The fourth week of VCT EMEA Stage 1 has wrapped up, with the playoff field now shaping up with one week left to go in the group stage.

Here's how the week four matches played out:

Now, here's a look at the standings in each group and the work left to be done for each team to qualify for the playoffs.

Group Alpha

1. FUT Esports FUT Esports Europe Rank #4 s0pp Efe Tur xeus Doğan Gözgen yetujey Eray Budak KROSTALY Okan Alaçam sociablEE Volkan Yonal (4-0)

FUT has completed one of the most impressive mid-season roster rebuilds that VCT has seen in recent years, going from 0-3 in Kickoff to 4-0 in Stage 1 with Group Alpha's top seed secured. This week, they secured a 2-1 win over Karmine Corp, bouncing back from a rough first map on Haven to seal wins on Lotus and Bind. xeus had a match-high 56 kills on Phoenix, Chamber, and Raze, while s0pp was on Neon duty for the entirety of the series.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs and first seed secured thanks to head-to-head advantage over Team Liquid

2. Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #6 purp0 Semyon Borchev wayne Wayne Chang MiniBoo Dominykas Lukaševičius nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin kamo Kamil Frąckowiak (3-1)

Apart from its loss to FUT, Team Liquid has been the next-most dominant force in Group Alpha. Against NAVI this week, Liquid grinded out a 2-1 win, with both teams winning their respective map picks before in-game leader nAts called a near-perfect map on Lotus to lead the team to a 13-7 win. kamo was especially impressive in this series, dropping 65 kills while going 13-5 in first duels.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs secured, secures second seed with win over Gentle Mates. Could slip to third with loss and other results.

3. Team Heretics Team Heretics Europe Rank #7 koshmaras Martynas Namikas Wo0t Mert Alkan RieNs Enes Ecirli benjyfishy Benjamin David Fish Boo Ričardas Lukaševičius (2-2)

Team Heretics has had one of the more chaotic Stage 1 campaigns, parting ways with ComeBack and bringing in koshmaras in his place. The move has shifted Wo0t into the team's primary Duelist role, and resulted in the team going 2-1 since. With a much more rigid double-Duelist structure, Team Heretics posted RieNs on Fade, benjyfishy as Sentinel, and Boo as Controller in the team's 2-0 win over Gentle Mates. koshmaras had his most impressive outing in a Heretics jersey, dropping a match-high 44 kills to lead Heretics to a crucial win.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs not yet secured. Secures third seed with win over FUT. Could be in three-way tie with loss to FUT, M8 loss to Liquid, and NAVI win over KC.

4. Gentle Mates Gentle Mates Europe Rank #12 starxo Patryk Kopczynski bipo Taranvir Singh marteen Martin Pátek GLYPH Conner Garcia Minny Patrik Hušek (2-2)

As one of the teams most affected by the Yoru nerfs, Gentle Mates has had an up-and-down Stage 1, suffering a 2-0 loss to Team Heretics last week. While marteen has adapted by picking up agents like Phoenix, Raze, Waylay, and Veto, the team surrounding him looks to be different from the team that took to the stage at Masters Santiago. The Mates will secure playoffs with a win over Team Liquid, but will need help from elsewhere if they wish to start in the upper bracket.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs secured. Could secure second seed with win over TL and TH loss. Could be third or fourth with win, dependent on other results. Could be in three-way tie with loss to TL, TH loss to FUT, and NAVI win over KC.

5. Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #30 Filu Dawid Czarnecki chloric Caide Heaton ExiT Abdullah Al-Twaijri Ruxic Uğur Güç hiro Emirhan Kat ComeBack Berkcan Şentürk stand-in (1-3)

After kicking off Stage 1 with a win over Team Heretics with a stand-in, NAVI has struggled throughout the remainder of its group stage. While new IGL chloric has added some structure to the team, NAVI has been without ExiT , its new Duelist. Former TH player ComeBack has joined as a stand-in while ExiT awaits his visa, but the team has gone 0-2 with him in the squad. NAVI needs an attainable win over Karmine Corp and losses for two other teams in order to even have a chance at reaching the playoffs.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs not yet secured. Needs win over KC, TH loss to FUT, and M8 win over TL to secure fourth seed.

6. Karmine Corp Karmine Corp Europe Rank #135 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan LewN Burak Alkan Avez Hazem Khaled SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin N4RRATE Marshall Massey (0-4)

Karmine Corp made a late change to its roster ahead of Stage 1, benching sheydos to make space for the returning N4RRATE . The move meant that Avez would take on the team's IGL duties. While KC has put up a good fight in its last three matches, taking one map in each series, they are still winless and far out of the playoff picture.

Playoff outlook: Out of playoffs. Could keep NAVI out of playoffs with win.

Group Omega

1. FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #1 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Veqaj Sylvain Pattyn Alfajer Emir Ali Beder (4-0)

FNATIC has persevered through Stage 1, finding wins on a few regular maps like Breeze and Lotus while finding a way to bounce back on Bind. In their series against GIANTX last week, FNATIC played with assistant coach Desmo as a last-minute substitute due to Veqaj dealing with health issues. After dropping the first map in the series, FNATIC bounced back, with Boaster excelling while off of IGL duties.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs and first seed secured thanks to head-to-head advantage over Eternal Fire.

2. Eternal Fire Eternal Fire Europe Rank #5 Izzy Baran Yılmaz audaz Soner Ekiz Favian Enes Yiğiter echo Ömür Serkan Şenol nekky Anıl Dağdeviren (3-1)

Under the new banner, the Eternal Fire players have been nothing short of impressive in Stage 1. Since losing its opening match to FNC, EF has claimed a 2-0 win over Kickoff champs BBL, a 2-0 win over a should-be superteam in Team Vitality, and grinded out a 2-1 win over PCIFIC Esports. Izzy , who just a few weeks ago was playing in the Turkish Challengers scene, has been impressive as the team's primary Duelist, primarily on Neon duties as the team's entry player.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs secured. Secures second seed with win over GIANTX and slips to third seed with loss.

3. BBL Esports BBL Esports Europe Rank #3 Crewen Ali Eren Sargin Lar0k Yusuf Kaan Kanber Loita Utku Kart Rosé Eren Erzan lovers rock Umut Pekdoğan (2-2)

After going perfect at Kickoff, BBL has shown signs of being beatable. After going 1-2 in the playoffs at Santiago, the eye-catching Turkish squad has returned to regional play with mixed results. After splitting its two matches against fellow Turkish squads PCF and EF, the team lost to GX and then defeated VIT. BBL has recovered from the Yoru nerfs by fielding different double-Duelist looks, while also showing comfort on double-Initiator looks on maps like Haven and Breeze.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs not yet secured. Secures playoffs with win over FNC. Will be third seed with GX loss to EF, and fourth seed with GX win. Could miss out on playoffs with a loss to FNC, GX loss, and VIT win in three-way tie.

4. GIANTX GIANTX Europe Rank #9 Cloud Kirill Nehozhin grubinho Grzegorz Ryczko westside Miłosz Duda Flickless Karel Maeckelbergh ara Hanceriuc Eduard-George (2-2)

After claiming the first map over FNATIC in dominant fashion, GIANTX failed to keep up the pace, dropping the next two maps against a team fielding a stand-in. As one of the few teams worldwide to enter 2026 without any changes to its roster, GX has been up-and-down through regional play, going 2-3 at Kickoff and now holding a 2-2 record in Stage 1. With the head-to-head advantage over BBL, GIANTX controls its own destiny, but could slip out of the upper bracket and the playoffs entirely this week.

Playoff outlook: Playoffs not yet secured. Secures playoffs as second seed with win over EF. Slips to fourth with loss to EF, and VIT loss to PCF. Slips to fifth with loss to EF, and VIT win over PCF.

5. Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #11 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu (1-3)

Vitality's 2026 season has been largely disappointing. With promises of a superteam with new signing Chronicle and hyped prospect Sayonara becoming eligible earlier this year, the team had high expectations but has fallen far short. Since starting play in the group stage with a win over GX, Vitality has lost to FNC, EF, and BBL, claiming just one map across all three losses. Vitality still has a chance to qualify for the playoffs with a puncher's chance at Masters London, but will have to do it from the lower bracket a la Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov .

Playoff outlook: Playoffs not yet secured. Needs win over PCF and GX loss to EF for fourth seed. Slides to fifth with win if GX wins. Would finish sixth with loss to PCF.

6. PCIFIC Esports PCIFIC Esports Europe Rank #329 al0rante Felix Brandl cNed Mehmet Yağız İpek qpert Mateja Mijovic NINJA Patryk Koczyba seven Johann Hernandez

PCIFIC's efforts to rebuild after being left with a clean slate to end 2025 have been valiant, but have resulted in zero wins thus far. With a multi-national roster centered around Turkish veteran cNed , PCF has won just four maps through seven losses to start its maiden VCT campaign. While it has been eliminated from playoff contention, it could play a hand in how the field is shaped this week.

Playoff outlook: Out of playoffs. Could keep VIT out of playoffs with win.

The final week of the group stage will play out with the following matches: