectively.

The Best KJ Ult of All Time? Ivy OT Clutch

This has to be the best KJ ULT of all time pic.twitter.com/tdgme5e1JE

— statsmeister Valorant (@statsmeisterVLR) October 8, 2026

Game 3 between Team Vitality and NS RedForce was extremely close. Though Team Vitality ultimately pulled through 14-12, there was an iconic moment fans can’t stop talking about. At 12-11, NS Ivy’s Killjoy ultimate clutched the deciding round and brought the team into overtime.

This was without a doubt one of the best Killjoy ults we’ve seen in the VCT. By planting it in garage, Ivy detained all of Vitality’s remaining players holding postplant. This let Rb swiftly execute them, giving the team time to defuse.

G2 vs 100 Thieves

• G2 Esports VALORANT Roster: trent, leaf, jawgemo, valyn, babybay
• 100 Thieves VALORANT Roster: Asuna, Cryocells, timotino, vora, bang

G2 vs 100 Thieves was a quicker matchup. The two NA titans battled on Abyss and Ascent. G2 proved quickly why Abyss was their first map of choice, delivering a decisive 13-5 defeat to 100T. Cryocells and vora put up a good fight, but G2’s retakes were just too strong to beat. Besides having a double-duelist comp with Waylay and Neon, trent and leaf were not afraid to lurk up and boost the pressure with gunfights. With jawgemo and babybay’s strong pushes, attacker was a wrap.

This 90-year-old VALORANT player still shoots heads the old-fashioned way pic.twitter.com/mWjbzq6rI7

— G2 VALORANT (Ji Tu) (@G2VALORANT) October 8, 2026

Ascent was neck-and-neck for most of the game.100T Asuna was destroying on Phoenix. This made things difficult for G2, who once again started on defender. G2’s Chamber pick really helped open things up, with babybay’s picks firmly securing map space and clutching key rounds. Though jawgemo struggled here, trent’s Sova was once again a deciding factor on Attacker. Vitality secured the overall win 13-11.

Team Vitality and G2 Reach the Champions Shanghai Upper Semis

The next stop at Valorant Champions Shanghai 2026 is the upper semifinals. G2 Esports will face Team Vitality for a spot in the upper final. NRG and LOUD also sit in the upper bracket, so the other semifinal looks just as tough. Both teams are in good form.

In the lower bracket, 100 Thieves and Nongshim RedForce meet in an elimination match. The loser goes home. They’ll join T1 and Paper Rex, two analyst favorites who have unexpectedly fallen lower in the rankings.

The grand final is set for October 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Here, the best VALORANT team of 2026 will receive its trophy.