VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026: Format, Dates, Teams — Everything You Need to Know

VCT EMEA returns on 20 January 2026 to open the season with Kickoff, which will end on February 15. The event will feature all twelve VCT EMEA teams: BBL Esports, Fnatic, FUT Esports, Gentle Mates, GIANTX, Karmine Corp, Natus Vincere, Team Heretics, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, PCIFIC Esports, and ULF Esports. It will primarily determine the region’s three representatives for the first international tournament of the year: VALORANT Masters Santiago 2026.

This year, Riot is introducing a format unprecedented in EMEA: triple elimination. The concept is straightforward: each team has three lives. A first loss drops a team into an intermediate bracket, a second sends it into the most perilous bracket, and a third eliminates it from the tournament altogether.

The main novelty lies in how the tournament concludes. Rather than a single grand final, Kickoff ends with three finals: one for the Upper Bracket (February 13), one for the Middle Bracket (February 14), and one for the Lower Bracket (February 15). Each final grants qualification to Masters Santiago. As a result, the stakes remain high until the very end, and international berths are not awarded all at once, but progressively across these three decisive matches. For most of the tournament, series are played as best-of-three. The three bracket finals, however, shift to best-of-five: any team looking to secure its Masters slot will have to do so over a longer series.

Fnatic, Team Liquid, GIANTX, and Team Heretics, EMEA’s representatives at VALORANT Champions Paris 2025, receive byes and will begin directly in Round 2 of the Upper Bracket. They will therefore enter the bracket later, facing the winners from the opening round.

Weeks 1 to 3 are scheduled from Tuesday to Friday, with two best-of-threes per day. Week 4 transitions to Thursday through Sunday and concentrates on the key moments of the event, with the best-of-five finals set for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Riot has also announced more “event-style” start times for that final week, with play beginning at 18:00 CET on Thursday and Sunday, and at 14:00 CET on Friday and Saturday.

The first official EMEA matches of 2026 are already set. Round 1 will feature Natus Vincere and Karmine Corp, and includes a headline clash between FUT Esports and Gentle Mates. The two Ascension promotions, PCIFIC Esports and ULF Esports, will also be immediately tested against BBL Esports and Team Vitality. The winners will then move on to face Team Heretics, GIANTX, Fnatic, or Team Liquid in the next round.

Kickoff is not only about qualifying for Santiago. Championship Points will also be awarded: four for the winner, then three, two, and one down to fourth place. Across the season, these points will matter on the road to VALORANT Champions Shanghai, as the two highest-ranked teams by points at the end of the year will qualify.