NAVI and GIANTX have been eradicated from VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 after shedding elimination matches towards Crew Heretics and Crew Liquid, respectively.
In consequence, NAVI and GIANTX will miss out on Masters Santiago, whereas their opponents can nonetheless qualify for the primary international VCT occasion of the 12 months by way of the decrease bracket.
Crew Heretics Appears Revitalised Versus NAVI
The day kicked off with a rematch betweenTeam Heretics and NAVI, which had beforehand confronted off within the Higher Bracket Quarterfinals. Whereas the primary encounter concluded in a 2-1 victory for NAVI, Crew Heretics delivered a dominant 2-0 sweep this time round.
NAVI had a stable begin on Crew Heretics’ map choose, Haven. Nonetheless, from spherical 4 onward, the group struggled to clear the enemy Cypher’s info-gathering utility, permitting Crew Heretics to stack websites and obtain a powerful 8-4 defensive half. This momentum carried over into the second half, leading to a 13-5 victory for the Spanish organisation.
Crew Heretics’ latest roster member, Berkcan ‘ComeBack’ Şentürk, delivered a large efficiency on Haven with a kill-death ratio (KDA) of 29/12/5 and a 455 common fight rating.
For its Breeze debut at Kickoff, Crew Heretics performed a defence-favouring Sage/Chamber agent mixture, awarding the group with one other 8-4 half. Off the again of an assault pistol within the second half, Crew Heretics took Breeze 13-4.
Crew Liquid Denies GIANTX Reverse Sweep
The second collection of the day noticed final 12 months’s EMEA Stage 2 finalists, Crew Liquid and GIANTX, battle for survival within the decrease bracket. Similar to final 12 months, Crew Liquid emerged victorious from the encounter (2-1).
Crew Liquid rapidly took management of its map choose, Breeze, due to a thrifty win within the second spherical. With glorious attack-side calling from the roster’s in-game chief (IGL) Ayaz ‘nAts’ Akhmetshin, Crew Liquid secured a 9-3 half, which later transformed right into a 13-4 victory.
Pearl started with a ten-round successful streak for GIANTX, whereas Crew Liquid’s mid-heavy assault aspect calling discovered little success. After an 11-1 half and one other pistol spherical win, it was solely a matter of time till GIANTX evened out the match rating (13-6).
The ultimate showdown happened on Bind, the place each groups excelled on the defensive aspect. Regardless of two pistol-round wins, GIANTX needed to battle again from a 4-8 halftime deficit to power extra time. In the meantime, Crew Liquid gained lots of worth from its Gekko choose on each side and finally denied an enemy comeback at 16-14.
On February twelfth at 5 PM BST, Crew Liquid will proceed its decrease bracket run at VCT EMEA Kickoff, going through off towards Crew Heretics. Followers can tune into the elimination match through the league’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.
