Valorant Champions Opens in Shanghai on Twenty-Four September With Paper Rex and G2 Drawn Into the Same Group
Sixteen teams will play for a prize pool of two and a quarter million dollars, with the playoffs moving to an eighteen thousand seat arena.
Valorant Champions 2026 runs from 24 September to 18 October in Shanghai. The group stage, from 24 September to 4 October, is at the Jing'an Sports Center, which holds 5,600. The playoffs, from 7 to 18 October, move to the Mercedes-Benz Arena and its capacity of 18,000.
The prize pool is 2,250,000 US dollars, with one million going to the champion. Sixteen teams are split into four groups, with the top two from each advancing to a double-elimination playoff bracket.
The groups, reported on 10 September, are: Group A of 100 Thieves, JD Gaming, FUT Esports and T1; Group B of Global Esports, LOUD, EDward Gaming and Team Vitality; Group C of TYLOO, Team Liquid, Paper Rex and G2 Esports; and Group D of Karmine Corp, Nongshim RedForce, NRG and Xi Lai Gaming.
Four teams come from each of the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. Eight qualified by finishing in the top two of Stage 2 in their region and eight through Championship Points. The Pacific contingent is Global Esports, Nongshim RedForce, Paper Rex and T1.