“I have no doubts in my team” - Jamppi unfazed by Enterprise upset

Another Tier 1 team has fallen to Enterprise Esports in VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2. Team Vitality faced the Tier 2 team in the first round of the Playoffs and experienced the wrath of the VCL squad.

While Vitality lost the matchup, their IGL, Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen, remained composed when he spoke to THESPIKE and didn’t sound worried about already being in the lower bracket.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2

Team Vitality

1

X

2

Enterprise Esports

Upper Bracket Quarter Final, Best of 3 - August 20, 2026 - 3:00PM

13

Summit

6

11

Abyss

13

4

Lotus

13

Team Vitality

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Chronicle

1.29

274

55/38/13

+17

1.45

76.6%

180.1

19%

80%

12

3

Jamppi

1.08

214

46/44/17

+2

1.05

67.5%

127.5

38%

38%

5

8

Sayonara

0.96

188

40/40/16

0

1.00

73.5%

130.4

34%

56%

5

4

PROFEK

0.88

157

34/43/25

-9

0.79

72.9%

101.4

26%

67%

4

2

Derke

0.80

172

34/47/18

-13

0.72

70.9%

113.1

17%

31%

5

11

Enterprise Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

kozzy

1.23

276

57/52/10

+5

1.10

69.4%

190.3

40%

62%

16

10

MAGNUM

1.10

205

46/37/17

+9

1.24

70.8%

131.2

33%

20%

1

4

iluri

0.88

158

36/38/13

-2

0.95

67.4%

100.7

49%

30%

3

7

paTiTek

0.86

163

34/37/19

-3

0.92

78.0%

102.2

27%

43%

3

4

Lime

0.83

175

35/47/14

-12

0.74

68.8%

119.4

41%

45%

5

6

Regressing in fundamentals

In their match against Enterprise Esports, Vitality came out swinging on their former perma-ban, Summit. They took the map 13-6 but were immediately met with more resistance on their map pick, Abyss.

Enterprise showed resilience by clutching seemingly impossible rounds and stole Abyss from Vitality. To bring it all home, Enterprise crushed their opponents 13-4 on the decider, Lotus.

THESPIKE: You started off so strong on Summit, and then things took a turn. What happened from your perspective?

Jamppi: “Today, I think we just lost it. We lost so many clutches for some reason. I haven't really looked back, because I don't think there was something I could immediately say after the game that we were missing.

All I can remember is, especially on Lotus defense, there were a couple of rounds where I think Ilari "iluri" Puranen won two clutches. He won a 1v3 and a 1v2. There were also some other moments on Abyss that I remember.

That's just basic fundamentals. It felt like the Vitality from four months ago, where we just lost every single advantage and every single fundamental thing. I think that's very frustrating. It feels like you kind of sit back a little bit.”

THESPIKE: Let's talk about the map pool. You've had Summit as an instant ban every time, but this time it was open. And then you played Abyss. Can you talk about those decisions?

Jamppi: “We used to insta-ban Summit because we literally didn't have time to practice it on Stage 2, so it was just obvious.

Now that we had a three-week break, we were practicing it—not a lot, but we were getting it to the point where we felt comfortable because we knew some teams might want to pick it and other teams were already playing it. Abyss was previously a very strong map for us, especially around Kickoff. We always felt good on it.

The practice quality isn't that good right now because most teams' seasons are over. There aren't too many teams that you can even practice against, unfortunately.”

EMEA Tier 1 in shambles

Six Tier 1 teams were eliminated in the Play-Ins. Enterprise Esports beat two of them in the upper bracket and is now on a four-match win streak in Stage 2.

So far, the Tier 2 teams in the other VCT regions haven’t had as much of an impact as those in EMEA. Jamppi isn’t surprised that the Tier 2 teams are performing well.

THESPIKE: How do you see the EMEA stage right now, especially compared with other regions?

Jamppi: “It's definitely a strong one when it comes to Tier 2.

There are a lot of players who were already in Tier 1 or got kind of unlucky. For example, someone like Martin "MAGNUM" Penkov, who I know very well from last year because he was my teammate. I was shocked that he wasn't picked up by a Tier 1 team for this year.[...]

I still wouldn't have expected Enterprise to win four in a row. I don't think anybody would have expected that. But I think everybody knew the Tier 2 teams were strong and that nobody should underestimate them.”

THESPIKE: Do you feel like your chances are better without as many Tier 1 teams, or do you think it's still going to be difficult to make it to the end?

Jamppi: “It's still going to be rough. It's the top eight teams in the EMEA region right now.

No game is easy. We saw that today: two pretty close maps, and then the last one was completely overrun by them. Every team is strong.”

A lot of mental practice ahead of the Playoffs

As Vitality earned the second seed in Group Alpha during the Group Stage, they also skipped the Play-Ins and got some much-needed time off to prepare for the Playoffs.

Vitality's main focus during that time was improving their mentality, something Jamppi noticed was missing during the team's run at VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Masters London 2026.

THESPIKE: It's time for a lower-bracket run. What did you try to build on from Masters London, where you finished fourth, to come back stronger this time?

Jamppi: “I think just the mentality. At Masters London, the two teams we lost to were Leviatán and Paper Rex, and we didn't really have a chance against them.

The main point was: why does this happen? Why do we play some maps very well and then on some maps we just don't know what to do and become completely disconnected?

It was a very important experience for us because it was the first time something like that happened, where we just got completely outplayed by Leviatán, for example.”

THESPIKE: Do you feel like the mentality was in the right place today against Enterprise?

“No. I think there were moments where it was and some moments where it wasn't. We need to talk about this match again. As a team, we've had a lot of talks, which is good. We're very honest with each other. Sometimes the conversations aren't that nice, but they're definitely needed.”

Lower bracket run needed

As Enterprise continues its upper-bracket run and will meet Karmine Corp in its next match, Vitality will fight for survival in every match in the lower bracket. They will have to win four matches in a row to guarantee a ticket to VALORANT Champions Shanghai.

Their next matchup is against Fire Flux Esports, another Tier 2 team that survived the Play-Ins.

THESPIKE: Going into the lower bracket, you mentioned some regression in the fundamentals. Is that going to be the focus over the next two days—getting back on track, working together and avoiding as many clutch losses?

Jamppi: “Yeah, for sure. I think it's good that it's a pretty easy fix, right? If it was a massive tactical problem and we weren't tactically there, I think that would be hard to fix in such a short time.

But basic fundamentals, not losing clutches and how we play certain situations are much easier and faster to fix."

THESPIKE: So you're not worried?

“No, not at all. Trust me. I have no doubts in my team at all that we can't bounce back and come back stronger. We know it.”

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

Featured image source: Riot Games & THESPIKE.GG