100 Thieves and Global Esports are the teams to beat at VALORANT Champions

The 2026 VALORANT Champions Tour regional season is done and dusted, and the group draw for Champions Shanghai is now set. Two squads stand above the rest: 100 Thieves and Global Esports, both of whom are peaking at exactly the right moment.

Champions Shanghai kicks off Sept. 24 in Shanghai, China, and the group games are now locked in. Group A sees 100 Thieves face-off against T1, with JD Gaming and FUT Esports filling out the bracket. Global Esports will play Team Vitality in Group B, with LOUD and EDward Gaming rounding things off. Lastly, Group C features TYLOO against G2 Esports, with Team Liquid in the mix as well.

100 Thieves: Americas' first seed on the back of an unbeaten international run

[BREAKING] VALORANT Champions Shanghai groups are set:

Group A:
▪️ 🇺🇸 100 Thieves vs. 🇰🇷 T1
▪️ 🇨🇳 JD Gaming vs. 🇹🇷 FUT Esports

Group B:
▪️ 🇮🇳 Global Esports vs. 🇫🇷 Team Vitality
▪️ 🇧🇷 LOUD vs. 🇨🇳 EDward Gaming

Group C:
▪️ 🇨🇳 TYLOO vs. 🇺🇸 G2 Esports
▪️ 🇳🇱 Team Liquid vs. 🇸🇬… pic.twitter.com/Tvp5Cd0X6O

— VALO2ASIA (@VALO2ASIA) September 6, 2026

100 Thieves’ turnaround in 2026 is one of the most eye-catching the VCT Americas league has seen. After finishing fourth with a whimper in Stage 1, they went on to miss both Masters events entirely. By the time the Esports World Cup arrived in Paris in July, though, the squad had switched on beast mode and dialled it up to 11.

At EWC 2026, the team swept LOUD 3-0 in the qualifier, then beat MIBR 2-1, Nongshim RedForce 2-1 and NRG 3-1 to claim their first international title. To make things even sweeter, Matthew "Cryocells" Panganiban took MVP honors.

The run didn’t stop at Stage 2 as 100 Thieves topped Group Omega with a 4-1 record, then swept through the upper bracket with 2-0 wins over Leviatán and NRG before surviving a five-map grand final against LOUD. Haven was the deciding map, with 100 Thieves holding their nerve in overtime to close out 14-12 and take the series 3-2. It was the organization's first domestic championship.

Peter "Asuna" Mazuryk was named series MVP. His Phoenix play across all five maps drove the offense, finishing with 85 frags and 14 first kills. LOUD's young IGL were arguably outstatted him, 98 frags, plus-34 kill differential, but 100 Thieves had the last word.

Their player numbers from Stage 2 show a well-balanced roster centred around teamplay, rather than a one-man show:

Jordan "vora" Pulwer, who IGLs the squad, directed the upper-bracket wins over Leviatán and NRG before Asuna took over in the final. 100 Thieves hold the No. 3 spot on the Global Power Rankings with 1,449 points and a 17-8 overall record.

Global Esports: Pacific's reverse-sweep champions

Catch-up with Global Esports’ Grand Final victory

Global Esports' path through Stage 2 was dramatic. In Group Alpha, they went 3-2, then beat DRX 2-1 and VARREL 2-0 in the playoffs before dropping a 1-2 series to Nongshim RedForce. A 3-1 win over T1 put them in the grand final, where Nongshim awaited again.

Nongshim took a 2-0 lead before Global Esports rallied to stun their opponents, reversing the sweep and taking the trophy after winning three straight maps. It was a turnaround few will have seen coming.

On the Global Power Rankings, Global Esports sit above 100 Thieves at No. 2 with 1,455 points and a 16-12 record. They’ll be the top Pacific seed in Shanghai, where they are grouped together with Team Vitality, LOUD and EDward Gaming in Group B.

What the draws mean for each squad

It’s no exaggeration to say that both 100 Thieves and Global Esports are in genuinely dangerous groups. For 100 Thieves, a Group A matchup with T1 posing a real threat. The Koreans are no slouches, and JD Gaming adds a home-crowd wildcard given the Shanghai venue. 100 Thieves will no doubt be buoyed, though, by the fact that they have already beaten every team they needed to beat this year, coming up clutch when it mattered.

Group B is a different kind of test for Global Esports. Team Vitality is an EMEA powerhouse, and sharing a group with LOUD, a team that forced 100 Thieves to beat them in five maps, means there's no easy path to the bracket stage. We see zero free wins anywhere.

As everyone expects, TYLOO, the Chinese representative in Group C, will draw massive local support in Shanghai. Alongside G2 Esports and Team Liquid, Group C is arguably this year's so-called Group of Death.

Stage 2 winners across all four regions earned top seeding partly because Riot Games uses Stage 2 performance and Championship Points to set the draw. Momentum won these trophies; now it translates directly into bracket positioning at Champions.

Writer's take

100 Thieves and Global Esports won their regions in such style that one only wonders if they’ve peaked too soon. However, both are built differently now. A team that goes from missing both Masters events to lifting an international title at EWC and then winning the domestic Stage 2 trophy is operating on a different level than it was six months ago. Whether that carries through a 16-team Champions bracket is a different question entirely, but right now these two squads are the clearest benchmarks in their respective regions.

VALORANT Champions Shanghai group stage begins Sept. 24 in Shanghai, China.