NAVI and Gentle Mates win VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 openers

VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 has commenced with NAVI and Gentle Mates securing victories over Karmine Corp and FUT Esports on Day 1 of the event.

Both teams have advanced to the next round of the Upper Bracket, where the organisations will battle against Team Heretics and GIANTX, respectively.

The losing squads, on the other hand, will be continuing VCT EMEA Kickoff 2026 in the Middle Bracket, starting January 21st.

The opening map, Split, was NAVI’s pick, and the roster was ready to dominate on stage as it led 7-2 in the opening first half. That said, Karmine Corp won three back-to-back rounds to reach a respectable score heading into the second half.

However, the French team was not able to carry over that momentum, as NAVI claimed five of the first seven rounds to reach match point. Karmine Corp once again fought back, but it wasn’t enough, with the Ukrainian organisation closing out map one 13-11.

Karmine Corp struggled heavily on Haven, as the scoreline once again started 7-2 in NAVI’s favour. The team attempted to recover in the second half but managed to win only five rounds, allowing NAVI to secure a 13-7 victory and lock down the series 2-0.

Uğur ‘Ruxic‘ Güç was the highest-performing player of the series, finishing with 1.28 rating and a 37/25/13 KDA.

Gentle Mates was relegated to Challengers after failing to qualify for Champions Paris or the EMEA Stage 2 playoffs. However, the organisation quickly returned to VCT for another year, this time as a partnered team, following KOI’s removal from the International League.

Gentle Mates was the worst-performing team in EMEA in 2025, winning just three series across the entire season. As such, heading into the 2026 VCT season, its entire roster was revamped, with Patrik ‘Minny‘ Hušek being the only player retained.

The new line-up made its VCT debut against FUT Esports on Abyss, racing to a 4-0 lead before the opposition levelled the scores with four consecutive round wins. The French side regained control and concluded the half with a 7-5 advantage.

The second half belonged entirely to Gentle Mates. Despite FUT Esports winning the first two rounds, Gentle Mates hit match point without dropping a single round and ultimately secured the map at a 13-8 scoreline.

Gentle Mates was even more dominant on its map pick, Split, as the first half concluded at 8-4. FUT Esports was not able to fight back as it managed to secure just two rounds in the second half before M8 closed out the map by 13-6 and the series by 2-0.

While Gentle Mates’ IGL Patryk ‘starxo‘ Kopczyński was the highest-rated player of the match with 1.31 rating, FUT’s duelist Doğan ‘xeus‘ Gözgen delivered a tremendous performance, achieving the highest ACS of 240.

Round two of the VCT EMEA Kickoff Upper Bracket will see NAVI facing Team Heretics, while Gentle Mates will go up against GIANTX on January 22nd. All the matches will be streamed live on VCT EMEA’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.