“It’s been kind of a revenge year” - MAGNUM reflects on Enterprise’s VCT EMEA run

The Tier 2 team that changed the outlook of VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2 in the Play-Ins, Enterprise Esports, have reached the end of their journey. After what can only be described as an incredible run as a Tier 2 team in the VCT, Enterprise were eliminated by Team Liquid in the Playoffs.

THESPIKE sat down with Martin "MAGNUM" Penkov from Enterprise to talk about their run and the future of VCT EMEA.

Fundamentals going wrong

Enterprise was one of the Tier 2 teams that took down some of the biggest names in the Tier 1 VCT EMEA scene throughout their Stage 2 run. After wins over Fnatic and Team Vitality, Team Liquid were the ones who finally bested the VCL team, deep into the Playoffs.

In their matchup against Liquid, MAGNUM noticed that the fundamentals in Enterprise's gameplay were lacking.

THESPIKE: Can you tell me a bit about what went wrong for you guys today?

MAGNUM: "I think it was just problems that we were dealing with for the whole year that kind of showed up the most during the last matches because the opponents were punishing them the most. That's just how we handle stress and how we play retakes, post-plants, and advantages.

I feel like we just didn't give our all during scrims, and it showed up here. But I think today's match, even though the score was 4–13 on Lotus, realistically it was way closer than it looks. There were so many rounds that, if we closed them out, the game could have gone either way.

They played great. It's always Liquid. I always lose to them in this fashion. They just manage to pull out the miracles in the game.”

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2

Enterprise Esports

0

X

2

Team Liquid

Lower Bracket Round 2 of 4, Best of 3 - August 23, 2026 - 2:00PM

4

Lotus

13

12

Abyss

14

Enterprise Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

MAGNUM

1.03

203

31/28/16

+3

1.11

73.6%

133.1

27%

60%

3

2

kozzy

0.88

174

30/28/4

+2

1.07

68.9%

111.1

25%

44%

4

5

Lime

0.86

188

29/36/12

-7

0.81

66.9%

133.1

37%

57%

8

6

iluri

0.81

146

25/33/9

-8

0.76

65.0%

93.7

37%

50%

4

4

paTiTek

0.61

140

16/34/17

-18

0.47

61.2%

98.4

24%

29%

2

5

Team Liquid

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

kamo

1.33

274

37/32/11

+5

1.16

73.0%

165.4

39%

60%

6

4

Kicks

1.23

212

34/22/16

+12

1.55

80.5%

143.7

32%

75%

3

1

nAts

1.16

227

33/22/11

+11

1.50

78.7%

156.1

25%

45%

5

6

trexx

1.10

202

28/26/23

+2

1.08

89.4%

146.9

24%

67%

2

1

purp0

0.83

170

27/29/3

-2

0.93

64.1%

104.7

31%

40%

6

9

THESPIKE: You came a very long way for being a Tier 2 team. Is this something you expected, and how do you look back on the journey? Are you proud of the boys?

MAGNUM: “Of course I'm proud of the team. I'm proud of everyone.[...]

But if I'm completely honest, heading into this tournament, I expected us to go 0–2 and get out fast. But the more matches we started winning, I thought, 'Okay, I will have no expectations because I don't want to get sad like last year. Whatever happens, happens.'

We almost did it. The day before yesterday if we beat Karmine Corp, we're in Barcelona, and anything could have happened. But I think the KC loss just hurt too much, and it was hard to reset.”

Team of rejects

MAGNUM was the brains behind the creation of the Enterprise roster. He brought in many players who didn't manage to secure a season in the VCT league, such as Patryk "paTiTek" Fabrowski.

Entering the stage as a Tier 2 team this time around, MAGNUM wanted to show the Tier 1 teams what they had missed out on.

THESPIKE: Has this been a kind of revenge journey for you, where you got to show what you're capable of even though you didn't get to be on a Tier 1 team in the off-season?

MAGNUM: “This is how I looked at it: if I'm not making Tier 1, I want to make a team where I can prove everyone wrong, that all these players and coaches who have been left over deserve a spot. We deserve it.

That was kind of our driving force. I think the anger we had from getting messed up in the off-season, we brought into the team. It was kind of our fuel. So yeah, it's been kind of a revenge year.”

Tier 1 having problems

Another reason for Enterprise's success on the stage was that the Tier 1 teams themselves were having major problems.

“I think it's just the other teams probably going through the same thing as us. First, there have been a lot of role swaps. With Fnatic and Gentle Mates, there have been roster changes. I think that's why we went through, because they made more mistakes than us.”

THSPIKE: You've also been very vocal and clear about what you think about the Tier 1 situation, with them always swapping players and building rosters that don't really work. Do you think the whole situation of so many Tier 2 teams getting to the playoffs has been a wake-up call for the Tier 1 teams?

MAGNUM: “I'm not too sure if it'll be a wake-up call. There are two problems in EMEA, in my opinion, compared to other regions.

First, there are many people who are watching out for each other just because they're friends. If you ask for feedback about a player, they tell you all the positives but never mention the negatives. Then you see a player getting kicked for being toxic, and the next team picks him up and he's toxic again.

The most frustrating thing in EMEA is that people don't value experience. They don't value your comps or your work ethic. All they look at is, "If you shoot like a robot, okay, you're in."

But then you put those five people next to each other and something is missing. That's what I don't like about EMEA, and that's why I've been calling it out. I feel like teams aren't being built correctly."

THSPIKE: What do you hope changes for next year?

MAGNUM: "I hope new people get chances, especially coaches.

I feel like we've been seeing the same coaches over and over, and I hope new blood comes in and brings something new. The same goes for managers. Something has to change.

One player failing on one team doesn't mean he's a bad player. He might still be good; he just wasn't put in the correct system.

People also need to understand that this is esports. A lot of times I see them trying to run an esports team like a traditional sports team, where everything is completely performance-based. It's just not possible. We're humans, but esports players are very unique humans. We need our comfort."

Moving away from the IGL role

While MAGNUM started out as an IGL for Enterprise, he has since realized that it's not a role he wants to be in. For him, it's better to be a second caller, and he is ready to give it his all in the 2027 season.

THESPIKE: And what about you for next year? What are your plans?

MAGNUM: "I think I've had this problem all the years where I wasn't very self-confident. But I think this year I'm literally at the peak of my career. I've never felt so comfortable individually or in the team with the way I see the game.

So I just need to grind, get through trials hopefully, and bring my vision."

For more VCT interviews, stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG.

Featured image source: THESPIKE.GG & Riot Games.