The VCT 2026 Stage 1 playoffs begin today, May 7, with opening matches running simultaneously across EMEA and Pacific. Sixteen teams enter the double-elimination bracket across two regions, and only six of them will leave with a ticket to Masters London in June.
Both brackets follow the same logic. Group winners earned upper bracket semifinal byes. Second and third-place finishers meet in upper bracket round one. Fourth-place teams start in the lower bracket. Every match today is a Bo3. Lower Bracket Finals and Grand Finals, scheduled for May 16 and 17 respectively, escalate to Bo5.
EMEA Playoffs Open at Berlin’s Riot Games Arena
EMEA’s first match sends Eternal Fire against Team Heretics at 17:00 CEST at the Riot Games Arena in Berlin. Eternal Fire finished second in Group Omega; Heretics came through as Group Alpha’s third seed after a rocky group stage that nearly saw them miss playoffs entirely. The winner advances to face FUT Esports in the upper bracket semifinal tomorrow.
The evening slot belongs to the day’s headliner. Team Liquid meets Team Vitality at 20:00 CEST, a matchup that carries weight for both teams’ championship-point standings. Liquid, who represented EMEA at Masters Santiago earlier this year, placed second in Group Alpha with consistent form across the regular season. Vitality finished third in Group Omega and have been inconsistent throughout Stage 1, but their ceiling remains high enough to trouble anyone when the pieces align.
The winner of Liquid vs. Vitality draws FNATIC in the upper semifinal on May 8. FNATIC went 5-0 through Group Omega, dropping only two maps across five series. That kind of margin in a group featuring Eternal Fire, GIANTX, and Vitality speaks to a team operating with both confidence and structural clarity. FUT Esports matched that 5-0 record on the Alpha side, and tomorrow’s upper bracket semis will test whether those group stage records translate under elimination pressure.
BBL Esports and Gentle Mates open the lower bracket on May 9, joined by the losers of today’s matches. From there, the bracket funnels toward a Grand Final on May 17, where the top three finishers across the entire bracket secure EMEA’s three slots at VCT Masters London.
Pacific Gets Its Own Day One in Seoul
On the other side of the globe, VCT Pacific’s playoffs begin at the Sangam Colosseum in Seoul, with the final weekend (May 15 through 17) shifting to the Thiskyhall Sala Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City for the Grand Final weekend.
The first match puts Rex Regum Qeon against Global Esports at 17:00 KST. For Global Esports, this is a landmark moment: their first playoff appearance since Pacific franchising started in 2023. The Indian organization finished as Group Alpha’s second seed behind Paper Rex, and under coach frosT, they built a roster that can push for more than a participation trophy. RRQ, Indonesia’s representative in the upper bracket, brings crowd energy and enough tactical variety to make this a genuine coin-flip opener.
Kiwoom DRX faces FULL SENSE in the second match at 19:00 KST. FULL SENSE joined the Pacific partnership after replacing TALON Esports ahead of the 2026 season, and they earned their playoff spot through a competitive group stage. DRX carries more experience in high-stakes Pacific brackets, but their group phase was uneven enough that an upset would register as plausible rather than shocking.
Paper Rex and T1 wait in the upper bracket semifinals, each holding first-round byes after dominant group runs. T1 posted a 5-0 group record and enter these playoffs looking to convert regular season form into a regional title after an early Swiss Stage exit at Masters Santiago in March. Paper Rex topped their group while beating Nongshim RedForce in Week 1, a result that carried psychological weight given that NS RedForce swept PRX 3-0 in the Santiago Grand Final just weeks earlier.
Speaking of Nongshim: the reigning Masters Santiago champions start in the lower bracket, alongside DetonatioN FocusMe. NS RedForce’s group stage was uncharacteristically inconsistent. The team that dismantled every opponent in Chile lost its opening match to Paper Rex, and while they recovered enough to stay in the playoff picture, a fourth-place group finish puts them one loss away from elimination on Friday. For a squad carrying six VCT points and a Masters trophy, the margin for error is already gone.
What Connects the Two Brackets
Three teams from each region qualify for Masters London (June 6 through 21), which means placement within the bracket matters as much as reaching the semifinals. Championship Points earned here feed directly into the qualification picture for Champions Shanghai later in the year. A run to the grand final is worth more than a lower bracket exit at round two, even if both results technically count as “making playoffs.”
VCT Americas is still in its group stage, which runs through May 10 before playoffs begin on May 14. Americas will be the last region to determine its London representatives, with that bracket wrapping up around May 24.
Today’s Schedule at a Glance
| Region | Match | Time |
| Pacific | Rex Regum Qeon vs. Global Esports | 17:00 KST |
| Pacific | Kiwoom DRX vs. FULL SENSE | 19:00 KST |
| EMEA | Eternal Fire vs. Team Heretics | 17:00 CEST |
| EMEA | Team Liquid vs. Team Vitality | 20:00 CEST |
EMEA Playoff Bracket
Upper Bracket
| Round | Match | Date |
| UB Round 1 | Eternal Fire vs. Team Heretics | May 7 |
| UB Round 1 | Team Liquid vs. Team Vitality | May 7 |
| UB Semifinal | FUT Esports vs. winner of EF/TH | May 8 |
| UB Semifinal | FNATIC vs. winner of TL/VIT | May 8 |
| UB Final | TBD vs. TBD | May 15 |
Lower Bracket
| Round | Match | Date |
| LB Round 1 | Loser of EF/TH vs. BBL Esports | May 9 |
| LB Round 1 | Loser of TL/VIT vs. Gentle Mates | May 9 |
| LB Round 2 | TBD vs. TBD | May 10 |
| LB Round 2 | TBD vs. TBD | May 10 |
| LB Round 3 | TBD vs. TBD | May 15 |
| LB Final | TBD vs. TBD | May 16 |
Grand Final: May 17
Pacific Playoff Bracket
Upper Bracket
| Round | Match | Date |
| UB Round 1 | Rex Regum Qeon vs. Global Esports | May 7 |
| UB Round 1 | Kiwoom DRX vs. FULL SENSE | May 7 |
| UB Semifinal | Paper Rex vs. winner of RRQ/GE | May 8 |
| UB Semifinal | T1 vs. winner of DRX/FS | May 8 |
| UB Final | TBD vs. TBD | TBD |
Lower Bracket
| Round | Match | Date |
| LB Round 1 | Loser of RRQ/GE vs. DetonatioN FocusMe | May 9 |
| LB Round 1 | Loser of DRX/FS vs. Nongshim RedForce | May 9 |
| LB Round 2 | TBD vs. TBD | May 10 |
| LB Round 2 | TBD vs. TBD | May 10 |
| LB Round 3 | TBD vs. TBD | TBD |
| LB Final | TBD vs. TBD | May 16 |
Grand Final: May 17
