The first week of EMEA Kickoff concluded today with FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #6 purp0 Semyon Borchev wayne Wayne Chang MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak making their 2026 debuts. However, it was their opponents who were the heroes of the day, as 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 upset FNATIC 2-0 and Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #10 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu defeated Liquid 2-1.

BBL stuns FNATIC in resounding 2-0 win

After a solid win over PCIFIC Esports PCIFIC Esports Europe Rank #53 al0rante Felix Brandl cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qpert Mateja Mijovic NINJA Patryk Koczyba seven Johann Hernandez earlier this week, the Ascension-winning BBL lineup faced their first major test as they challenged Champions 2025 runner-up FNATIC.

The series kicked off on BBL's pick of Breeze. With Alfajer on an unusual Sage pick, FNATIC seized the advantage on their defense, starting 7-0 as they held ironclad setups on the sites.

Down 9-3 at the half, BBL refused to back down, mounting a momentous comeback against the regional comeback kings. While they were frequently punished for their aggression in the first half, the Duelists Lar0k and lovers rock came alive in the second with first kill after first kill, disrespecting the opposition and asserting themselves around the map.

Crewen outplays crashies and sticks the defuse in the clutch.

BBL strung together nine rounds unanswered for a 12-9 lead before closing it out 13-11, with a listless FNATIC's only successful attack rounds stemming from individual heroics. Lar0k topped the scoreboard as Jett with a 26/17/3 KDA and 207 ADR.

The second map was Haven, where BBL continued to opt into aggressive double-Duelist looks with a Neon-Yoru composition. Things started out back-and-forth, with BBL winning the pistol and FNATIC responding with major multikills for a 2-2 and then a 3-3 deadlock.

Veqaj lands some sharp shots for a much-needed ace.

It was in the latter stages of the half that BBL began to pull away, as Loita closed out a chaotic swing round in favor of BBL that allowed them to win the last three rounds in a row. A pistol and a bonus for BBL snuffed out any remaining hopes for FNATIC as they completed a statement 13-4 win. Lar0k continued to dominate, putting up 25 more kills as Neon for an unreal 51/29/7 KDA, 219 ADR, and nine first kill series.

“My mindset was good because we were the underdog,” Loita said regarding his thoughts on the match. “We've been…the favorite team for a year in tier 2, but it feels good [to be the] underdog again.”

FNATIC's historical Kickoff woes continue as they go down to face FUT Esports next in the middle bracket. Meanwhile, BBL set themselves up for a face-off against Vitality, now two wins away from Masters Santiago.

Vitality downs Liquid in competitive 2-1 series

The final match of the gameweek saw Liquid debut after making three personnel changes and swapping kamo to the scan Initiator role, albeit with Kicks temporarily standing in for wayne .

Vitality opened the series by picking Breeze, where they had dominated in their opening match. They had a strong start, stringing together five consecutive rounds after losing the pistol through solid site holds and a Sova ultimate trap in A main in round seven. Liquid responded by finding openings on the A site in multiple rounds, drawing the score back to a 6-6 half.

The second half also began in Vitality's favor as they ran over the B site to secure a second round thrifty, spurring them on to a 12-9 map point. Multikills from nAts and kamo made things dangerous, but a well-executed Yoru and Sova ultimate combo ensured a 13-11 victory for Vitality. Derke delivered another strong Jett performance with 25 kills and 180 ADR.

Liquid selected Pearl for the second map. Starting off on attack, they leaned heavily into the execute power of their composition, which featured Yoru, Waylay, and a solo Brimstone, for a 4-0 start. Vitality adapted, with Chronicle 's Sage slows thwarting any more fast hits, but Liquid held their advantage at the half with an 8-4 lead largely thanks to big plays from kamo.

kamo cleans up four after nAts leads Vitality on a wild goose chase.

Vitality immediately evened up the score to 8-8 after a pistol and a bonus of their own. From there, the map was hotly contested to the end, with several rounds coming down to the wire. In the end, Liquid came out the better side in overtime and won out 14-12. kamo topped the scoreboard in his new role with an impressive 28/15/9 KDA and 200 ADR on Fade.

Corrode was the most one-sided map of the three. Vitality held an 8-4 advantage at halftime after a Chronicle 4K won them another second round thrifty. The Chamber player excelled on the defense side, where he netted 11 out of his 16 total kills.

Liquid answered with a thrifty of their own to begin the second half, but Vitality continued to fend them off with a fairly comfortable margin, taking a timeout at 12-9 to close out 13-9.

EMEA's newest superteam takes another step forward in the upper bracket, while Liquid will next play Karmine Corp as all four of EMEA's Champions 2025 representatives now find themselves down in the middle bracket.

EMEA Kickoff will return on Jan. 27 with the following matches: