Team Vitality, LOUD Reach VALORANT Champions 2026 Upper Finals

EMEA and the Americas are emerging as the regions to beat in VALORANT Champions 2026, and this week brought some intense matchups between seasoned competitors. Two Champions winners met in their quests for another title, and the upcoming Upper Bracket Semifinals will bring key Group Stage opponents together for a rematch. Let’s recap Vitality vs G2 and LOUD vs NRG, while also considering what comes next.

Team Vitality Defeats G2 2-0

• Team Vitality VALORANT Roster: Chronicle, Derke, Sayonara, Jamppi, PROFEK
• G2 Esports VALORANT Roster: trent, valyn, leaf, jawgemo, babybay

Team Vitality has been sweeping through VALORANT Champions Shanghai with a series of strong performances. Though the team narrowly qualified through 4th place VCT EMEA points, they’ve locked in for the tournament. First, Vitality went 2-0 in the Group Stage, beating Global Esports, EDward Gaming, and LOUD to secure the top spot. Now, the org is progressing through the Playoffs.

On October 8, Vitality knocked Masters Santiago winners NS RedForce to the lower bracket. This was a 2-1 best-of-3, and the two matches Vitality won were quite close. The team’s Upper Bracket Semis matchup on October 10 was more decisive, ending 2-0.

G2, Vitality’s opponents, had performed well in the VCT Americas 2026 season and secured a three-peat in 2025. They arrived to Champions Shanghai with a fierce reputation. The org met its EMEA match in Vitality, who are also known for consistency and in-game discipline.

Vitality vs G2 Esports began with Abyss, G2’s map pick. Vitality started on Attacker, thriving with successful pushes. They ended the half 9-3, but G2 locked in when it was their turn to rush. babybay’s Waylay was menacing, and it looked like G2 was catching up. Things reached an 11-11 dead heat, but Vitality was able to finish with two final retakes to secure the win.

The next map, Split, was Vitality’s pick. This was an absolute bloodbath for G2, who only secured four rounds in the match. Chronicle and Derke’s double-duelist picks ran circles around G2’s defenses, and it was a decisive 13-4 finish in Vitality’s favor.

LOUD Wins Against NRG 2-1

• LOUD VALORANT roster: lukxo, erde, tkzin, DaviH, Darker
• NRG VALORANT roster: keiko, skuba, mada, ethan, brawk

South American org LOUD is chasing a second Champions victory. On October 7, they handed Paper Rex a surprise 2-0 defeat. Since LOUD had also finished strong in the Group Stage, esports fans started keeping a close eye on the team that had just eliminated a major analyst favorite.

On October 10th, LOUD reunited with a fellow Americas competitor. All 4 of the region’s teams progressed to playoffs, meeting each other again after an intense regional season. NRG vs. LOUD put two former Champions winners against each other, forcing them to battle on their quests for a second victory.

The matchup ended 2-1 in LOUD’s favor. Throughout all three games, lukxo was a star player. He stayed on Chamber throughout the entire series, but absolutely dominated the scoreboard with frags. Game 1 was Haven, NRG’s pick, but LOUD pulled ahead 13-9 with a particularly strong Defender setup. NRG flipped the script on Sunset, with keiko and luxko going head-to-head to control the map. Skuba’s Omen helped make the difference that brought NRG to 13-10.

The decider map, Summit, was where everything came to an end. LOUD only gave NRG a single round in the first half. NRG’s defender play was extremely weak. The team couldn’t effectively retake, and got consistently caught out in gunfights. NRG did win the pistol and bonus on Attacker, sparking a bit of hope, but LOUD quickly halted any chance of a comeback with the final two rounds. The teams finished 13-3 in LOUD’s favor.

The Next Matchup: Vitality vs. LOUD Upper Final

Team Vitality and LOUD will meet in the VALORANT Champions 2026 Upper Final on Friday, October 16 at 2:00 AM Eastern Time. Here’s a conversion for other timezones:

• PT (PDT): 11:00 PM (the previous day)
• CT (CDT): 1:00 AM
• Brazil (Brasília): 3:00 AM
• BST (UK): 7:00 AM
• CEST (Central Europe): 8:00 AM
• JST/KST (Japan/Korea): 3:00 PM

LOUD and Vitality will be facing each other again after battling for the top spot in the Group Stage. Previously, Vitality handed LOUD a 2-0 defeat. This rematch is a chance for the orgs to settle the score again, with higher stakes this time.

Team Vitality is already well-known in the Counter-Strike sphere, where it has won three Majors. For the past few years, it’s been fighting to establish itself in the VALORANT sphere too, and 2026 could be the year they finally make it big with an international title.

Meanwhile, LOUD are inching closer to what could be a unique accomplishment in VALORANT history. If the team manages to secure the Champions 2026 trophy, it will become the first org ever to win the title twice (securing victory first in Champions 2022). NRG also still has that chance, but it will be much harder to do so from the lower bracket seeds.

Stay tuned for more VALORANT esports news.