LOUD beat Vitality 3-1 to win VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai

LOUD are VALORANT world champions again. The Brazilian organisation beat Team Vitality 3-1 in the grand final of VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai on 18 October, becoming the first organisation to win the title twice.

Their first came at Champions 2022 in Istanbul, but this was an entirely new roster, and the first Champions win for every player and coach on it. Averaging 20 years and five months, it is the youngest team to lift the trophy.

Map by map

• Summit (LOUD's pick): LOUD 13-11. Vitality led 9-2 before LOUD won 11 of the last 13 rounds.

• Lotus (Vitality's pick): Vitality 13-8, with Chronicle and Derke to the fore.

• Sunset (LOUD's pick): LOUD 13-5. Vitality won the first four rounds, then lost 13 of the next 14; tkzin led the map with 26 kills.

• Haven (Vitality's pick): LOUD 13-10. LOUD reached 12-7, Vitality won three in a row, and LOUD closed it out.

The MVP

Roberto 'erde' Lobos, LOUD's 18-year-old in-game leader, was named MVP. Insider Gaming reported that he dedicated the win to his mother, who died days before the final.

How they got there

LOUD came through the upper bracket, sweeping Paper Rex and beating defending champions NRG before winning the upper final 2-1 against Vitality. Vitality beat 100 Thieves 3-1 in the lower final to set up the rematch. Across their three meetings in Shanghai, Vitality won the first three maps and LOUD five of the last six.

LOUD take home US$1 million of the US$2.25 million prize pool; Vitality receive US$400,000. The event was the last of VALORANT's partnership era before the circuit moves to a more open model in 2027.

Sources

• Insider Gaming

• ShaneTheGamer

• Dot Esports

• Photo: Emriquet, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)