Karmine Corp, Fnatic, Team Heretics... VCT EMEA Stage 2 Top & Flop

The final competition of the VCT EMEA Stage 2 came to an end this Sunday with Karmine Corp's victory over Team Liquid. Coming after an already eventful Stage 1 in terms of entertainment, four teams have now qualified for the VALORANT Champions, and with the exception of KC, the other three had been relatively consistent throughout the season. To conclude Stage 2, Sheep Esports takes one final look at the highs and lows observed over the seven weeks of competition.

It is only fitting to begin by acknowledging Karmine Corp's performance, as the winners of the competition came from a long way back. The French team took some time to find their footing this season, but under the leadership of Ahmed "ZE1SH" Sheikh in his first split as Head Coach, the Blue Wall ultimately bounced back from their underwhelming Stage 1 showing. With no Championship Points to their name before the start of Stage 2, Karmine Corp pulled off what initially seemed almost impossible, reaching the final through the upper bracket, securing their qualification for the Champions, and even claiming the second VCT tournament title in the organization's history.

Unlike in other regions, the teams coming from Tier 2 made it clear that they had not come merely to make up the numbers. Three of them ultimately secured one of the four qualifying spots available through the play-ins, at the expense of seven VCT teams whose runs came to an early end. Enterprise Esports' run, during which they defeated Fnatic, Gentle Mates and Team Vitality, was naturally one of the most notable, but the achievements of Eintracht Frankfurt Esports, who eliminated three VCT teams from the lower bracket of the play-ins, and Fire Flux Esports, who reached the top four of the competition, also deserve recognition.

Following a disappointing result in the Stage 1 playoffs and two roster changes with the returns of Kimmie "Kicks" Laasner and Nikita "trexx" Cherednichenko, Team Liquid quickly found a degree of stability in the Group Stage before confirming it in the playoffs. Despite losing to FUT Esports, the team quickly bounced back and went on a run of four consecutive wins and nine straight map victories to reach the grand final. While they were not in the strongest position to qualify for the Champions, Team Liquid put together a strong enough run to secure their fifth qualification across the circuit's last six international VCT events.

For the first time in their history, Fnatic will not compete at the VALORANT Champions. Struggling throughout the season, the team attempted to turn things around by bringing in Andrey "Engh" Sholokhov and Kirill "Cloud" Nekhozhin. These changes ultimately failed to deliver—or, at the very least, could not salvage Fnatic's season. Capable of strong performances at times, such as their victory over Karmine Corp, the Black and Orange were also capable of some of their lowest points, including a 0-13 defeat to Team Heretics and their elimination by Joblife in the play-ins. Overall, it was a season to forget for one of the game's most established organizations.

After winning Stage 1 following a difficult start to the year, Team Heretics appeared to have found their rhythm at the regional level. The Spanish team, however, proved far too inconsistent throughout Stage 2 to rediscover that form and will consequently miss the VALORANT Champions, despite keeping their qualification hopes alive until the final weekend. Given the quality of the roster and their previous performances, more could reasonably have been expected than a play-in elimination at the hands of Frankfurt, and the organization will now have to make changes if it wants to achieve better results next year.

Several teams disappointed during this Stage 2. Team Vitality's playoff performance, for instance, fell short of expectations, while NAVI never truly managed to perform despite making a considerable number of changes. Nevertheless, the biggest disappointment remains the French team, who, despite a promising start to the year, undermined themselves too often as the season progressed, repeatedly taking risks with roster changes without seeing them pay off. Their campaign ended on a particularly disappointing note in the play-ins, with two defeats against Tier 2 teams, leaving a sense of unfinished business despite the outstanding individual performances of Martin "marteen" Pátek.