The upper semifinals of the VCT China 2026 playoffs are over, with both Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #1 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) and EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #2 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) showing dominance in sweeps to confirm their slots at Masters London. EDG looked like its old self, remaining a regional powerhouse defeating All Gamers All Gamers China Rank #4 Septem7 Liu Zhening (刘哲宁) Shr1mp Yang Yong (杨勇) Youze K1ra Huang Zhihao (黄志豪) f4ngeer Roman Smirnov iamgrq Gao Ruiqi (高锐琦) , while XLG somehow managed to top that with a 13-0 map win over JDG Esports JDG Esports China Rank #6 stew Park Young-chan (박영찬) jkuro Yong Haochong (杨浩聪) zhe Niu Zhe (牛哲) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) coconut Colin Patrick Chung (钟弘祖) .

Xi Lai Gaming speedruns series win over JDG Esports

The first game of the day started on Lotus, with JDG running a double-Duelist with Vyse against the signature triple-Sentinel no-Duelist composition from XLG. Starting the series, happywei won a 1v1 to earn the first pistol, and he also converted the bonus round with a tense clutch with less than a second. XLG focused on B and C site plants and post-plants frequently, forcing JDG to stop it, and as the half went on, it was clear that JDG could not. When both Rarga and NoMan are matching happywei's fragging ability, XLG look unstoppable as the team ended the half perfect, up 12-0.

All XLG needed was the pistol to confirm the rare 13-0, and WsLeo shot down four to end the hopes of a comeback immediately.

Map two was Pearl, and XLG ran a more standard comp for this map in comparison to its unique Lotus comp, using Neon, Chamber, and double-Initiator with Tejo and KAY/O. JDG opted for double-Duelist with Neon and Waylay with a Killjoy, starting on the attack side as well. Even then, XLG won the first pistol but were unable to convert the bonus, as JDG earned its first round win of the series in map two, round three. XLG kept the form up from map one, nonetheless, as happywei on Chamber was frying JDG in long-range fights. JDG earned four round wins, entering the half down 8-4, but with potential to win the map and take the series to map three.

The pistol win was needed for JDG here, but instead, XLG mirrored its start to Pearl with another pistol win, bonus round loss, and victories on the gun rounds afterward to end the map 13-5 and the series in 2-0 fashion, earning XLG a spot at Masters London.

The star of the series was happywei, who continued his strong group stage performances to stretch this regional win streak for his team all the way to the upper finals. He ended the series with a 1.64 rating, 346 ACS, 228 ADR, and a crisp 40% headshot rate.

With this win, XLG earn a spot in the upper finals and will face the victor of the second match of the day, but since three teams are going to London, an upper final position also confirms a slot at Masters London. As for JDG, the team moves to the lower bracket and will face Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #8 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Akeman Zhang Haoran (张浩然) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) next.

EDward Gaming sweeps All Gamers to secure spot at London

Game two featured two teams looking to make it back to international play after appearances at Masters Santiago, with one qualifying guaranteed. This time around, EDG looked to return by making it to London before AG, who surprised lots of fans by qualifying to Santiago first in China earlier this year.

Map one was Fracture, with EDG running a double-Duelist with Jieni7 on Neon and ZmjjKK on Jett, while AG chose Raze and Neon instead. At first, this looked like a battle of the Duelists, but the intriguing subplot of the series was the fragging Sentinel players trying to outsmart each other, with CHICHOO and f4ngeer offering high fragging potential on both Cypher and Chamber, respectively. AG won the first pistol and played well to convert the bonus to put EDG down 4-0 quickly. The map could have been dire for EDG, but both CHICHOO and ZmjjKK stepped up to win 5 of the next 6 rounds, placing EDG only behind 7-5 at the half.

When the halves flipped, and EDG started attacking, that was when EDG started to step up across the board. After winning the second pistol and converting the bonus, CHICHOO and Smoggy led EDG to a perfect half, winning the map 13-7.

Next up was Lotus, where AG ran more double-Duelist Neon Waylay as EDG opted for Raze and Neon, moving Jieni7 from Neon to Vyse. This time around, the start was better for EDG, winning pistol and converting the bonus round. Rushing up to a 6-0 lead with the strong economy to start the half, AG only managed two round wins on the defense to enter the half down 10-2.

That placed EDG in prime position to close out the map and series, and despite winning pistol and losing the antieco to a forcing AG, it was a matter of time. EDG prevented the comeback and converted the final rounds to win 13-6 and sweep the series 2-0.

The star of the series was CHICHOO, who played both Controller and Sentinel in the two maps, and rose to the occasion on Fracture to close the series out. He ended the series with a 1.39 match rating, 87% KAST, and only 20 deaths in 36 rounds.

With this win, EDG will face XLG in the upper finals, while also confirming its slot at Masters London alongside XLG. All Gamers fall to the lower bracket and will face TYLOO TYLOO China Rank #5 splash Moses Christophe Jonathan Scales Zhang Zhen (张震) Erv Shen Zhiwei sword9 Li Wei (李卫) slowly Kelun Sun (孙科伦) to fight for that final regional Masters slot.