“We have nothing to lose” - PROFEK on Vitality's big changes ahead of Champions Shanghai

THESPIKE had the opportunity to sit down with Dawid "PROFEK" Święć from Team Vitality to discuss their preparation for the upcoming VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Champions Shanghai, what went wrong in VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2, and much more from the 2026 season.

Excited for China

Only a few days remain until the start of Champions Shanghai, the biggest VCT event of the year. The event will feature 16 Tier-1 teams competing over the span of almost a month, with immense pressure on the squads that make a deep run.

Champs is Vitality’s second international event of the year, and PROFEK is very excited about the opportunity to travel to China.

THESPIKE: How do you feel about going to China for the tournament?

PROFEK: "To be honest, I feel so excited because it’s in China. I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from Chinese fans over the past years. I’ll also start my career on Chinese social media, you know, so basically I’m super excited and honored to actually be able to play there.

It feels quite weird, I would say. I wouldn’t say it’s different, but it feels quite weird because the schedule is so long. If we make a deep run, technically we can be there for two months. It’s quite exciting in the same way, but it’s my first time being in China, and being there for two months, I just think I will explore too much, you know. It’s too long."

THESPIKE: What has practice been like before heading to China?

"Right now, it’s quite rough because there aren’t many teams actually practicing in Europe. We’re just playing against mixed teams. Some teams are already trying out players, so basically it just feels like playing against mixes. The quality varies, I would say, but we can’t do anything about that, so we just play. We’ll have a lot of scrimming time and a planned bootcamp once we get to China against the teams involved in Champs.”

Making big changes

Vitality was on the brink of missing Shanghai altogether. Their Stage 2 run ended abruptly after they lost back-to-back matches against Tier 2 teams in the playoffs. With some luck and the right teams exiting EMEA, Vitality secured a spot at Champs through Championship Points and will represent EMEA as the fourth seed.

Coming into Champs, Vitality will have to improve if they want to make a deeper run than they did in Stage 2. According to PROFEK, a lot is changing in their gameplay and communication as they prepare for the tough competition ahead.

THESPIKE: How are you approaching Champs compared to Stage 2?

PROFEK: “Technically, this is the last tournament, we have nothing to lose.

We also need to be able to play how we want to play because I believe in Stage 2 we started playing more like Leviatán with some of their comps, and it just didn’t suit us.

The only reason why we lost against Tier 2 teams is because our fundamentals weren’t good enough. If a team is playing together and we are playing without any fundamentals and ideas, we're gonna get stomped.

I'm quite happy that this actually happened before champs because I think everyone reflected about that. And I think no one ever wants to be in the same situation to lose against Tier 2 teams.”

THESPIKE: What do you think needs to improve?

PROFEK: “For sure, how we speak to each other. I believe that was a huge part of why we lost. Of course, we didn’t play that well, but I think improving the atmosphere of the team is the most important part.

It wasn’t about needing rest, but we used a lot of fuel in Stage 2 and VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - Masters London 2026. Then, going into EWC - Esports World Cup 2026, it was quite hard to keep that same intensity for the other tournaments.

A lot of emotions just built up in us, and it was quite tense. So I think our focus point is just to enjoy our time practicing and being in China. We don’t want to go into the mindset that we need to play fourteen hours per day. We also need to just enjoy the moment.”

Expected more in the 2026 season

The “superteam” talk started quickly after Vitality’s roster was confirmed during the 2025 offseason. With Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov, Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev, and Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen on the same team, expectations were high for them to dominate the EMEA scene. However, Vitality has had another unconvincing season, failing to win either a regional or international title.

THESPIKE: What do you think of your achievements in 2026 so far?

PROFEK: “I think everyone from us, every tournament we were expecting way more from ourselves than I think other people. I think, going to Stage 1 we expected us to go 5-0 and just win this, like we're going to smurf on everyone. Of course we didn’t smurf.

We needed to adapt a lot of things and relearn how to play with Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu. And I think it took us way too long, in my opinion. But at the end we got there and we qualified for the Masters (London).

I felt ready in Stage 2 also. I think everyone felt ready and no one expected us to have this fall down, especially after being four one in the group. So it was also quite unexpected for us.”

THESPIKE: How do you deal with criticism and hate from fans?

PROFEK: "Of course, the fans will never be happy if their team isn’t playing the game properly and is losing every game. I’m never taking this personally because I think we get what we deserve.

In London, we got a lot of love even though we finished top four. Even after the game, people were sending a lot of love and support. But of course, when we were 1–3 in the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 1 Group Stage, we got some hate.

It doesn’t matter, you know? I believe it was deserved in a way because our job is to perform. When you have this team, of course you need to win. If you’re not winning, people will eat you. Simple as that."

Shanghai on the horizon

VALORANT Champions Shanghai kicks off on September 24, with teams beginning their battle in the Group Stage. For Vitality, their first matchup will be against Pacific Stage 2 winners Global Esports on September 26 in Group B. The two other teams in their group are EDward Gaming and LOUD.

While PROFEK is excited about the opportunity to face LOUD, he is also disappointed to have EDG as an opponent.

“I would like to play against LOUD because they’re quite a unique team, I would say. To be honest, their game is super exciting, but we never had a chance to play against them. Because we have EDG and ZmjjKK, technically one of us needs to eliminate someone.To be honest, I’d rather play against him in the Grand Final, let’s say. But yeah, other than that, I’m happy with the group. I think it’s pretty balanced. I think every group is pretty balanced.”

Stay tuned to THESPIKE for more interviews with VALORANT Champions Shanghai players, as the event is soon kicking off.

Featured image source: Team Vitality