G2 Esports kept winning big games around the world, and Nongshim RedForce beat Karmine Corp to move forward in VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai. On Day 9, two important matches decided who would go to the big playoffs. G2 Esports beat Team Liquid 2-0, and Nongshim RedForce came from behind to beat Karmine Corp 2-1. Both teams are now in the international playoffs.
G2 Esports showed they are very good at playing in other countries by making it to their eighth straight international playoffs. They won their match against Team Liquid 2-0. Liquid had chances to win, especially on the map Split, but couldn’t take advantage. G2 took an early lead and kept it. Liquid tried to come back on the map Abyss, winning four defense rounds even though the map usually helps the attacking team. Still, G2 stayed in control and finished the game first. A player named Trent “trent” Cairns helped G2 win by playing really well on both maps. Liquid’s Ayaz “nAts” Akhmetshin didn’t do as well and finished the series with 13 fewer kills than deaths.
The second match was very close. Nongshim RedForce lost the first map Sunset but fought back to win the next two maps, Summit and Haven, and win the series 2-1. Karmine Corp started strong on Sunset. Players Marshall “N4RRATE” Massey and Dmitrii “SUYGETSU” Iliushin helped their team by getting 43 kills together and winning the first map. Nongshim responded on Summit, taking control and making it hard for Karmine Corp to attack. The same thing happened on Haven. Karmine Corp could only attack once in the last two maps, and Nongshim finished the comeback and won.
Lee “Dambi” Hyuk-kyu, who was named MVP at Masters Santiago, played very well on Summit and Haven, along with Goo “Rb” Sang-min. Karmine Corp had a hard time getting enough help from their Controller player Zhumagali “dos9” Dastan. It was sad for the EMEA region because both their big teams, the Stage 2 champion and the runner-up, were knocked out of the tournament. Right now, Team Vitality is the only EMEA team that is already in the playoffs.
FUT Esports still has a chance to join them. In the VCT Americas region, three teams are already in the playoffs. LOUD might get a fourth spot after their next game against Global Esports. Nongshim RedForce is the second team from the VCT Pacific region to reach the playoffs. Global Esports also still has a chance to qualify. What’s Next? Now that the big matches are done, the race to win VALORANT Champions 2026 is getting more exciting. G2 Esports will go into the playoffs ready to try for the big win.
