“How do you fix EMEA?” VCT EMEA lags behind, but can it catch up?

VCT EMEA Section 1 it just started this week. The tournament sees twelve teams compete in the regional circuit of the first VALORANT division for three spots at the next VCT world event, Masters London in June.

However, the recent EMEA international fair did not inspire confidence in the region’s competitiveness. With Team Liquid not to advance past the Swiss Stage again Gentle Friends again BBL Sports suffering from an early elimination of the Playoffs, EMEA was the second weakest place at Masters Santiago after VCT China.

In addition, it has been three years since VCT EMEA lifted the international trophy thanks to Fnatic’s back-to-back victories at LOCK//IN São Paulo and Masters Tokyo 2023. This is especially painful for EMEA fans, as the region has hosted prominent teams since the early days of VALORANT esports. Two of the three global events in 2021 were won by European teams, and Acend lifted the first Champions trophy.

“Do we need to have a conversation about EMEA? It feels like a weak region if FNATIC is not at the event. […] How do you fix EMEA?” commented one user on social media.

As the 2026 VCT season opens its second chapter, one region is getting a lot of attention from the global VALORANT esports community. Has VCT EMEA learned from its mistakes at Masters Santiago, or is the region lagging behind?

VCT EMEA’s disappointing results at Masters Santiago can be traced back to two main factors. First, all three district representatives were inexperienced rosters. The BBL Esports roster debuted in the first round at VCT Kickoff 2026 after winning last year’s EMEA Ascension tournament. Meanwhile, the second- and third-seeded teams, Gentle Mates and Team Liquid, were reorganized ahead of the 2026 VCT season.

Teams that lack the experience of competing in both Division 1 and international events often struggle with the pressure and unpredictability of the international stage. Roaring crowds can drown out certain in-game sounds, and teams from other regions may throw you curveballs. And rookie rosters tend to crumble easily under the weight that is constantly piled on their shoulders.

On the other hand, heritage organizations with historically stable rosters have shown greater consistency in their attendance at global events. This is not just an EMEA case. For example, America’s G2 Esports and Pacific’s Paper Rex are both veteran rosters that regularly make deep runs at international tournaments.

But what happened to VCT EMEA veterans before Masters Santiago? This is where the second main thing comes into play. Due to the many agent changes introduced in VALORANT’s Patch 11.08, the meta at VCT 2026 Kickoff was very different compared to last year’s VCT season. Reduced support and Sentinels’ sensors brought a fast, double duelist meta.

“The current meta we are in is a double-duelist, a violent playstyle, you know, fighting, everything like that. And if you were to relate that to the region, you would probably put the Pacific first, and then put the Americans in second place in terms of that type of play. But you will put EMEA far in the bottom hole,” explained the analyst, ” The Thinker’s Hero in one of his videos.

Indeed, EMEA has long been known as the least aggressive region in the VCT, which tends to succeed in well-planned attacks rather than quick, chaotic combat.

“I don’t think we are working very well against the team,” highlighted the former coach of Fnatic, Jacob ‘mini’ Harrison the latest episode of VALORANT’s chat show Plat Chat. “I think Sideshow talked about it a few times, where I kind of downplayed the issue as a meta goal, and you expanded on it. ‘There are interesting things you can do. It’s like focusing more on how you fight together and face each other.’

“And I don’t think EMEA has ever been that good at those things.”

So even though EMEA has long had strong teams in the VCT world events, these rosters have not been able to keep up with the new meta. Instead of Fnatic, Team Heretics, and the great Team Vitality, a young talent made it to the top of the VCT Kickoff to qualify for Masters Santiago.

While meta literacy can be improved as the 2026 season progresses, some voices in the VALORANT esports space say broader systemic issues are slowing down innovation and talent development in EMEA.

In the latest episode of Plat Chat, VALORANT’s on-air talent, Brennon ‘Bren’ Hookand former coach of Team Liquid, Connor ‘Sliggy’ Blomfielddiscussed how the region’s talent pipeline is suffering from regional lockout in the second division Challengers circuit.

Challengers EMEA has separate leagues in DACH, France, Spain, NORTH//EAST, Türkiye, and MENA, culminating in several Challenger EMEA tournaments throughout the year. Therefore, many teams rarely or never have the opportunity to compete against rosters from other sub-regions.

“I’ve always seen it as a district that hasn’t gotten as much money as other districts,” Bren admitted during the episode. “Tier 2 is fragmented and scattered across the board.

“You don’t get cross-pollination. It’s like everybody’s on their own little path,” he added later.

Bren and Sliggy also acknowledged that Counter-Strike’s huge popularity among EMEA FPS gamers could affect the region’s talent and investment in VALORANT.

Despite the young talent and regional interest in VALORANT esports, EMEA has shown other signs of weakness. And this weakness seems to be the regional map pool.

Outside of EMEA, it’s not unheard of that many, if not all, groups in the same VCT area are fighting for the same few maps. However, with the release of Pearl from 2022, EMEA got its worst map.

At that time, most of the VCT EMEA organizations could not get a clear reading on how to play Pearl well and recorded a very poor win rate compared to other regions. But even today, EMEA teams are easily fooled into believing they have a strong Pearl, as they only have other EMEA rosters to compare their strength against during practice.

What about the new maps, though? However, many EMEA representatives, even historically strong ones, seem uncomfortable playing on maps like Sunset, Abyss, and Corrode.

“I feel like every time they add new maps, it gets worse for EMEA,” commented Sliggy on Plat Chat. “Like all regions, we have many high-level coaches, and I’m not saying that we don’t have high-level coaches, I’m just saying that those who were innovating may no longer be around.

“And I think that’s kind of a backlash.”

Some analysts, including Thinking Man’s Valorant, currently view EMEA as one of the weakest regions within the VCT circuit.

“I think it’s fair to say that EMEA is the exact location of the third place and that there is probably a big gap from the third to the second and there is the second to the first, whichever region you want to prioritize,” concluded the content creator in his video. “And I think EMEA is a little bit behind, and actually seems to be unable to send a lot of good teams to these countries.”

Furthermore, according to mini, EMEA needs to do more than just learn how to play the double-duelist to catch up with its rival VCT regions.
“Basically, we need to play fast first and really understand that we can’t spread the whole map and play automatic with three layers,” argued the VALORANT coach. “However, that will not be the case. Because APAC already has three months of practice to do those things. So we need to find value elsewhere if we want to do well. [Masters] in London.”

One possible solution for EMEA would be to rely on team building that opposes rapid dives. In theory, agents like Vyse and Sage should be successful in stopping harassment from two enemy shooters.

This means that not everything is a disaster in the area. EMEA may be lagging behind in terms of international awards. But, with the exception of Masters Santiago, EMEA has consistently benefited from global events during the current VCT partnership period. Last year, Fnatic finished second in three annual international tournaments, and Team Heretics did the same during VCT 2024.

The VCT 2026 Kickoff and Masters Santiago may have served as the wake-up calls EMEA needed to embrace fast-paced gaming and invest more resources in strategic innovation.