Day two of EMEA Kickoff saw both of the region's latest ascenders make their VCT debuts. In the end, BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #2 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan defeated their lineup's former organization in PCIFIC Esports PCIFIC Esports Europe Rank #53 al0rante Felix Brandl cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qpert Mateja Mijovic NINJA Patryk Koczyba seven Johann Hernandez , while a refurbished Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #4 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu delivered a quick win over ULF Esports ULF Esports Europe Rank #8 audaz Soner Ekiz d3mur Demir Boğa sturNN Eren Oduncular nekky Anıl Dağdeviren Favian Enes Yiğiter .

BBL Esports routs PCIFIC successors in 2-1 fashion

BBL's offseason was defined by the signing of the entire roster of their former affiliate partner, then BBL PCIFIC BBL PCIFIC Inactive , after their EMEA Ascension win. With all five of their players transferred to BBL, PCIFIC constructed a new lineup consisting of pickups from tier 2, including Champions 2021 winner cNed and seven from TSM in Challengers North America.

The series began on BBL's pick of Breeze, where they went with a solo-Viper pick with Yoru and Jett. On the other side, PCIFIC opted for a double-Duelist double-Controller composition featuring Yoru, Waylay, Viper, and Astra.

BBL came out of the gate swinging, converting the bonus round and carrying that early momentum to a dominant 9-3 attack half. The Duelists lovers rock and Lar0k consistently found openers around the map, and when the rounds came close, Rosé clutched up in postplants to keep the snowball rolling. The in-game leader led by example with 16 kills and only five deaths in the first half.

A pistol round win for PCIFIC to start the second half kept them in the map. Although they were unable to convert the bonus, they began steadily closing the gap, turning an 11-5 deficit into an 11-9. BBL finally broke the momentum in the next round after Rose invested his Sova ultimate into a 3v4 eco to collect their twelfth; from there, BBL was able to close out Breeze 13-10.

Rose ended the map at the top of the scoreboard with 23 kills, 187 ADR, and a 1.59 rating. al0rante was the top fragger for PCIFIC on Astra with 23 kills of his own and 177 ADR.

The next map was Abyss. BBL continued to lean into double-Duelist, this time with Yoru and Waylay, while PCIFIC went for a unique double-Initiator look with KAY/O, Tejo, Omen, and Brimstone.

BBL started the map with a 4-0 lead, but PCIFIC, appearing much more comfortable on their map pick, answered back with six in a row for a 7-5 half. seven in particular stood apart from the rest as he almost singlehandedly won multiple rounds for his side with impactful multikills.

A pistol win for PCIFIC widened the lead to 9-5. Looking comfortable in the retake, PCIFIC smoothly followed up to a 13-7 victory. seven continued to dominate the server, ending with a 27/10/11 KDA, 215 ADR, and an outsized 2.16 rating.

Pearl was the decider, pitting BBL's Yoru-Neon against PCIFIC's unusual Sage-Killjoy combination. lovers rock made things easy for BBL as Yoru, racking up 11 Operator kills for 20 total in a single 10-2 defense half. BBL went on to win the map 13-4, with PCIFIC's only rounds coming from pistol rounds and anti-ecos. lovers rock finished the map with a statement 28 kills, 441 ADR, and 2.09 rating across only 17 rounds.

With this win, BBL moves on in the upper bracket, setting themselves up for a major test against FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder on Friday. PCIFIC will play the loser of GIANTX versus Gentle Mates in the middle bracket next week.

Derke leads Team Vitality to swift stomp over ULF

Despite a difficult end to the 2025 season, Vitality's offseason moves once again gave them sky-high expectations with the blockbuster signing of Chronicle from FNATIC along with those of Jamppi and PROFEK from BBL. Notably, neither team can field their full lineup yet; Vitality has one stand-in for Kickoff in UNFAKE due to Sayonara being too young to compete, while ULF has two, with d3mur and sturNN standing in for s0pp and echo for the same reason.

The match began on Vitality's pick of Breeze. Both teams chose to play Yoru and Jett, with Jamppi taking up the Yoru mantle in Sayonara's absence.

The entire map was a one-sided affair in favor of Vitality. A round three bonus conversion gave Derke the funds for an early Operator, a weapon he used to collect 14 of his 23 kills over the course of the map. With their star Jett player on the frontlines, both pistol rounds under their belt, and the rest of the team winning out important duels when called upon, Vitality cruised to a 10-2 half and a 13-3 map.

Corrode proved to be even more dominant than Breeze for Vitality as they debuted a unique Yoru-Phoenix composition with Chronicle on Chamber. All five members of Vitality racked up kills in spades off the back of solid defensive setups and retakes, but Derke continued to lead the pack with 19 kills as Phoenix across the map. ULF managed to win just one round as Vitality dispatched them 13-1.

Derke ended the series with an astounding 42/16/9 KDA, 258 ADR, 393 ACS, and 12 first kills, while Chronicle was the closest behind with 29 kills and 171 ADR. The team will face off against Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #26 purp0 Semyon Borchev wayne Wayne Chang MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak on Friday, while ULF will await the loser of Team Heretics versus Natus Vincere.

EMEA Kickoff will return tomorrow with the following matches:

• Team Heretics vs. Natus Vincere (Upper Round 2)
• GIANTX vs. Gentle Mates (Upper Round 2)