VCT China teams go 0-8 at home in VALORANT Champions Shanghai

Horrible start for the Champions hosting region, China, whose teams have officially lost every series of the tournament 0-2. Even if almost everyone knew Chinese teams weren't at the same level as the others, securing 0 maps is a worrying result for the region that won the 2024 Champions Edition.

The matches were not even close at all, as Chinese teams thus far have won on 5.25 rounds on average per map, a worrying trend that has started to raise doubts about the competitiveness of the region.

Chinese teams have failed to win a single map

The Chinese region finished its local championship earlier than anyone else, as TYLOO and JD Gaming played the VCT 2026 - China Stage 2 Grand Final on August 23, a full month before champions kicked off. Thanks to this schedule, the teams had much more time than the others to prepare for the tournament, and they also didn’t have to travel to another country.

That advantage has not translated into positive results. Instead, every Chinese representative has struggled from the opening rounds, and none of the four teams has managed to win a single map against international teams.

The lack of competitiveness is perhaps the most worrying part of the result. Chinese teams have not just been losing, but they have struggled to stay within reach of their opponents, as, for example, JDG lost against FUT Esports on Ascent with a disappointing 1-13 score.

Before the tournament, some fans still had hope for teams like EDward Gaming and TYLOO, with both expected to pick up some results. So far, that has not happened. With the next round of best-of-three series approaching, all four Chinese teams could be eliminated from the tournament, leaving the hosting region without a single representative in the later stages. This is a worrying trend for VCT China, as even in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions, the region's representatives didn't win a single series in the first round of the tournament.

For a region hosting its biggest international event of the year, this is far from the result China would have wanted. Edward Gaming’s 2024 Champions victory showed that the region could compete with the best in the world, but VCT 2026 - VALORANT Champions 2026 has so far painted a very different picture. With all four Chinese teams facing elimination, the region now needs to find answers quickly if it wants to close the gap before the next international event.

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Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games.