Fnatic crash out of Stage 1 Playoffs, miss out on Masters London

The VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 1 Playoffs continue, and teams are dropping like flies in the lower bracket. Today’s elimination matches featured four top-tier squads, with the first showdown between Team Heretics and Fnatic. In a tense Bo3, Team Heretics showed incredible resilience as they took down one of the best teams in the region to keep their lower-bracket run alive.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 1

Fnatic

1

X

2

Team Heretics

Lower Bracket Round 2 of 4, Best of 3 - May 10, 2026 - 3:00PM

13

Fracture

10

2

Lotus

13

13

Ascent

15

Fnatic

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

kaajak

1.01

215

53/48/7

+5

1.10

64.1%

136.3

34%

52%

11

10

crashies

0.96

193

46/43/19

+3

1.07

70.2%

127.2

27%

45%

5

6

Alfajer

0.95

188

50/45/12

+5

1.11

60.2%

128.2

38%

50%

6

6

CyvOph

0.88

187

39/49/25

-10

0.80

66.2%

125.7

30%

43%

6

8

Boaster

0.73

142

28/45/31

-17

0.62

71.3%

95.2

24%

11%

1

8

Team Heretics

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

RieNs

1.32

246

57/37/16

+20

1.54

77.3%

158.5

40%

70%

7

3

benjyfishy

1.14

222

56/40/8

+16

1.40

79.7%

142.1

36%

29%

2

5

Wo0t

0.94

204

47/45/15

+2

1.04

82.5%

138.3

21%

48%

10

11

Koshmaras

0.91

186

41/51/15

-10

0.80

62.6%

114.8

16%

61%

14

9

Boo

0.81

139

29/43/37

-14

0.67

79.7%

97.7

31%

80%

4

1

Strong teams in the lower bracket

Yesterday, Team Liquid’s roster fell to Gentle Mates in the lower bracket. Today, the stacked matchups continued with the clash between Team Heretics and Fnatic.

As the first seed from Group Omega, Fnatic started in the upper bracket, just one win away from Masters London. However, they fell to Team Vitality and were sent down to the lower bracket. Team Heretics had a similar start after losing to Eternal Fire in the upper bracket. Their first lower-bracket match came against BBL Esports, where they managed to come out on top.

Team Heretics continues their momentum

Coming down from the upper bracket, Fnatic entered today’s match as the favorites. After winning Fracture 13-10, Heretics’ map pick, Fnatic looked ready to close out the series quickly. But Heretics were far from done and completely dominated Fnatic on Lotus with a crushing 13-2 victory. The third map, Ascent, turned into an all-out brawl as both teams fought to avoid elimination.

While Emir "Alfajer" Beder popped off for Fnatic, Enes "RieNs" Ecirli delivered several crucial clutch rounds for Heretics. In the end, overtime was needed, but Heretics ultimately proved to be the stronger team. They will continue their lower-bracket run and face Eternal Fire for a rematch next week.

Fnatic out of the race to Masters London

Missing two international events in a row will be a major blow for Fnatic and marks something the organization has never experienced before in its history.

Team Vitality and FUT Esports have already secured their spots on the global stage, leaving only one ticket to Masters London still up for grabs. With both Team Liquid and Fnatic out of the running, the EMEA lineup heading into Masters London is set for a major shake-up in June.

For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.

Featured image cred: Michał Konkol/Riot Games.