VALORANT Champions 2026 Heads to Shanghai for the Final Franchised-Era Title

VALORANT Champions 2026 is being played in Shanghai from late September to a grand final on October 18, and it carries extra weight this year: it is the last Champions tournament before the VALORANT Champions Tour leaves its franchised partnership structure behind and returns to an open qualifier system in 2027. Sixteen teams are competing for a $2.25 million prize pool, with the title still undecided as the group stage plays out.

The setup

Each of the four international VCT leagues, Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China, sent four teams. The Americas are represented by 100 Thieves, LOUD, NRG and G2 Esports. EMEA sent Karmine Corp, Team Liquid, FUT Esports and Team Vitality. Pacific qualified Global Esports, Nongshim RedForce, Paper Rex and T1, and China is represented by TYLOO, JD Gaming, EDward Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming. NRG arrive as the reigning champions after winning the 2025 title.

The group stage uses four double-elimination GSL groups, with no two teams from the same region in a group, and every match is best-of-three. The top two from each group reach an eight-team double-elimination playoff running from October 7. Playoff matches are best-of-three except the lower bracket final and the grand final, which are best-of-five. The grand final is set for the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, the venue that hosted the Masters Shanghai 2024 finals.

This is the first time China has hosted Champions. The event has rotated between VCT regions in recent years, with Seoul, South Korea hosting in 2024 and Paris, France in 2025, as part of Riot’s plan to bring the world championship to each major region in turn.

Why the franchised era is ending

2026 is the final season of the partnership-based VCT structure that Riot launched in 2023, where a fixed set of partner teams competed in closed international leagues with guaranteed slots. Starting in 2027, the VCT returns to open qualifiers, giving unsigned and lower-tier teams a real path back into top-flight competition through results rather than partnership agreements.

That makes Shanghai the last Champions crowned under the current system, and potentially the last guaranteed international appearance for some current partner organizations. Teams that miss out on results under the new model will no longer have a reserved seat to fall back on.

How to follow it

Matches stream on Riot’s official VALORANT Esports channels on Twitch and YouTube, with schedules and results on valorantesports.com. Early group results included wins for Paper Rex over Team Liquid, NRG over Nongshim RedForce and 100 Thieves over T1, but the playoff bracket will decide who lifts the trophy.

Why it matters

Champions is already the biggest event on the VALORANT calendar, but this year it is also a changing of the guard. Whoever wins in Shanghai closes out the franchised chapter of the VCT, right before Riot opens the door to a more competitive, higher-stakes system in 2027.

For players and aspiring teams in the Middle East, the move to open qualifiers is the bigger long-term story, because it creates a route to the international stage that does not depend on holding a partnership slot.