Today, July 15, 2026, the group stage of the prestigious S-Tier European tournament — VCT EMEA Stage 2 in Valorant — officially begins.
Over the coming weeks, the region's best teams will determine the strongest in matchups in Berlin, while the final weekend will be hosted by Badalona, Spain.
The competition is divided into three key stages taking place throughout July and August:
- Group Stage (July 15 — August 2): 12 teams are split into two groups of 6 participants — Alpha and Omega. Matches are played in a Single-Round Robin format. The top two teams from each group advance directly to the playoffs, while the remaining teams (3rd to 6th places) will continue their struggle in the Play-In bracket.
- Play-In (August 5 — 16): A Double-Elimination bracket stage featuring 8 teams from the group stage and 4 representatives from the regional Challengers leagues.
- Playoffs (August 20 — 30): Decisive double-elimination matches. All matches, except for the lower bracket final and the grand final (which will be played in a Bo5 format), will be played in a best-of-three (Bo3) format.
The new season kicks off with two Best of 3 matches:
- FUT Esports vs. Natus Vincere — starting at 18:00 Kyiv time.
- Team Liquid vs. Eternal Fire — starting at 21:00 Kyiv time.
The total prize pool of the tournament is $250,000. In addition to financial rewards, the top two teams of the season will earn direct slots to the most important global championship — Valorant Champions.
Reminder: VALORANT Update 13.01: strengthening of Iso and Yoru, significant weakening of Outlaw and the fight against boosting