The VALORANT 2026 Shanghai Champions Quarterfinals will kick off on October 7, featuring eight teams in a double-elimination bracket. All teams from the Chinese region have been eliminated, leaving Vitality as the sole representative from the EMEA region.
The playoffs will continue until October 18. Except for the Lower Bracket Final and the Grand Final, which will be best-of-five, all other matches will be best-of-three. Once the tournament reaches the semifinals, the venue will move from the Jing'an Sports Center to the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which has a capacity of 18,000.
The first round will take place over two days: on October 7, NRG will face T1 and Paper Rex will play against LOUD; on October 8, 100 Thieves will take on G2, and Vitality will compete against Nongshim RedForce.
Pre-match analysis suggests that teams from the Americas and Pacific regions have shown strong competitiveness in this tournament. If both NRG and Paper Rex win their opening matches, they could meet in the Upper Bracket. The analysis also compares 100 Thieves' recent momentum with Nongshim RedForce's previous strong performance; regarding Vitality, the last remaining team from EMEA, analysts believe that despite having experienced players, they are not yet considered a solid title contender.