Berlin’s Riot Games arena, apparently, will once again become the epicenter of esports madness — from January 20 to February 15, the battle for VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 will unfold here.
Twelve teams, including, by the way, the daring newcomers from the Ascension league, will compete not only for the title of the best in the region, but also for three coveted invitations to the Masters Santiago — the first truly major event of this year. After Champions died down in Paris, fans froze in anticipation, because the offseason, frankly, turned the balance of power in Europe upside down.
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Fnatic in VCT EMEA 2026 without Chronicle: challenge for the roster
For a long time Fnatic seemed, in principle, an unshakable monolith in VALORANT. The team churned out titles one after another — take for example the historic doublet at LOCK//IN and Masters Tokyo in 2023, when they became the first to take two international cups in a row.
The backbone of this death machine has always been the backbone of the Booster, Emir ‘Alfajer‘ Beder and Chronicle. Even when sniper Nikita ‘Derke‘ Sirmitev defected to Team Vitality last year, the British club managed to save face — the second place at Champions 2025 speaks for itself, really.
The main all-rounder and legend of the line-up, Timofey ‘Chronicle‘ Khromov, left the organization after almost three years of service in order, in fact, to reunite with Derke in the same Vitality. Sylvain ‘Veqaj‘ Pattyn from Gentle Mates took the veteran’s place, by the way — a talented guy, but the scale of his personality is clearly incomparable.
On paper, such a rotation looks like a serious downgrade, because it is almost impossible to replace Chronicle with its insane pool of agents. On the other hand, you should not write off the Jake ‘Boaster‘ Howlett and the company ahead of time. There are still top shooters like Alfajer on the roster, while Austin ‘crashies‘ Roberts and Kajetan ‘kaajak‘ Haremski have already fired up and are apparently ready to take on more responsibility in the new season.
The crew has already shown good teeth in the training matches of the off—season, so writing Fnatic off is a stupid idea. However, at Kickoff in Berlin, they will have to prove their right to greatness anew, fighting against importers, ambitious newcomers and, most painfully, former friends who have now become the worst enemies on the server.
Team Vitality 2026: the stellar cast and risks of VCT EMEA
While Fnatic are trying to fix the broken vase after the transfer storm, their sworn friends from Team Vitality seem to have hit the jackpot this offseason.
The French organization has rolled out a roster that, in fact, looks like any Valorant fan’s wet dream: the legendary Fnatic duo Derke and Chronicle are back in the same team for the 2026 season. In addition to them, by the way, Dawid “PROFEK” Święć and the charismatic Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen were deported straight from BBL Esports.
In general, the composition is professionally made.
The Starship Troopers will be led by Gregor ‘PAL‘ Morton, who has already proven at BBL that he knows how to build working systems, and not just burn budgets. However, there is now not only excitement in the EMEA community, but also quite logical skepticism, because we have already been through this.
Do you remember last year? Then Vitality also assembled a “super team” with Les and Derke, cheerfully took the EMEA Kickoff 2025 trophy, and then… They just fell apart. After the fourth place at the Bangkok Masters, the team, to be honest, lost all contact with reality — internal grating, a leapfrog with substitutions and an inglorious season finale began. It seems that the bosses of the organization have learned this bitter lesson and are now betting on synergy and a proven coaching staff, and not just on the numbers in the frags table.
Ștefan ‘Sayonara‘ Mîtcu, who is officially listed as fifth in the base, is a young guy, so much so that according to Riot rules he cannot play until his 18th birthday in March. Apparently, PROFEK’s understudy will have to carry the strap before the start of the first stage of VCT EMEA, which clearly does not add stability to the team before the Kickoff and possible Masters.
Whether the Bees will be able to convert this insane firepower into real titles or hit the ceiling of their own ego again, we’ll see very soon on the Berlin server. On paper, this is a top—1 bid, but in real life, as we know, big names don’t always know how to play a team shooter.
Gentle Mates at VCT EMEA 2026: A Second chance at the Elite
While everyone was discussing the collapse of Gentle Mates last season, fate, apparently, decided to throw the guys a real piano in the bushes.
The French club, which took off on the hype after Ascension 2023, in fact had to pack their bags and return to the shooting range-2 swamp after a disastrous year in the top league. The organization, which is backed by top French influencers, found itself at the very bottom of the EMEA table, losing its place in the elite due to the new strict rules of Riot Games — it’s a shame, but logical.
But then the real thriller began.
In September, Riot Games kicked KOI out of the franchise for “systematic shoals” and non—fulfillment of obligations – and here’s the most interesting thing. From the huge list of applicants, the publisher chose Mats, handing them the Spanish slot until the end of 2027. As a result, someone else’s failure became a one-way ticket back to the top for Gentle Mates, although, to be honest, they deserved it more by the media than by the results on the server.
The VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 line—up was shaken up significantly – only Patrik ‘Minny‘ Hušek survived from the old guard. This guy, by the way, became famous as a fierce IGL, capable of shooting no worse than duelists, and now a new system is being built around him. To untie the captain’s hands, the legendary world champion Patryk ‘starxo‘ Kopczyński was invited to the post of head coach. The roaster looks interesting.
Marteen, the former Karmine Corp motor, has joined the team, and he will be accompanied by daring newcomers GLYPH and bipol. Along the way, the staff was reinforced with a couple of coaches from the tier-2 scene, Pavle ‘pakko‘ Kostić and Jiri ‘KUNDIKUNDI‘ Honkala, which clearly hints at an attempt to grow talents from scratch.
On paper, the Gentle Mates team does not dazzle with the golden glitter of the stars, but it is these “dark horses” that most often spoil the nerves of the favorites at the start of the season. Apparently, the organization is eager to prove that they were given a second chance not only for their beautiful eyes and millions of subscribers — in general, we are waiting for the first matches.
