VCT EMEA 2026 Power Rankings

This Tuesday, January 20, marks the start of the VCT EMEA Kickoff. Twelve teams will compete for qualification to the Masters Santiago (February 28 - March 15), in a triple-elimination bracket. All matches will be played in a best-of-three format, with the exception of the three bracket finals, which will be played as best-of-five series.

The four teams that represented the EMEA league at Champions Paris — Fnatic, GIANTX, Team Heretics, and Team Liquid — are exempt from the first round and will therefore begin their campaign in the second round of the upper bracket. All four also feature in the top five of our power rankings, which are led by the newly formed Team Vitality superteam.

For Team Vitality, the offseason looks like a real step up, with a simple idea: add top-level experience without losing the flexibility of the project. The recruitment of Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov, one of the most accomplished players in EMEA, immediately adds another dimension to the roster. Bartosz "UNFAKE" Bernacki has been announced in the starting five before Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu reached the required age to enter the league. To complete the roster, Vitality have also added two talented players from BBL Esports, while giving more responsibility to Gregor "PAL" Morton, who also came through BBL, and leaving the lead to Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen.

Fnatic are starting 2026 with overall continuity, but one replacement is bound to be scrutinized: to compensate for Chronicle's departure, the organization has put its faith in Sylvain "Veqaj" Pattyn, a young French talent who has climbed the ladder from tier 3 to tier 1, where he made his mark playing for Gentle Mates. It's a calculated gamble on a rising star, capable of bringing freshness while integrating into a structure already well-established at the highest level. Repeated finalists in 2025, and once again narrowly defeated in the Champions final, Fnatic are approaching this new season with a very clear goal: to stop coming close to the top and finally go for an international title.

After keeping their roster for two years, Team Heretics have chosen to make a change to finally try to win a VCT trophy. Change of Duelist for the team that says goodbye to Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius and welcomes Berkcan "ComeBack" Şentürk. After a short split with Gentle Mates, the Turkish player will be able to enjoy an experience in a top European team and will try to take the Spanish team to the next level on the international stage.

GIANTX are entering the season without making any changes to their roster. After consistently solid results, followed by a convincing run in VCT EMEA Stage 3 and Champions Paris, GIANTX have gradually distinguished themselves by proving that its individual talents, such as Hanceriuc “ara” Eduard-George, can carry as much weight as the quality of team play led by Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin. This stability has resulted in performances capable of shaking up the scene's established order, such as their victory over Sentinels in the group stage in Paris, a match that confirmed they can compete with the best when everything falls into place.

The most recent VCT EMEA champions begin the new season amid significant roster changes. Last year’s standout performer, Georgio "keiko" Sanassy, has departed for North America to join NRG, while Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski and Nikita "trexx" Cherednichenko have also left the team. In an effort to remain among the region’s top contenders, Team Liquid has added three new players, including MiniBoo and Semyon "purp0" Borchev, both of whom already possess substantial experience at the EMEA level. The main question mark surrounds Wayne "wayne" Chang, recruited directly from VCL Southeast Asia. The 18-year-old will need to adapt quickly to meet the demands of his new environment.

Natus Vincere turned a page in their history with the announcement of Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov’s retirement last September. However, the veteran’s story with the Ukrainian organization is not over, as he has now been appointed the team’s new Head Coach. NAVI have nevertheless chosen to retain a significant portion of their roster while adding two established league players in Dawid "Filu" Czarnecki and Volkan "sociablEE" Yönal. The organization’s objective is to return to the top of the standings after spending too much of the past few seasons in the middle of the table.

Karmine Corp are starting 2026 with a major overhaul of their starting five, while choosing to keep the same coaching staff. The team is saying goodbye to Martin "marteen" Pátek, Matias "saadhak" Delipetro, and Artur "pyrolll" Minin. To build this new version, KC have called on Burak "LewN" Alkan and Zhumagali "dos9" Dastan, while also bringing in Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov, who has been announced as the IGL responsible for giving clear direction to the project. The goal now is to start again on a cleaner and more consistent footing, with a roster designed to make rapid progress from the very first matches of 2026.

BBL Esports enter the new year with an almost entirely rebuilt roster. The Turkish organization has signed all five players as well as the Head Coach from its partner team, BBL PCIFIC, which won the EMEA Ascension tournament. Despite a promising previous season, BBL are once again starting from scratch with a new project. With considerable firepower on paper, BBL remain a team to watch in the coming year and could potentially challenge the top of the standings if player synergy remains intact.

Newly partnered with the league following Movistar KOI’s departure, Gentle Mates aims to move past its results from previous seasons and begin a new chapter in VCT EMEA. The team has built around Patrik “Minny” Hušek, who was already part of the roster last year, as the foundation of its reconstruction. The lineup is reinforced by former Karmine Corp Duelist Martin “marteen” Pátek, along with two players from the VCL scene, Taranvir “bipo” Singh and Patryk “starxo” Kopczyński. A North American import completes the roster with Conner “GLYPH” Garcia.

FUT Esports is coming off a relatively disappointing year. After competing at Champions 2024, the team failed to qualify for any international events this season. The organization is therefore turning the page, with Ata "ATA KAPTAN" Tan stepping back, alongside Doğukan "qRaxs" Balaban. They will be replaced by two new players from VCL Türkiye, Okan "KROSTALY" Alaçam and Baha "baha" Gözmen, who will face a significant challenge in helping FUT return to the top tier of the league.

Hardly having entered the league, PCIFIC Esports will already have to compete without the roster that earned its place in the European circuit and will therefore take on an entirely new form. With the arrival of Kaan "Leader" Taşpınar as Head Coach, the organization has rebuilt around players who performed strongly in the VCL last year, including Felix "al0rante" Brandl, Patryk "NINJA" Koczyba, Mateja "qpert" Mijović, and Johann "seven" Hernandez from North America. The team has also added veteran Mehmet "cNed" İpek to complete the lineup and will aim to demonstrate that, even without the roster that secured its VCT qualification, it still deserves its slot.

As the second new entrant to VCT, ULF Esports has also been forced to make several changes to its roster. Ömür Serkan "echo" Şenol and Efe "s0pp" Tur, both highly impressive throughout the season, will have to wait until they turn 18 this year before being eligible to compete in the top league.

They will be replaced by Demir "d3mur" Boğa and Eren "sturNN" Oduncular, introducing a degree of uncertainty regarding the roster’s overall strength heading into the upcoming season.